Brian Fishman na Gidauniyar New America ya ce zabin sunayen wani abin dariya ne. "Jihadi... labari shi ne cewa wadanda ba Musulmi ne ko da yaushe a kan harin, ko da yaushe kokarin dauki Musulmi ƙasashe. 'Yan jihadi suna son labarin, saboda yana ba da hujjar tashin hankali, tunda suna da'awar cewa suna kare addinin Islama ne kawai", in ji shi. Ya ji cewa makomar Chicago na iya samun ma'ana, kamar yadda sabon fitowar "Inspire" (mujallar kan layi ta AQAP) na iya samun hoton Chicago a bangon ta. Fishman ya nuna cewa wannan daidai yake da Osama bin Laden yana tsaye a gaban taswirar Gabashin Afirka jim kadan kafin a kashe shi.
Harin bam na 1998 a ofishin jakadancin Amurka. Jami'an Amurka da na Burtaniya sun yi imanin cewa jirage ne, ba adiresoshin da ke ƙasa ba, sune makasudin.