I congratulate you on reading the book before commenting on it, something too many people are not doing.

However, I must take exception to the two most misleading claims repeated here:

1) That the task force pursued white men in a white van exclusively, and

2) That the suspects are Islamic extremists.

Neither has any support in the evidence. The suspects interviewed during the investigation were of all races and drove various vehicles. Muhammad and Malvo are nominally Muslim at most. In fact, there is no evidence that Malvo has ever been to a mosque. Muhammad's participation in the non-mainstream Nation of Islam was sporadic and he didn't practice even basic Muslim religious observances, such as prayers. The suspects' motives for their participation in this spree are much more personal than religion, I believe.

Because of the coincidence of living where Charles Moose experienced most of his career, I have a broader view of his performance. No reasonable person with that information would consider Moose incompetent. Six years as chief of police in a sizeable city and leaving under one's own steam is quite an accomplishment. I would encourage anyone who wants to know who Moose is, warts and all, to read my review here at BC or at Mac-a-ro-nies.

Indeed, MD, it is clear from reading both books that the white man, white van image was note the sole pursuit of the department. I didn't make that clear in my review, which as I read it now seems to give that impression. Nevertheless, that was the image given to media, for whatever reason, and the media is probably responsible for having spread it so widely. I'm sure I'm not the only one that remembers the police release a sketch of the white van done by a police sketch artists, which surely would have been one of the most amusing moments of any investigation anywhere if the events were not so tragic.

I actually used the term Islamic extremists advisedly, but it occurs to me now that most readers will not be familiar with the terms as I use them. I don't consider the suspects to be real Moslems any more than McVeigh was a real Christian. I regret using the term without explaining that.

Considering the ugliness surrounding the firing of former Dallas police chief Bolton here where I live, I definitely think that Moose' career record should rebut charges of complete incompetence. However, it seems clear to this reader that successfully managing a large city is still different level of task from managing a manhunt of this scale. I believe that the best thing Moose did was call in the feds early, and the worst thing he did was try to keep a bit too much of the investigation under his control.

Hubris, I guess, but perhaps understandable given his past success.

Suggesting to the public that the suspects were Islamic extremists would have been a mistake. As Mac Diva said, they were only nominally Muslem. But more importantly, given the times, any suggestion of Islamic ties would have likely have led to a great deal of suspicion cast on Muslim communities, which was exactly where these guys weren't to be found. I don't know whether the suggestion would have inevitably led to attacks on innocent Musims, but it certainly wouldn't have apprehended the snipers any quicker.

We can argue about whether Chief Moose was "reasonable" (though I haven't read the book), but I would say he made the right decision.

To state that suggestions of that sort would have been a mistake is to suggest that criminal investigations should be political, and I reject that notion entirely. Facts are facts, and the more we strive to obscure those things in the name of not offending someone, the worse off we all are.

Besides, I believe that the chief complaint isn't that Moose assiduously avoided any mention of the possibility of dark skin or a religious angle or excuse for the actions, but that he specifically and mistakenly singled out white men, and some people believe that was politically (racially) motivated. After reading his book, I'm of mixed minds about it. I think it might simply have been a mistake.

Better, if he wasn't sure, would have been to say that the suspect was of unknown ehtnicity.

I'm just saying it would have been a mistake to single out MUSLIMS because it would not have helped, and might even have hindered, the investigation; just as singling out white males was a mistake. I'm not defending the reasons Chief Moose refused to identify the suspects as Muslim; as I said, we can argue about whether he was reasonable.

I agree with your last sentence (aside from the typo).

On that, JR, we agree. The sticking point was that he reportedly refused to even consider the notion, which seems weird given the environment last year.

And, er, yes, that was a typo. I do know how to spell ethnicity. ;-)