Originally Posted by
trish
If Tamerlan aligned himself with the Chechen independence movement, then Russia had reason to be nervous of his comings and goings whereas the FBI would have assigned him to a lower priority watch list. We don't know whether the FBI "closed the file" on him or not. We might surmise they were unaware that the two brothers amassed a number of arms and built bombs (though we don't even know that for sure). We do know the FBI were caught unawares on the day of the Marathon.
To what degree we can blame the FBI or Home Land Security for the tragic surprise still remains to be seen.
I don't expect absolute security. I don't relish having to take my shoes off and I don't like getting patted down at every airport. I certainly don't want to go through a security line just to walk down a city street. The NRA doesn't want gun registration, or tagging agents in explosive compounds like black powder, yet judging by all the footage we had of Tamerlan and his brother, we already live under constant scrutiny.