Updated

While I was raising the possibility Wednesday that the D.C. sniper is an Al Qaeda type terrorist, federal interrogators were getting on a plane for Guantanamo Bay to interview detainees about what they might know of plans to turn snipers loose in America.

Good.

It's still a good idea to keep an open mind about who the shooter could be. He may be a white guy with a bunch of guns who is angry at the world, but he also may be part of the worldwide Al Qaeda terror network.

After all, as angry as white men with guns sometimes are, Islamisists are angrier. Not only that, they have a recent track record of trying to kill us and doing a bang-up job of it.

So if the cops down in D.C. have a decent description of the shooter, and they do know it's a Middle Eastern-looking man, and they are keeping that information private so as to not panic the public... is that a good thing?

I don't think so. Keep the public ignorant for the sake of public ignorance doesn't sound like a good idea. You have to ask to what purpose it serves.

How does it help the public to be lulled into a false sense of security?

On the other hand, if cops are withholding information in their effort to communicate with the sniper, or if they are holding back information as a way to advance the investigation, that is an understandable thing.

We all want the sniper caught, and if authorities are making an occasional misstatement to help catch him, I don't think any complaint is justified.That's My Word .

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