REPORT: BOMBING SUSPECTS

adminApril 19, 2013UncategorisedComments are off for this post

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – In one of the images, Tamerlan Tsarnaev is seen massaging the hand of his girlfriend. Reporter, Johannes Hirn wrote,"Tamerlan says his girlfriend is half Portuguese, half Italian girlfriend and converted to Islam: ‘She’s beautiful, man!’"

The story, "Will Box For Passport" by Hirn shows Tamerlan in various poses as he trains for a boxing match. Tamerlan participated in the Golden Gloves competition where he represented New England. He was defeated during the tournament. Tamerlan also told Hirn, "I don’t have a single American friend, I don’t understand them." According to Hirn, Tamerlain had already lived in the United States for five years, fleeing violence in his home country and arriving in the U.S. as a refugee. He was studying to become an engineer.

In another caption, Hirn wrote this: "Tamerlan says he doesn’t drink or smoke anymore: ‘God said no alcohol.’ A muslim, he says: ‘There are no values anymore,’ and worries that ‘people can’t control themselves.’"

Now that the fog of yesterday is starting to lift a bit, there are some really fabulous longer pieces coming out about the brothers Tsarnaev (Tamerlan and Dzokhar).

For the best in biographical details, you can’t beat the Boston Globe’s story on them.

That story includes this mysterious nugget.

Gym owner Allan said that Tamerlan had once introduced him to an American, Brendan Mess, whom Tamerlan described as his best friend.

Two years ago, Mess and two other men were brutally killed in a Waltham apartment where they were found by police with their throats slit and their bodies covered with marijuana. The murders remain unsolved.

Tsarnaev hadn’t been to Allan’s Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts center in years, instead going to another nearby boxing gym.

Until this month.

Allan, who is currently traveling in Thailand, said he got an e-mail within the past week saying Tsarnaev showed up at the gym acting rude and disrespectful, using other people’s equipment, walking on the mats with his shoes.

The other great piece is by The New Yorker’s David Remnick, who fits their story into the broad sweep of Chechen history in Russia.

Gregory Shvedov, the editor of a Web site based in Moscow called Caucasian Knot, visits the Caucasus regularly and studies both the jihadist movement and the Russian government and military’s draconian behavior in the region. He was hardly shocked that two ethnic Chechens, raised largely in the U.S. but with a strong attachment to their homeland, might carry out such an act on a “soft target” like the marathon. “These days there are social networks, and people make their decisions from them,” he said from Moscow. “I would not be surprised if they had another life over social media. What kind of videos are they watching? What kind of lectures and YouTubes about jihad?” If Tamerlan did what he is suspected of doing, he might not have got his education, or instructions, entirely through digital means. On January 12, 2012, he flew from New York to Moscow, a regular target of Chechen rage; he didn’t return until seven months late

Tamerlan Tsarnev, 26, was killed last night in a shootout with police. He was identified in photographs as a prime suspect in the Boston marathon bombings. At the time of his death, he was attempting to flee with his brother and was reportedly wearing a suicide vest.

At this time, his brother, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, is suspect No. 2, and he has also been identified in images from the bombing. Police have surrounded a neighborhood in Watertown, Mass., and are hoping to take him alive to obtain answers as to why the brothers lost control of themselves and went on a murderous spree-that as of this moment, may not have ended.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Brothers Dzhokhar, 26, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, are thought to be responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings which killed 3 and injured nearly 200 others.

Their act was obviously one of terrorism, but what remains to be determined is whether or not the men were part of a larger network, or if they acted independently. Furthermore, where did their extremist views develop, in Chechnya, or in the United States?

According to several sources, the brothers are ethnic Chechens. Chechnya is a state within Russia with a large Muslim population. That population, in the main, seeks to secede from the Russian state and there has been a long-running insurgency there.

The brothers have likely been influenced by this insurgency according to investigators who say that the younger brother, Dzhokhar, recently viewed several propaganda videos on his computer.

However, officials also say that no real connection between Chechen separatists and the brothers has been found.

It is possible the brothers developed their attitudes independently.

The brothers were, in fact, raised mostly in the United States and are probably more a product of American culture than Chechen. Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov said as much when asked to comment. "Any attempt to draw a connection between Chechnya and Tsarnaevs — if they are guilty — is futile. They were raised in the United States, and their attitudes and beliefs were formed there," he said in a statement released on Friday.

Boston itself possibly had as much to do with their attitudes as Chechnya. Boston is a hotbed of racial tension. The city is known for its substantial Irish-American population. It also has a significant Jewish and Muslim population.

Those populations have experienced tensions as recently as 2008 when public dispute erupted over the construction of a mosque. That mosque was backed by Saudi funding and by groups that some say had terrorist connections.

Could a terrorist cell be working in Boston, seeking young, impressionable minds to turn towards mayhem?

That remains the great unknown, but it isn’t outside the realm of possibility. So far, no connections have been made. Nonetheless, these young men were inspired by someone or some group. They probably learned how to make their bombs from some other source.

In the coming days and weeks, it is hoped we will know the answers and if those responsible are within reach, they too may also feel "the full weight of justice."