Open Thread on the Marathon Attack.

My current guess is that this was the work of one or two people who had no external contacts.  If they did, the FBI would have been onto their communications.  pl

Comments

[Amir]

And now they blow up Waco?

[Abu Sinan]

All of the talk about the bombs being close to the Waco aniversary........then a massive explosion at a plant outside Waco. Makes me wonder...

[WP]

Whatever happens here on out, the various theorists will have fodder for a never-ending discussion of who was responsible and how things were covered up by the highest level and people were spirited out of the country.

http://www.infowars.com/obama-covering-up-saudi-link-to-boston-bombing/

http://www.wnd.com/2003/09/20600/

If the Saudi guy leaves, it will haunt Obama forever. Bad judgment to deport him, innocent or not, especially on "natonal security grounds."

[Tyler]

Sorry if I cam across harsh, but at first blush your response appeared to be more of the ivory tower nonsense that was in that Salon article. I was also responding to Edward in another thread, so it can be hard to shift gears sometimes.

I don't think we have the resources for another ground war in Asia, to be perfectly honest, no matter who claims responsibility. More drone flyovers perhaps, maybe insert some 'military specialists' (the new euphemism), but not for what we saw in the other two theatres.

You are correct on my background.

[Tyler]

I sure did. What's your point?

[walrus]

This was put together by someone who thinks things through - a unabomber type or a very small group.

The Boston Marathon is an International event, and my guess,at the risk of offending Tyler, is also that most runners are what Americans would call "Liberals" from my personal experience - people who are dedicated and methodical enough to train and prepare for a marathon, there would be a lot of tertiary educated people running and watching. Runners are not into instant gratification.

I would say that this was put together by someone who hates "pointy headed liberals". To put that another way there are other events that draw big crowds - say NASCAR races, football, etc. My theory detonates if one of these types of events is attacked.

Now if it is a group, it has to be either motivated by religion or quasi secular "religion" - by that I mean the lunatic fringe of Constituionalist militia types of the sort that think flouridation of water supplies is a one world government plot, et, however most of the latter are too stupid to tie their own shoes.

If it isn't a lone wolf or a quasi religious group, then someone will brag or confide, and the FBI will catch them in short order.

[elkern]

Looks like my tin-foil beanie was spinning to fast again and picked up another false positive.

Than again... (whrrr, spinnn, spinnnn)...

[turcopolier]

Charles I

I have some experience of Arab and Islamic student associations in Canada especially in Montreal. They are very active and quite fanatic as well as smart as hell. That's what I meant. The markings on a pressure cooker would indicate to me that the object was not bought in the US. I would vote for such students operating in a small group and aware of the danger of FBI role playing so that they have no commo to break into. I will bet you that they left the Boston area quickly. Walrus. I doubt if these are American US anti-government people. That was my view before the FBI released the pictures and it is reinforced by them pl

[different clue]

Wouldn't that seem more like an industrial accident from within the plant itself?

[no one]

Walrus, Now we know what they look like. They're white guys. I reiterate that there is no real rational or cause behind this. Just a couple of punks acting out their personality disorders - like Columbine or the DC snipers.

And, they didn't think it out too well if they're walking around showing their faces on the myriad of security cameras that anyone serious knows are all over the place.

Everyone seems to want this to be an act of organized terrorism. No one seems willing to entertain what is probably really is - a senseless act of random violence delivered by some sociopathic individual(s).

[mbrenner]

Whoever these people are, they are obviously more competent than the underwear bomber. That is not saying very much, though. Wouldn't somewhat more ingenius operators not have used material that had distinctive markings? Would they not have camouflaged themselves and the packs they left (if indeed the 2 photgraphed are the perps)so that the predictable photos would be of little help to the authorities? They do that even in reruns of black-and-white spy films and Kojak episodes. This is an atrocious event. Let's realize, though, that it is easy to imagine a far more talented bunch wreaking far greater damage with there being little chance if them ever being caught - except by serendipity. Happily, it seems that those types are very few in number and not inclined to commit such acts - however angry they may be and however hostile.

[Babak Makkinejad]

Not every one with a tertiary education is a dead dog liberal.

I personally know of conservatives running in Marathons.

Marathons are for people who wish to run and test themselves; that is all.

[ThomasOfNY]

Sounding unlikely that they are "jihadis." One is an Ethiopian with a Christian name, the second is apparently Northern Indian, perhaps nominally Hindu. The Ethiopian is reported captured, the Indian is at large.

[Tyler]

The one guy was Indian, the other is white, and they both seem to be pretty liberal (twitter feeds & pictures of em wearing Che shirts).

So if they're left wing terrorists do they get a tenureship?

[rjj]

No One said: Walrus, Now we know what they look like. They're white guys. ... And, they didn't think it out too well if they're walking around showing their faces on the myriad of security cameras that anyone serious knows are all over the place.

White guys who look like Persians -- or Israelis???

[Clifford Kiracofe]

The Chechen guy in the white hat's web page:

http://vk.com/id160300242

Alternate spellings of first name: Jahar, Djokar, and etc.

[SAC Brat]

The underwear bomber seemed to be theater to sell body scanners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Airlines_Flight_253#Pre-boarding_event

[Mike Ross]

Chechnyans. Brothers who have been here a few years. And legally. Not liberal-haters, or Canadians, or gun-rights activists, etc. Anybody come close?

[William R. Cumming]

One reported killed in a shootout and one being hunted!

[The beaver]

So it one down and a man hunt is still on for the second perpetrator.

Looks like that have been in the US since 2002/2003. Two brothers - one born in Russia (aged 26) killed last night in Watertown and the other one born in Kyrgyzstan (aged 19) still on the run.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/19/17823265-boston-on-lockdown-during-marathon-manhunt-for-white-hat-suspect?lite

[turcopolier]

Mike ross

I didn't say they were Canadians. I said they might well be Muslim students resident in Canada. These two brothers are Chechens and Muslim by culture and upbringing. It does not matter that one was born in Russia and the other in Central Asia. They are still Chechens. You can be sure that this is political in the larger sense. the United States has consistently followed a policy of favoring the Russian government in its wars against Chechen separatists. Do you need another reason? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chechens
pl

[no one]

Sir, Sure there may have been some vague inkling of political ideation as these guys were forming their attack on the marathon. However, if the primary purpose was political terrorism (i.e. a statement on behalf of Chechnya or Jihad) then why wasn't there a statement following the bombings? What good is an act of political terrorism if no one knows your politics?

[turcopolier]

no one

Contrary to American instinctual belief people do not simply go nuts and decide to bomb the Boston Marathon. Terrorist attacks are carried out for a reason. The Washington sniper duo did what they did because they hated white people. Once they got started they were willing to kill black people as well because the situation feeds on itself. These fellows did not flee as I expected they would. that indicates to me that they intended to continue bombing in the Boston area. they do not seem to have understood how resourceful US law enforcement would be so they di not want to attract attention to themselves by making statements. pl

[turcopolier]

no one

Keep in mind that in the typical Muslim mental tool kit there is no difference between politics and religion. pl

[robt willmann]

The U.S. News -- NBC News article by Pete Williams, Richard Esposito, and Michael Isikoff, et. al., cited by the beaver above, starts with, "Boston and its suburbs, university, and transit system were on total lockdown Friday as police hunted for marathon bombing suspect .... The lockdown initially affected more than 300,000 people in Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brighton, Allston and Belmont, but by 8:00 a.m. the entire city of Boston was paralyzed, officials said."

A city "on lockdown"? Where, one must certainly ask with firmness, is the authority in the U.S. Constitution and the Massachusetts Constitution for the executive branch at least of Massachusetts to order everyone in a city and four universities not to move and to stay inside and to be on "lockdown" while police look for one criminal suspect, alleged to be 19 years old?

The answer: there is no such authority, but it is being done anyway.

Where, we might also ask, are the talkative Harvard Law School professors Laurence Tribe (constitutional law) and Alan Dershowitz (criminal law)?

This illegal "lockdown" business started, of course, in schools, and "journalists" and media dutifully used the word. Predictably, its use first as a descriptive word, then as an order in schools, is now expanded to a major city. Notice the slick line by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, as quoted in the article: "We are asking people to shelter in place".

Although this assertion by an executive branch seems surreal, it grotesquely real.

And not a peep from the Sheep.

I remember the well-known and basically true saying here in Texas -- "One riot, one Ranger" -- referring to the Texas Rangers, the small law enforcement group with statewide jurisdiction that still exists.

How this once great country has declined.