Terrorist attack at Boston Marathon

[Archaic]

At the Boston Marathon, flags from all over the world representing the nations of the participants line the parade route.

I just read that one of the bombs was placed under the Russian flag.

That seems deliberate, and therefore somehow symbolic in the minds of the bombers.

But being from Chechnya, resenting Russian domination and the long Chechnyan War, then blowing up Americans doesn't make much sense.

Best regards,
Archaic

[jmenges]

It's as if they hope the far right will discredit itself through violence.

The far right in America discredits itself every day on their own. They need no assistance from the left.

JM

[Damaso Marte]

Does it really matter whether they are Muslim or right-wing domestic groups? The result is the same. Three dead and many injured. The point is, whatever their objectives, they set out to kill and injure people.

I share this sentiment. Unfortunately, some in the United States do not. Since the rise of the Tea Party movement in 2009, there has been an element of the US left (almost entirely in the media...not among politicians who have a better sense of decorum) who has jumped to blame every mass-shooting or attack on the far right. It's as if they hope the far right will discredit itself through violence.

Of course, every attack has turned out to be done by somebody so deranged that it is useless to speak of their politics (including the ricin attacks earlier this week).

[Errata]

Well, what do you know. They're Muslims.

http://pjmedia.com/ronradosh/2013/04/19/clues-from-tamerlans-amazon-wish-list-a-look-into-the-brothers-world/

While some on the Left speculated that the Boston bombing was the work of right-wing domestic groups, we now know that the two brothers who planted the bomb — the now deceased older brother Tamerlan Tzarnaev, and his younger sibling Dzhokhar — considered themselves to be religious Islamists as well as defenders of the Chechen cause.

On Dzhokhar’s Russian Facebook page, a drawing of a bomb has the heading “send a gift,” and on his sibling Tamerlan’s You Tube page, as Robert Spencer points out, are “two videos by Sheikh Feiz Mohammed. According to a report published in The Australian in January 2007, in a video that came to the attention of authorities at the time, Mohammed ‘urges Muslims to kill the enemies of Islam and praises martyrs with a violent interpretation of jihad.’”...

Yes, they're Muslim. But there is a pretty good chance they are Sufi, which is not exactly some violence mongering sect.

[Colin Roberts]

Well, what do you know. They're Muslims.

What a stupid thing to say!

A Belfast Republican in 1972: "Well, what do you know. They're Protestants."

A Belfast Unionist a week later: "Well, what do you know. They're Catholics."

I consider Stephen Stills and Neil Young to be two of the most contemptible persons to have ever stepped into the limelight, but truer words were never spoken when Buffalo Springfield sang "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong".

[Robert]

Best to be safe. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. The rest of you will have to make your own decisions.

[Phil H]

How would a discussion of the suspect on Casebook prejudice a future trial? It would have to be capable of influencing a jury...!!!

Phil

[Robert]

Just a suggestion : it would be better not to discuss the suspect, for fear of prejudicing any future trial. Just my opinion.

[Phil H]

I'm not sure either whether seeking to draw distinctions between "home grown" and external terrorists is altogether useful. Both seek to kill and maim and frighten innocent people.

The key question surely has to be, what is it that makes people want to do these dreadful things. In the US, in Britain and in other relatively "liberal" countries - by which I mean those with freedom of speech and conscience, freedom of religion, high standards of often state funded education, free press, and a pretty good standard of living for the vast majority of people - there are those who misuse those freedoms to harm others.

In the case of the two brothers in Boston the rationale at this stage seems highly tenuous - the Chechin problem is (or has been) an almost entirely Russian one. If they have - as apparently Russian "facebook" pages suggest - they have sympathy for the Syrian rebels, how does a bomb in Boston help their cause? As far as I am aware, the Western powers would like to do more - through the UN - to put pressure on the Syrian government, but it is Russia and China that are resisting. Obama has spoken strong words against the Syrian regime.

So I will be very interested to see what the motivation here might be, and how these two lads came to be enmeshed in such an outrage. There may be important lessons to be learned.

Phil

[kensei]

I heard the guy was shot in the neck from the shootout last night, and also that the police used a flash grenade to disorient him when they caught him.

Seeing the Bostonians standing in the streets cheering this evening was great- it reminded me of how the crowds cheered as Richard Ramirez the Night Stalker was being taken away. However, I've been wondering for years ever since Bin Laden's declaration of war on America why we didn't have sporadic bombs like this going off from coast to coast. I hope this is not just the start of something, but I won't be surprised if it is.

Saw a picture on t.v. this evening of some Syrian children holding a banner that said something like, "Boston, we live with this every day. But you do have our sympathies."

[Limehouse]

Well, what do you know. They're Muslims.

http://pjmedia.com/ronradosh/2013/04/19/clues-from-tamerlans-amazon-wish-list-a-look-into-the-brothers-world/

While some on the Left speculated that the Boston bombing was the work of right-wing domestic groups, we now know that the two brothers who planted the bomb — the now deceased older brother Tamerlan Tzarnaev, and his younger sibling Dzhokhar — considered themselves to be religious Islamists as well as defenders of the Chechen cause.

On Dzhokhar’s Russian Facebook page, a drawing of a bomb has the heading “send a gift,” and on his sibling Tamerlan’s You Tube page, as Robert Spencer points out, are “two videos by Sheikh Feiz Mohammed. According to a report published in The Australian in January 2007, in a video that came to the attention of authorities at the time, Mohammed ‘urges Muslims to kill the enemies of Islam and praises martyrs with a violent interpretation of jihad.’”...

Does it really matter whether they are Muslim or right-wing domestic groups? The result is the same. Three dead and many injured. The point is, whatever their objectives, they set out to kill and injure people.

[Beowulf]

Well, what do you know. They're Muslims.

http://pjmedia.com/ronradosh/2013/04/19/clues-from-tamerlans-amazon-wish-list-a-look-into-the-brothers-world/

While some on the Left speculated that the Boston bombing was the work of right-wing domestic groups, we now know that the two brothers who planted the bomb — the now deceased older brother Tamerlan Tzarnaev, and his younger sibling Dzhokhar — considered themselves to be religious Islamists as well as defenders of the Chechen cause.

On Dzhokhar’s Russian Facebook page, a drawing of a bomb has the heading “send a gift,” and on his sibling Tamerlan’s You Tube page, as Robert Spencer points out, are “two videos by Sheikh Feiz Mohammed. According to a report published in The Australian in January 2007, in a video that came to the attention of authorities at the time, Mohammed ‘urges Muslims to kill the enemies of Islam and praises martyrs with a violent interpretation of jihad.’”...

[Archaic]

When I posted last night and gave the names of suspects who are now apparently uninvolved, I was only relating what official sources were saying at the time. When I woke up today and turned on the radio, I listened for a moment and groggily went, "What?"

I'm really losing faith in our ability to be sure what the truth is.

Hi Kensei, I realize that you were just relaying news you had heard. Sorry, I meant to say that in my post, but I forgot because I had just read about how terrified that 17 yr old boy was at being "named" all over the internet.

Its amazing how rapidly rumors swirl and grow, more rapidly than ever due to the internet & cell phones. News and information flow more quickly too; the difficulty is in knowing one from the other.

I've read many online comments from people saying if they "see the suspect they'll shoot him problem solved". The problem with that attitude is, what if the person they see isn't a suspect and isn't guilty, but has just been misidentified via over-eager Reddit users? That totally innocent 17 year old boy could have been shot to death by some self-appointed vigilante.

The Boston Police and the FBI were very careful to make sure of the facts before they named anyone as a suspect, because they saw the unintended tragedy that could come from naming the wrong individuals.

I'm impressed with the work of the BPD, and especially with their tactic of holding back at the end when the suspect was totally surrounded and capturing him alive without any additional casualties.

We need to know who else may have been involved, and I'm glad he may live to go to trial. Though I have to say, I'm surprised he didn't just commit suicide.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Archaic]

Police say suspect in alive in ambulance.

The police were smart not to fire back once the suspect was totally cornered and wounded.

I hope he lives, so he will go to trial on Federal Terrorism charges.

[Archaic]

ABC News just reported that the younger customer is in custody.

No word yet on his condition other that they knew he was already wounded when he hid in the boat because the blood trail is what alerted the home-owner.

The suspect fired on police.

Apparently the police used a robot to tip him out of the boat.