jmyrle wrote above:
"These things typically take place in the major cities: New York, London, Paris, Madrid. They involve multiple targets, usually targeting major landmarks. A targeted hit on a single location, in a mid-sized, exurban city, does not fit the usual profile of global Islamic terror."
Why smaller cities?
Softer, easier targets.
There are hundreds of them and thousands of locations like this one from which to choose.
The "uncertainty" of where you can strike next increases the level of anxiety EVERYwhere.
As we see places like New York and D.C. "toughened", the logical choice is to target "nowheresville", because you can't protect these places.
From the terrorist perspective, this will be critiqued as a highly successful operation.
We're going to see more like it.
Perhaps many more.