Boston Marathon

[dderek123]

In the USA, trying to sell someone the Brooklyn Bridge is a synonym for trying to put one over on someone who's unusually naïve or gullible, from the notion of a fast-talking New Yorker selling it to some unwary tourist from somewhere unsophisticated and rural.

Thanks for clearing that up man. Oh well, I guess some people are incapable of disagreeing with someone else without attributing their opinion to some serious flaw of their character. That must be exhausting.

[nysprod]

So essentially Russian LE is more thorough at anti-terrorist surveillance than its American counterpart. Why is that? Who at the FBI made the horribly wrong judgement call to close the file on this guy? Someone needs to answer for that

I'm not sure they actually "closed the file"...they felt at the time, 2 years ago, that he wasn't an immediate threat.

They can't surveill everyone 24/7/365 and if he planned this on his own and never communicated, that obviously makes it harder to tie him to anything. Of course, we'll probably learn more about this going forward.

[trish]

So essentially Russian LE is more thorough at anti-terrorist surveillance than its American counterpart. Why is that? Who at the FBI made the horribly wrong judgement call to close the file on this guy? Someone needs to answer for that

I'm merely guessing that recent history between Russia and Chechnyan jihadists suggests that the Russians have reason to interpret Chechnyan extremist chatter more sensitively than do we.

[BellaBellucci]

So essentially Russian LE is more thorough at anti-terrorist surveillance than its American counterpart. Why is that? Who at the FBI made the horribly wrong judgement call to close the file on this guy? Someone needs to answer for that

^ This.

But you know: good policing, coordination of officials, 'Murrica...

~BB~

[robertlouis]

Meanwhile, a list of American dipshits who seemingly can't tell the difference between the Czech Republic and Chechnya.....

And want to nuke Prague as a result. Words fail me.

http://http://www.facebook.com/l.php...he&h=wAQFPqCSh

[Prospero]

Well Prague is "over there" isn't it... foreign.... jeez the lynch mob mentality that emerges at times like this is truly terrifying.

The suggestion that the suspect now held should be denied his miranda rights and treated as an "Enemy combatent" shames those who make this call.

Actually Ive a better idea. This has got to stop. Why not round up all those who are most likely to cause crimes or commit acts of terror in the US - you know Muslims, blacks, illegal immigrants - and concentrate them all in a few big camps somewhere out of public sight.

[Stavros]

There was a bombing on the Moscow subway in 2010 attributed to Chechen separatists -female suicide bombers, 38 dead, 60+ injured; the hammering of Chechnya which took place first under Yeltsin then under Putin's orders has dampened down the most extreme violence, but the tensions remain as does an independence movement. It used to be argued that the Chechen Muslims were more mystical than political owing to the influence of the Sufi, but in recent years the export of Saudi-funded 'education' and the opportunity for foreign fighters to get some field experience in a conflict zone has changed the rhetoric and complexion of some-I don't know how many- Muslims in the Caucasus. The elder brother Tamerlan seems to have been attracted by this uncompromising perspective, and maybe felt a gesture in the US would 'wake up' America to a forgotten conflict, even though relations between the USA and Russia are not close, its not as if they are colluding against the Chechen.

I can't see any other motivation outside resentment by the elder brother that he didn't make it in America. There is a report on today's papers that when an Imam in a Boston mosque was praising Martin Luther King, Tamerlan shouted at him something to the effect that King was not a Muslim and therefore an irrelevance -he was told to shut up and then left the mosque. Lots of people don't 'make it' in America, but they don't blame it on the country and then kill people as a result. So there is some Islamic politics mixed up in the alienated psychology of one or both of the brothers. Not sure which is the most potent in this case.

[Prospero]

The gentler Sufi movement within Islam is under attack across the Muslim world by the Wahhabist/Salafist elements. The uncompromising brand of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia and exported around the world now is part of a "devil's compact a long time ago between the al-Saud tribe the Wahhabi religious leaders to ensure power in Arabia. This extremist brand has also seen the Saudi authorities demolish most of the historic shrines within their domain - as abberations against pure islam.

I bow to Stavros' greater knowledge of the internal politics of Dagestan, Chechnya and the on-going war with Russia.

[surf4490]

You ever heard of Gitmo ,non of those guys have actually committed a crime .Its the USA's gulag .

[trish]

There was a bombing on the Moscow subway in 2010 attributed to Chechen separatists -female suicide bombers, 38 dead, 60+ injured; the hammering of Chechnya which took place first under Yeltsin then under Putin's orders has dampened down the most extreme violence, but the tensions remain as does an independence movement. It used to be argued that the Chechen Muslims were more mystical than political owing to the influence of the Sufi, but in recent years the export of Saudi-funded 'education' and the opportunity for foreign fighters to get some field experience in a conflict zone has changed the rhetoric and complexion of some-I don't know how many- Muslims in the Caucasus. The elder brother Tamerlan seems to have been attracted by this uncompromising perspective, and maybe felt a gesture in the US would 'wake up' America to a forgotten conflict, even though relations between the USA and Russia are not close, its not as if they are colluding against the Chechen.

I can't see any other motivation outside resentment by the elder brother that he didn't make it in America. There is a report on today's papers that when an Imam in a Boston mosque was praising Martin Luther King, Tamerlan shouted at him something to the effect that King was not a Muslim and therefore an irrelevance -he was told to shut up and then left the mosque. Lots of people don't 'make it' in America, but they don't blame it on the country and then kill people as a result. So there is some Islamic politics mixed up in the alienated psychology of one or both of the brothers. Not sure which is the most potent in this case.

Thanks for the insightful post.