Two explosions at Boston marathon finish line

[stickdog99]

Connections between uncle & CIA absurd

Ex-CIA agent Graham Fuller denied any connections between the CIA and the Boston bombing suspects after reports surfaced about his daughter once being married to the suspects’ uncle, Ruslan Tsarni.

Fuller confirmed that his daughter, Samantha A. Fuller, was married to Ruslan for three to four years in the 1990s, when his surname was then spelled Tsarnaev.

Fuller, former CIA officer in Turkey and vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council, told Al-Monitor that internet rumors about “possible connections between Ruslan and the Agency through me are absurd.”

“Samantha was married to Ruslan Tsarnaev (Tsarni) for 3-4 years, and they lived in Bishkek for one year where Samantha was working for Price Waterhouse on privatization projects,” said Fuller, who retired from the CIA in 1987. “They also lived in our house in [Maryland] for a year or so and they were divorced in 1999, I believe.”

He described Ruslan as an interesting son-in-law, but said he was homesick and moved back to Central Asia after the couple divorced.

“Like all Chechens, Ruslan was very concerned about his native land, but I saw no particular involvement in politics, [although] he did try to contact other Chechens around,” Fuller said. “He also felt homesick and eventually went back to Central Asia after the divorce. His English was shaky. (We always spoke Russian together).”

Fuller said he thinks he met father of the suspects, Aznor Tsarnaev, once in Kazakhstan, but he admitted his daughter knew the family better.

[stickdog99]

LOL

According to (ex-CIA agent) Fuller, the suspects’ mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva was not an ethnic Chechen herself, but Dagestani, and so the family spoke the couple’s common language Russian, not Chechen, at home. “People who lose their native language (identity) sometimes are more fanatic in some respects,” he observed.

LOL at Juan Cole: Kids Were Rebelling Against Their CIA-intermarrying Uncle and Russia-loving Father

But I see clues here to family dynamics that may be important in understanding what happened. In Ivan Turgenev’s 1862, novel, “Fathers and Sons,” the old man’s son, Arkady, comes back home after studies with a friend, Bazarov, after both had adopted the radical philosophy of Nihilism. Their radicalism roiled the family for a while, until Bazarov’s death. (Later, in 1881, Nihilists assassinated Tsar Alexander II).

The key back in 2013, I think, is Maret Tsarnaeva’s assertion that the father, Anzor, ‘worked in the enforcement agencies’ in Russian Chechnya. It appears she meant he worked as an attorney for the prosecutor’s office in Soviet Kyrgyzstan, i.e. for the Communist, Stalinist state.

‘We were,’ she said, ‘lucky to get him out of Kyrgyzstan alive,’ presumably because radical Muslims were trying to track him down and take revenge on him there.

If he had been a Soviet era prosecutor, a lot of people in Kyrgyzstan would have had a grudge with him. Hence his abortive attempts to flee first to Chechnya in the early 90s and to Daghestan later. She also seems to imply that he was given asylum in the US easily, precisely because he had been an ‘enforcer'. ...

In her interview, Maret Tsarnaev seemed to me to say that the father of the two, Anzor Tsarnaev, had worked as an ‘enforcer’ for the Russian authorities, I take it as a policeman or security official. That was the reason, she said, that he had to flee to Kyrgyzstan. That is, far from being rooted in the Muslim fundamentalist wing of the Chechnya rebellion, as many are assuming, the family appears to have been part of the Soviet and then secular Kyrgyz establishment and opposed to religious radicalism there. [My guess last Friday that the family is on the side of the Kadyrov-Putin establishment in Chechnya found some support on Sunday when AP reported that Anzor Tsarnaev married one of his daughters off to a policeman serving Ramzan Kadyrov; such police are at daggers drawn with the radical fundamentalists.] ...

This sounds to me like a classic father-son struggle, and a tale of adolescent rebellion, in which radical Muslim vigilanteism appears mainly as a tool for the young men to get back to their father, and perhaps to wipe off the shame they had begun feeling about the family having been on the wrong side of the Chechnya fundamentalist uprising. They were playing the nihilists Arkady and Bazarov in Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons. The shame of the secular uncle may have been mirrored from the other side in the shame of the newly religious-nationalist adolescents.

[stickdog99]

NY Officials Angry Because FBI Failed To Share Disinfo With NY Officials Before James Allen Fox Invented It

That they’d put the Big Apple in their sights was no surprise for the New York City Police Department or New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "When you catch a terrorist and look at a map in his or her pocket," Bloomberg has said for years, "it is always a map of New York."

What did surprise Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, according to well informed sources, was the delay of more than 48 hours from the time the Federal Bureau of Investigation first had this information confirmed to the time word reached responsible officials in Gotham. According to these same sources, not only was the NYPD kept out of the loop, so was the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York, which includes NYPD detectives but is run by the FBI. ...

After the bombing, as The Daily Beast’s Michael Daly has pointed out here, you’d have thought some agent connected with the 2011 questioning of Tamerlan Tsarnaev would have recognized him from the pictures the Feds pulled together of the two most likely suspects in the marathon crowd on Monday, April 15. Had that happened, authorities could have tracked down Tamerlan and Dzhokhar quite easily. They had returned to their everyday lives. But it seems no one in the FBI’s Boston Field Office recognized Tamerlan from the photos. ...

The FBI first questioned Dzokhar the following night in the hospital. He could barely respond because of a bullet wound to his throat. He said that the brothers had intended to go to New York “to party.” But it wasn’t clear whether that meant a celebration or if it was his demented shorthand for another attempted massacre. From Sunday into Monday the Feds questioned Dzohar in more detail and he said the idea had been to take the bombs to Times Square, which he had visited last year, and to set them off there.

That information was not passed on to the NYPD until Wednesday night,which is the source of irritation at City Hall and One Police Plaza. It's also the source of some embarrassment, since on Wednesday morning Kelly had repeated the canard about the Tarnaevs heading to New York "to party."

Officials familiar with the case say it does not appear the oversight was an intentional snub, although the bad blood between the NYPD and some members of the FBI goes back more than a decade. Rather, they say it appears that when the FBI’s central office in Washington took over this very-high-profile case, it brought in protocols and even computer systems that short-circuited the normal arrangements for information sharing.

[stickdog99]

Why didn't FBI recognize Tamerlan?

But the very fact that the FBI had interviewed Tamerlan back in 2011 presents the possibility, however slight, that the death of another person who was buried Tuesday really might have been prevented.

That other funeral was for MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, and the question is, why the investigators who interviewed Tamerlan did not recognize him before the photos of the bombers were made public.

Agents and cops may forget a name, but they seldom forget a face. And had an investigator exclaimed, “Hey, I know that guy!” the FBI and the Boston cops could have been outside the Tsarnaev home in 15 minutes. Tamerlan and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, might have been grabbed before the public release of their pictures, before they turned so desperate that they walked up to the cruiser where Collier sat and allegedly executed him.

A retired FBI counterterrorism supervisor says he cannot imagine that the Boston office failed to show everybody the photos prior to sharing them with the world. Maybe both the investigators who questioned him had retired or were transferred. Or perhaps the bosses were so worried about leaks that they did not include everybody in the loop.

Whatever the explanation, the investigators who interviewed Tamerlan no doubt are feeling as if they have landed in their worst nightmare. The situation brings to mind the famously hard-luck FBI agent James Hosty, who ran another routine investigation related to Russia, that of Lee Harvey Oswald just prior to the Kennedy assassination. Hosty had found no evidence that Oswald was a threat to national security, despite having lived in the Soviet Union and having a Russian wife.

“I can see some poor guy telling himself, ‘I’m the new Jim Hosty,” the retired supervisor said of those who seem to have been similarly blameless in finding Tamerlan to be no apparent threat. ...

Still, at the very least, the agents should have recognized Tamerlan. That is, unless they for some reason did not have a chance to see the photos before the rest of us did and before the brothers went on their rampage.

[stickdog99]

Russia had wiretap on bomb suspect
Apr. 27, 2013 5:04 PM | 0 Comments

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say Russian authorities secretly recorded a conversation in 2011 in which one of the Boston bombing suspects vaguely discussed jihad with his mother.

Officials say a second call was recorded between the suspects' mother and a man under FBI investigation living in southern Russia.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing case.

They say the Russians shared this intelligence with the U.S. in the past few days.

The conversations are significant because, had they been revealed earlier, there might have been enough evidence for the FBI to initiate a more thorough investigation of the Boston bombing suspects' family.

Tamerlan didn't leave for Russia until January 2012. Do Russians generally wiretap US residents while they are living in the US? Does this come with or without the blessing of Homeland Security's Domestic Wiretapping Czar?

I would guess the tap was on the mother's end

The mother did not leave the US until Tamerlan got back from Russia.

[stickdog99]

Who Trained the Brothers?

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Sunday that the FBI is investigating in the United States and overseas to determine whether the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing received training that helped them carry out the attack.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is charged with joining with his older brother, Tamerlan, who's now dead, in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs. The bombs were triggered by a remote detonator of the kind used in remote-control toys, U.S. officials have said. U.S. officials investigating the bombings have told The Associated Press that so far there is no evidence to date of a wider plot, including training, direction or funding for the attacks. ...

"I think given the level of sophistication of this device, the fact that the pressure cooker is a signature device that goes back to Pakistan, Afghanistan, leads me to believe - and the way they handled these devices and the tradecraft - ... that there was a trainer and the question is where is that trainer or trainers," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on "Fox News Sunday."

"Are they overseas in the Chechen region or are they in the United States?" McCaul said. "In my conversations with the FBI, that's the big question. They've casted a wide net both overseas and in the United States to find out where this person is. But I think the experts all agree that there is someone who did train these two individuals." ...

On ABC's "This Week," moderator George Stephanopoulos raised the question to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee about FBI suspicions that the brothers had help in getting the bombs together.

[justdrew]

Russia had wiretap on bomb suspect
Apr. 27, 2013 5:04 PM | 0 Comments

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say Russian authorities secretly recorded a conversation in 2011 in which one of the Boston bombing suspects vaguely discussed jihad with his mother.

Officials say a second call was recorded between the suspects' mother and a man under FBI investigation living in southern Russia.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing case.

They say the Russians shared this intelligence with the U.S. in the past few days.

The conversations are significant because, had they been revealed earlier, there might have been enough evidence for the FBI to initiate a more thorough investigation of the Boston bombing suspects' family.

Tamerlan didn't leave for Russia until January 2012. Do Russians generally wiretap US residents while they are living in the US? Does this come with or without the blessing of Homeland Security's Domestic Wiretapping Czar?

I would guess the tap was on the mother's end

The mother did not leave the US until Tamerlan got back from Russia.

well, on the Russian end then...

Officials say a second call was recorded between the suspects' mother and a man under FBI investigation living in southern Russia.

I guess it was a conference call or he was with his mother and they had two phones in the house?

[FourthBase]

Let it be said again, that stickdog99 is posting one after another great link.

Rather, they say it appears that when the FBI’s central office in Washington took over this very-high-profile case, it brought in protocols and even computer systems that short-circuited the normal arrangements for information sharing.

Hmmm...interesting, to say the fucking least.

[hiddenite]

http://waltham.patch.com/articles/arrest-of-neighbor-to-triple-murder-scene-unrealted-to-homicides-da-says

Arrest Of Neighbor To Triple Murder Scene Unrelated To Homicides, DA Says
Geoffrey Langton is accused of trying to rob two men and threatening to kill a man.
By Ryan Grannan-Doll Email the author September 23, 2011
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The recent arrest of a neighbor to the scene of a recent triple murder was unrelated to the homicides, according to Middlesex County District Attorney spokesman Cara O’Brien.

Geoffrey S. Langton, 19, of 16 Harding Ave., was arrested on Sept. 20 and charged with threatening to commit a crime (to wit bodily injury) and armed assault to report, according to Waltham District Court records.

Langton, who spoke to reporters at the scene of the triple murder, is scheduled for an Oct. 3 arraignment.

O’Brien said the incident “is separate and completely unrelated.”

According to court records, Langton attempted to steal marijuana from two men who were hanging out in a shed behind 28 McKenna St. Upon entering the shed, Langton waved a small pocket knife at the two men and demanded they hand over their stash of marijuana, according to court records. Langton also asked the victims to open the safe, in which the marijuana was being stored, and hand it to him. Suddenly, three people entered the shed and “spooked” Langton into running before he could get any pot, according to court records. Langton fled to a truck on Benefit Street, where somebody was waiting to drive him away from the scene.

As Langton and the vehicle’s driver were fleeing the scene, Langton allegedly threatened to kill the driver if he said anything about the incident, according to court records. The driver then dropped Langton off at the Waltham Common, adjacent to City Hall.

Police later arrested Langton at his home.

Related Topics: Geoffrey Langton, Harding Ave Deaths, and Waltham Tripler Murder

[stickdog99]

Father & Mother Give Up

Dressed in a black shirt and black trousers, he passionately defended his sons' innocence, saying they had nothing to do with Islamist extremists.

"I feel hopeless. We are simple people. We are trying to understand. We are attacked from all sides," he said, clutching his head in despair.

"I don't know whether I should talk or stay silent. I don't want to harm my child. ... We are used to all sorts of things here but we didn't expect this from the United States."

He and other members of the family believe a man shown on television being led naked into a police car the night of the shootout was Tamerlan, and that the blurry footage, still widely available on YouTube, proves Tamerlan was captured alive. Boston police say Tamerlan was killed in a shootout, and the man seen being led into the car was a bystander who was briefly detained.

Anzor Tsarnaev said he raised the issue with U.S. officials who visited him earlier in the week in his home in Dagestan.

"I asked them: 'I saw my child alive, he was being put into a police vehicle alive and healthy. How come media said he was killed?' They were shocked themselves," the father said.

[stickdog99]

Russian Newspaper Claims Tamerlan Attended a 2012 CIA Seminar

[stickdog99]

No shit, Sherlock?

Meanwhile, McCaul and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said the use of a type of bomb common in Pakistan and Afghanistan and detonating the device with a toy car's remote may signal the brothers had help.

“The way they handled these devices and the trade craft leads me to believe that there was a trainer,” McCaul said. “Where is that trainer or trainers?”

Manchin, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” said he has seen the online magazine Inspire, which is affiliated with al-Qaida, showing how to build a device and the Boston bomb was more sophisticated.

“I think they were a little bit more advanced than what the website would have allowed a person to be,” he said.

[justdrew]

Russian Newspaper Claims Tamerlan Attended a 2012 CIA Seminar

and their response...

A Note of Protest by the “Fund of Caucasus”
on the defamatory information about the act of terrorism in Boston published by the newspaper “Izvestia” on April 24, 2013

The “Fund of Caucasus” rejects the defamatory information published by the newspaper “Izvestia” about the possible recruitment of the North Caucasians for serving “in favor of Georgia and the USA”. The “Fund of Caucasus” has never organized either seminars or meetings for this reason.

The “Fund of Caucasus” rejects an acquaintance with Tamerlan Tsarnayev – a participant of Boston attack and has no information about his presence in Georgia.

The “Fund of Caucasus” rejects the accusation about being involved in promoting extremist intentions and encouraging destabilization in south regions of Russia.

The “Fund of Caucasus” confirms that main aim is to establish and develop scientific, cultural, and humanitarian relations between the peoples of the South and North Caucasus (see the web-page: www.caucasus.org.ge).

The mentioned publication seems to be one more attempt of a certain circles to blame Georgia and in that way to discredit its image in front of the civilized world.

It is obvious that these circles are against the popularization of ancient cultures of the peoples of Caucasus and want to prevent peaceful co-existence of the Caucasian peoples; these circles are acting against the interests of Georgia, peoples of the Caucasus, the USA, and Russia as well.

We also believe that one of the reasons of such an informational war is the fact that in 2013 the President of the “Fund of Caucasus” was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the famous scientists and public figures of the South and North Caucasus, Israel and Poland “For the many-year activities - the development of brotherly relations and contribution to the peaceful collaboration among the peoples of the Caucasus”.

And lastly, we would like to remind the authors of the accusatorial publication in the newspaper “Izvestia” the Biblical commandment: “Thou shall not bear false witness”

We demand from the newspaper “Izvestia” to publishes the full text of this Note of Protest.

[stickdog99]

Entire interview. This sounds like much more like the real story.

[stickdog99]

BrassCheckTV

CONFIRMED: Katherine Russell (alleged bomber's wife) is granddaughter of Richard Warren Russell, Skull and Bones member and entrepreneur in the energy industry.

Russell's obituary lists Warren King Russell II as son - and that's Katherine's emergency room doctor father.

That means wife had family spook connections as well as husband Tamerlan (Uncle Rusla). And both had fast, dramatic and uncharacteristic conversions to a perverted form of Islam favored by the gangster family that runs Saudi Arabia and works hand in hand with our spooks.

What does a massive coincidence like this mean?

You tell me. All I can do is report the stuff no one else seems to be able to get around to. (Nice in-depth front page article today Washington Post on the "mystery" of Tamerlan that breathes a hint of none of this.)

Katherine reportedly wanted to join the Peace Corps. Maybe she actually joined the agency the Peace Corps is a cover for. Who knows? I sure don't, but it's odd.