By James Madison
I am shaking mad. Boston is my town. And with what we know now, we can say the FBI might as well have killed and maimed all those people in Boston themselves. Consider what we know.
- The FBI interviewed Tamlerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother, in early 2011, after Russian intelligence initiated contact to warn us that he "had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the United States for travel to the country’s region to join unspecified underground groups."
- After that interview, Russian intelligence warned the FBI a number of times more to keep an eye on this guy, and that he was a bad actor.
- One of those warnings came as late as sometime after October 2011, according to senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee briefed last Tuesday by Deputy FBI Director Sean M. Joyce and officials from the National Counter-terrorism Center and the Department of Homeland Security.
- In 2012, just as predicted by the Russians, Tamerlan travels to Chechnya for six months.
- US Representative Mike McCaul, Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, expresses astonishment that when Tamerlan returns, "one of the first things he does is put up a website throwing out all this jihadist rhetoric," yet the FBI still does not put a "flag" on him or keep him under surveillance in any way. This is despite the vast new array of tools granted to law enforcement since 9/11 for the purpose of making the surveillance of terrorist suspects easier, and the vast NSA data mining and storage facilities which civil libertarians fear can be used against law-abiding American citizens. Tamerlan is not an American citizen, which means he is not entitled to even the minimal privacy protections guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.
- The FBI and other federal agencies have dishonestly portrayed its interactions with Russian intelligence as "requests for information" from the Russians in which no incriminating information was found. This is damage control. The Russians weren't asking us. They were telling us.
- The FBI initially denied contacting Tamerlan, which means we can't believe anything it says outside of proceedings under oath. If they lied about that, they could be lying about anything.
At what point does official negligence become complicity? It will require more investigation and questioning of officials to determine who signed off on what, and why. For now, the facts have been confirmed by intelligence briefings received by the Senate Intelligence Committee, by members of the key House committees, and by the FBI's own statement at its own website saying that Tamerlan:
"was a follower of radical Islam and a strong believer, and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the United States for travel to the country’s region to join unspecified underground groups."
In addition the New York Times has now reported that the Russian intelligence service reached out not only to the FBI but to the CIA as well.
Representative McCaul expresses dismay that a trip to Chechnya did not set off screaming sirens inside the alphabet soup of agencies charged with "protecting us," and now seen at any protest of any size which consists of Americans exercising First Amendment rights. McCaul said: "The American people need to understand that the Chechen rebels are some of the fiercest jihadist warriors out there...they have also made an alliance with Al Qaeda."
McCaul noted that Chechen jihadists are active in Iraq, and are clearly "in the fight."
So far, the skilled bureaucratic infighters and spin artists at the FBI have deployed the usual gambits citing "miscommunication" between agencies, even blaming the misspelling of names on watch lists. Numerous alerts from the no-nonsense Russian intelligence service did not result in the FBI knowing where non-citizen Tamerlan was, and what he was doing, every minute of the day. But the government has been caught actively spying on activists who criticize drone strikes in Afghanistan and organize protests for Bradley Manning.
But known terrorists who kill and maim people?
One US counter-terrorism official recently said, "If we thoroughly investigated every one of these terrorism tips we get, we'd never get anything done." This is a slap in the face of the American people as we lay bleeding in the streets.
Too many brave police officers did their jobs fearlessly, no, in spite of fear, with no excuses until their man was off the streets. With no excuses, they faced gunfire and closed in on their man. One officer is dead in the line of duty, and another gravely wounded. We must hold the FBI and the federal government to the same standard. The sacrifices of these officers demands no less.
Related:I am shaking mad. Boston is my town. And with what we know now, we can say the FBI might as well have killed and maimed all those people in Boston themselves. Consider what we know.
- The FBI interviewed Tamlerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother, in early 2011, after Russian intelligence initiated contact to warn us that he "had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the United States for travel to the country’s region to join unspecified underground groups."
- After that interview, Russian intelligence warned the FBI a number of times more to keep an eye on this guy, and that he was a bad actor.
- One of those warnings came as late as sometime after October 2011, according to senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee briefed last Tuesday by Deputy FBI Director Sean M. Joyce and officials from the National Counter-terrorism Center and the Department of Homeland Security.
- In 2012, just as predicted by the Russians, Tamerlan travels to Chechnya for six months.
- US Representative Mike McCaul, Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, expresses astonishment that when Tamerlan returns, "one of the first things he does is put up a website throwing out all this jihadist rhetoric," yet the FBI still does not put a "flag" on him or keep him under surveillance in any way. This is despite the vast new array of tools granted to law enforcement since 9/11 for the purpose of making the surveillance of terrorist suspects easier, and the vast NSA data mining and storage facilities which civil libertarians fear can be used against law-abiding American citizens. Tamerlan is not an American citizen, which means he is not entitled to even the minimal privacy protections guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.
- The FBI and other federal agencies have dishonestly portrayed its interactions with Russian intelligence as "requests for information" from the Russians in which no incriminating information was found. This is damage control. The Russians weren't asking us. They were telling us.
- The FBI initially denied contacting Tamerlan, which means we can't believe anything it says outside of proceedings under oath. If they lied about that, they could be lying about anything.
At what point does official negligence become complicity? It will require more investigation and questioning of officials to determine who signed off on what, and why. For now, the facts have been confirmed by intelligence briefings received by the Senate Intelligence Committee, by members of the key House committees, and by the FBI's own statement at its own website saying that Tamerlan:
"was a follower of radical Islam and a strong believer, and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the United States for travel to the country’s region to join unspecified underground groups."
In addition the New York Times has now reported that the Russian intelligence service reached out not only to the FBI but to the CIA as well.
Representative McCaul expresses dismay that a trip to Chechnya did not set off screaming sirens inside the alphabet soup of agencies charged with "protecting us," and now seen at any protest of any size which consists of Americans exercising First Amendment rights. McCaul said: "The American people need to understand that the Chechen rebels are some of the fiercest jihadist warriors out there...they have also made an alliance with Al Qaeda."
McCaul noted that Chechen jihadists are active in Iraq, and are clearly "in the fight."
So far, the skilled bureaucratic infighters and spin artists at the FBI have deployed the usual gambits citing "miscommunication" between agencies, even blaming the misspelling of names on watch lists. Numerous alerts from the no-nonsense Russian intelligence service did not result in the FBI knowing where non-citizen Tamerlan was, and what he was doing, every minute of the day. But the government has been caught actively spying on activists who criticize drone strikes in Afghanistan and organize protests for Bradley Manning.
But known terrorists who kill and maim people?
One US counter-terrorism official recently said, "If we thoroughly investigated every one of these terrorism tips we get, we'd never get anything done." This is a slap in the face of the American people as we lay bleeding in the streets.
Too many brave police officers did their jobs fearlessly, no, in spite of fear, with no excuses until their man was off the streets. With no excuses, they faced gunfire and closed in on their man. One officer is dead in the line of duty, and another gravely wounded. We must hold the FBI and the federal government to the same standard. The sacrifices of these officers demands no less.
US Representative Mike Mccaul (R-TX) on CNN
Congressman says FBI failed to 'flag' bomber after 2011 interview
"FBI interviewed Boston bomber in 2011 at urging of Russia"
"Mother of suspect says FBI maintained contact with older brother"
