Patterico's Pontifications

4/21/2013

FBI Admits It: Russian Government Told Us Tsarnaev Was a “Follower of Radical Islam”

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 10:39 pm



In case you were wondering what the Russians told the FBI, here you go:

Deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was identified by a foreign government as a “follower of radical Islam and a strong believer” whose personality had changed drastically in just a year, according to the FBI.

As investigators considered possible motives for Monday’s fatal bombings, U.S. authorities acknowledged that an unnamed government had contacted the FBI to say the 26-year-old ethnic Chechen “had changed drastically” since 2010 and was preparing to leave the United States “to join unspecified underground groups,” according to an official statement from the FBI.

This report specifies “a foreign government.” That’s obviously Russia — duh! — but if you require confirmation, here it is.

When the two ethnic Chechen suspects were identified, the FBI said it reviewed its records and found that in early 2011, a foreign government — which law enforcement officials confirmed was Russia — had asked for information about Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The FBI said it was told that Tsarnaev was a “follower of radical Islam” and was preparing to travel to this foreign country to join unspecified underground groups.

WHAT DIFFERENCE, AT THIS POINT, DOES IT MAKE??? THERE ARE FOUR PEOPLE DEAD!!!

62 Responses to “FBI Admits It: Russian Government Told Us Tsarnaev Was a “Follower of Radical Islam””

  1. At this point, “The Hillary” may end up being the Obama Administration’s default answer to everything.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  2. Rank speculation

    JD (b63a52)

  3. no you can’t have me lucky charms you freak

    please go away

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  4. On the plus side, we now have proof that the Obama administration does not walk in lockstep with Russia.

    Icy (f2bc79)

  5. This administration has been much more aggressive in many ways in its war on terror, but I think it’s a clumsy aggression. The drone strikes today kill thousands more than Bush’s did, but they also kill intel opportunities. Our football spiking admin after the OBL triumph not only wasted tremendous intel potential, but actually gave up information we shouldn’t have given… just to maximize the PR gains.

    And we’ve seen a lot of strange decisions about how to discuss terrorism. I wonder what warnings about Islamic radicals and terrorism look like after they are run through a filter that deletes Islam and the word terrorism.

    I still don’t understand how Nidal Hasan managed to succeed… we should have seen that coming a mile away. But that wasn’t terrorism at all. It was workplace violence, so says the administration that hesitated to call the Boston massacre terrorism because maybe it was a tax day thing.

    So how does our administration learn from its series of failures and mistakes? I would hope through open discussion during oversight. The Benghazi stonewall proves this is not going to happen, and this is truly unfortunate for the victims of the next failure.

    Dustin (2da3a2)

  6. The pant suit darling should be in prison.
    The republicans are useless.

    mg (31009b)

  7. Members of Congress express concern about how the FBI handled Tsarnaev.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  8. Personally,given the Russians under Putins regime, I would not have believed them or given much creedence to their concerns, they are highly skilled liars and these two were of no importance or skilled in 2011

    E.PWJ (6140f6)

  9. Now is the time for all good Americans to Profile.

    mg (31009b)

  10. Pity the news media. They gave non-stop coverage to a story that fits none of their preferred narratives. The bombers are Muslims, not members of the Tea Party. The original crime was perpetrated not with guns but with home-made bombs, so it did not fit the gun-control narrative. The accused bombers are immigrants, which undercuts the narrative the media wants to tell on immigration. The bombing represents a failure of their beloved Obama administration, which did not protect the country against terrorism. Now as they are struggling to undo the damage that their extensive coverage of this story has done to their preferred narratives, details keep emerging to make the story even more damaging. And it seems that most of them never saw this coming because they remain convinced that the true danger of terrorism and violence comes from the domestic right.

    nohype (e63a98)

  11. If the Muslims Islamists are all so urinated off about Georhe Bush’s policies, why is it that they strike places like Boston and New York, where their victims are far more likely to be brie-eating, peace-loving, Democrat-voting, NPR listening diversity-seeking liberals?

    Why do they always target blue states? Why aren’t they attacking Houston or Dallas?

    The inquisitive Dana (3e4784)

  12. @10 nohype’s excellent comment above about the media and their narratives reminded me of this article about Erin Burnett after she’d seen the first released grainy photos of the actual suspects and made, uh, some on-air assumptions:

    (what she) ….was implying was that the suspects in the photos were white Americans who were born in this country.
    “They are young. They’re white. They’re very confident. They kind of look like college kids,” Burnett said on the Thursday evening edition of her low-rated primetime show, “Outfront.”

    Later in the show, when Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) mentioned that he knew the, “Justice Department has requested the assistance of foreign countries in terms of foreign travel” about the suspects, Burnett seemed shocked.
    “On foreign travel?” she incredulously asked.

    McCaul said there, “may be some sort of foreign connection here.”

    “Wait,” Burnett interrupted. “Let me make sure I understand. Sorry, I want to make you understand. So they’re still looking into the possibility that even though these two kids look very, very stereotypically like they’re from here that this may be linked to a foreign terror group?”
    McCaul then reiterated that it was “unclear and the nationalities are very unclear from the images that you see.”

    http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/04/20/CNN-s-Erin-Burnett-Assumed-Terrorism-Suspects-Were-Stereotypically-White-Americans

    elissa (09631c)

  13. What are they looking at on the computer at passport control? How can it be the FBI wouldn’t flag the file of someone who has been brought to our attention by a foreign government? What is the computer for if not for tracking people who may be dangerous and traveling into the country from suspect locations?

    MayBee (d48d90)

  14. Maybee, I’m wondering if he wasn’t traveling under a false name. I’ve seen rumor-reporting to that effect, and his Amazon wishlist, which must be proof they monitor noone’s reading list, includes book after book after book about creating false identities/identity documents.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  15. according to the FBI.

    Terrorists have to be laughing their asses off at us, and rightly so. If they have even a slight inkling of how idiotic the social-political scene has become in the US, and the Western world in general, they must realize we make for easy pickings. We’ve made ourselves vulnerable in a Nidal-Hasan-ized manner.

    The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and we and the clowns in high positions of power (hello, Barry!) are driving down it fast and furiously.

    Mark (1f64a7)

  16. FYI
    Beck is currently talking about the saudi in the hospital and claiming major government cover-up.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  17. Was it a false Russian passport? Getting a visa for Russia is difficult. You have to get an “invitation”.

    MayBee (d48d90)

  18. Very interesting! Sarah

    MayBee (d48d90)

  19. Here is some print about the saudi:
    http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/041813-652517-boston-bombing-timeline-suggests-obama-saudi-coverup.htm
    via:
    http://www.bizzyblog.com/2013/04/22/ibd-questions-presence-and-treatment-of-ali-alharbi-tackled-fleeing-boston-marathon-bombing-scene/

    Apparently there is a paper trail as well as scrutiny of comments that show the person was involved and investigation was under way then the brakes were slammed on by someone very high up.

    Apparently Congressman Hunter and a few others have copies of some of the early documentation.

    But the concern is raised that it will be turned into something under the DOJ (not Immigration) and silence will ensue because of “ongoing investigation” ala Benghazi.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  20. Always follow links by narciso.

    It’s an interesting question that I am unsure about. I think a non-US citizen involved in terror should be treated as just that, a foreign national involved in an unconventional war against the US.
    But a US citizen raises the concern about when suspending basic rights is justified.

    And when this administration can’t do the obvious with Hasan, I’m not sure how they can be trusted with much of anything.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  21. One would think since he wasn’t a citizen till September 2012, they should have at least done surveilance, specially after he came back from
    Dagestan,

    narciso (3fec35)

  22. This one wasn’t a citizen, right?

    MayBee (d48d90)

  23. Right – this concerns Tamerlan, who never became a citizen.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  24. This apparently held up his citizenship – not conclusively, but for further investigation. His fatehr had said the domestic violenece accusation did.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  25. “Why aren’t attacking Dallas or Houston?”

    Texans shoot back. Or maybe first.

    Seriously folks, I predict a lot of acecovering from the FBI. But they drank the kool-aid just like all those Obama voters.

    glenn (647d76)

  26. Let’s get this right, as Tamerlan Tsarnaev prepared to visit Dagestan and Chechnaya it was the Russians who were concerned that someone their security services identified as increasingly radicalized was applying for an entry visa, ostensiblely to visit his father.

    They didn’t initiate the exchange to alert the US authorities to a potential terrorist threat here, but to ask for up-to-date information on a man they feared was a follower of radical Islam was planning to visit their country in order to join unspecified underground groups.

    After the FBI interviewed Tamerlan, Russia approved the visit (because the FBI cleared him?).

    During his time in Dagestan and Chechnaya Tamerlan’s father urged him not to stay and settle but to return and to seek the US citizenship which he subsequently applied for following his return in July 2011 were upon he was again questioned by the FBI (as reported by is mother).

    After the bombing when the two Chechen brothers were identified as possible suspects, the FBI began to obsfuscate their previous role first by attempting to withhold the fact it was Russia (a foreign government) that initiated the inquiry, and then claiming only one interview with Tamerlan. I count at least 3 possible face-to-face interviews, one at the request of the Russians, another one on his return to the US, and a third as part of his citizenship application. Then there’s his mother’s report of at least one very significant telephone contact.

    At FBI headquarters in Washington, spokesman Michael Kortan stood by the bureau’s public statement of Friday in which the bureau described a 2011 FBI interview of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Kortan said the 2011 interview was the only FBI contact with Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The FBI statement said that the FBI did not learn of the identity of Tamerlan and his brother until Friday after the gun battle in which Tamerlan was killed.

    However, Tamerlan’s mother again tells a different story. This Sunday she claimed the FBI contacted her elder son by telephone after the bombing and before the carjacking and shootout where Tamerlan was killed. If she’s telling the truth, and that’s yet to be confirmed, it would prove that Tamerlan was on the FBI’s radar and in much sharper focus well before they have yet been willing to reveal and in direct contradiction to their public statements.

    ropelight (2286db)

  27. Well, Kim Jon Eun (sp?) of North Korea (whose threats seem to have gone into hibernation) did target Texas.

    He showed himself giving orders to prepare to launch ICBMs against Washington, Los Angeles, Hawaii and Austin, Texas.

    Now of course people wondered why is New York off the list and Austin on it.

    Possible explanations could be:

    A) New York City is the home of Madison Square Garden and The Harlem Globetrotters, but there is no basketball of any consequence played in Austin, Texas. But what about the Lakers and some colleges?

    B) Kim intended to threaten the capitals of the two largest states – and New York is now only the third largest state – and somehow thought Los Angeles was the capital of California.

    C) Kim intended to threaten the largest city in the two largest states, and somebody mixed up Austin with Houston, possibly because of transliteration errors into the Korean alphabet.

    D) Kim was afraid maybe some of his diplomats would defect if they were on the target site, and he dipolomats in New York because of the United Nations, and none in Washington, D.C. so he removed New York City from the list. But why substitute Austin, texas, of all places? Because Samsung has a big factory there, and electronic equipment made by Samsung has been smuggled into North Korea.

    I think D is the correct answer.

    After people noticed North Korea announced or did another propaganda video indicating the target was the U.S. Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

    But again he targeted Texas, or at least Louisiana.

    His map or graphic showed the missile hitting somewhere near Shreveport, Louisiana.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  28. What I read that Tamerlan’s mother said was that while he being pursued he called her in Russia, saying that he was being pursued by police and that he loved her – and the call suddenly cut out.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  29. News reports say that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was only identified as one of the bombers after the shootout, from a fingerprint. Before that they had pictures, but no names.

    Earlier it was said they used State Department records.

    Both could be true – that’s where there was a fingerprint match.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  30. Deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was identified by a foreign government as a “follower of radical Islam and a strong believer” whose personality had changed drastically in just a year, according to the FBI.

    8. Comment by E.PWJ (6140f6) — 4/22/2013 @ 2:10 am

    Personally,given the Russians under Putins regime, I would not have believed them or given much creedence to their concerns, they are highly skilled liars and these two were of no importance or skilled in 2011

    I read somewhere in anewspaper today but I cannopt find the article that the FBI (or sources) said that Russia refused to give any more information other than what they first communicated

    http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/2011-request-for-information-on-tamerlan-tsarnaev-from-foreign-government

    The FBI said they were told “that it was based on information that he 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.”

    And they wouldn’t elaborate.

    Even now they won’t say any more, and there are “sensitive” negotiations going on.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  31. Hey, what happened to North Korea? You know, The Gang from Pyongang, the Yellow River Peril, the 38th Parallel Seal of the Apocalypse, the Jun That’s Un, those guys. They’re nowhere on the news. Aren’t they our bete noir du jour no more?

    nk (875f57)

  32. NK From Reddit: http://i.imgur.com/id8nMnu.jpg (contains a vulgarism)

    SarahW (b0e533)

  33. I predict on no other evidence that its track record with Benghazi, where their prior conduct was not implicated, that the FBI investigation into the Tsarnaev cell activities will go exactly no where.

    Seventeen days later they spent a half-day in Benghazi, collected their per diem and vamoosed.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  34. I predict on no other evidence that its track record with Benghazi, where their prior conduct was not implicated, that the FBI investigation into the Tsarnaev cell activities will go exactly no where.

    Seventeen days later they spent a half-day in Benghazi, collected their per diem and vamoosed.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  35. Comment by nk (875f57) — 4/22/2013 @ 9:32 am

    Hey, what happened to North Korea? You know, The Gang from Pyongang, the Yellow River Peril, the 38th Parallel Seal of the Apocalypse, the Jun That’s Un, those guys. They’re nowhere on the news. Aren’t they our bete noir du jour no more?

    I think South Korea warned them if they tried anything (that killed anyone I presume) they’d topple their government, and China told North Korea they wouldn’t interfere.

    So April 15 did not bring, as everyone was expecting, a North Korean nuclear test, maybe a test with a live bomb, – maybe a live bomb exploding not in the atmosphere but somewhere on the ground in Japan – or maybe something that would also serve as a test of an anti-missile defense system because Obama decided he would not try to destroy the missile on the ground, but instead try the harder task of shooting it down in the air.

    But instead April 15 brought bombs exploding near the end of the Boston Marathon route after about 3/4 of the racers had finished the race.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  36. We know the path leads to Dujana/Dolgutov, who was not as obvious a flag as Awlaki, but reason for concern,

    narciso (3fec35)

  37. When will this PC madness in our national defense industry stop??

    Patricia (be0117)

  38. #39, Patricia When we get loyal American leadership from the top down, and not before.

    ropelight (2286db)

  39. I wonder the same thing, Patricia. Do we have to lose a small city?

    elissa (09631c)

  40. It doesn’t seem to amount as much of a deterrent.

    http://freebeacon.com/five-terrorists-who-struck-after-being-interviewed-by-the-fbi/

    narciso (3fec35)

  41. So just when was it following J. Edgar Hoover, American ‘Intelligence’, as regards the Feds, re-estabished ownership of the moniker?

    Anyone?

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/04/tamerlan-tsarnaev-was-5th-person-since-9-11-to-participate-in-terrorist-activities-despite-being-under-federal-investigation/

    I mean it certainly hasn’t been used with respect anytime during the last twenty years. The DHS has only made things worse.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  42. It’s almost like some people are good at finding the suspects, but somebody else orders “catch and release”.

    It would be interesting to know how many total have been given the same level of scrutiny, and how many have been given the same level of scrutiny and have had an intervention that prevented an attack.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  43. A eensy light at the end of the investigative tunnel?

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/04/tamerlan-tsarnaev-was-5th-person-since-9-11-to-participate-in-terrorist-activities-despite-being-under-federal-investigation/

    Rimshot of death for legislated amnesty.

    The FBI managed to show up at MIT the evening Tamerlan bit, after the corpus delecti was carted off the stage.

    We give them credit for the pinch because they stayed the ph*ck clear and let the attacker’s apply the coup de grace to their injured and captured.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  44. 44. Oh could it be the AG, whose wife an AB-GYN placed her inherited abortion clinic in a blind trust after its administrator was indicted for Medicare fraud?

    Said AG has never initiated proceedings against said clinic.

    Or maybe its the AG who ran guns into Mexico?

    OTOH, possibly its the one who gives voter intimidation a blind eye. Or maybe..

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  45. OB-Gyn, rather.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  46. OT, in an overarching sense:

    http://minx.cc/?post=339333

    Anyone have the thought the DHS is welfare for work for all the wannabe cops and lawyers who don’t have the legs for patrolling or the verbal skills for lawyering?

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  47. Shocka, the Chechen brothers got their guns via illicit means.

    http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/04/21/us/21reuters-usa-explosions-boston-guns.html?hp&_r=1&

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  48. Where’s all the kneebuckling hot FBI agents at?

    https://twitter.com/charlescwcooke/status/324983174142783488

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  49. Via Larwyn and Doug Ross:

    http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/2315-context-and-contact-exploring-agents-of-influence-in-the-boston-attacks.html

    We haven’t even gotten to FBI shennanigans like entrapment or outright faux conspiracies quashed by the suits.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  50. We lost 3000 on 9/11! And many more since (see the list of five terrorists that were ignored).

    I don’t know, elissa. Maybe if they hit some lawmakers next time they will finally leap into action.

    Patricia (be0117)

  51. That’s chilling, narciso #42.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  52. It seems nacisso, that terrorists and criminals don’t ever bother to get licenses or background checks to buy guns or illegally build bombs. Wonder why that is? Since laws against murder and using weapons of mass destruction seem to have no deterrent value to them, why in hell does anyone think that lesser laws are going to be a deterrent? Dhimmicraps magically assume that these scum would be deterred by background checks and gun free zones. Sounds more like unicorn farts and pixie dust to me.

    Give me fifteen minutes in Chicago or NYC, two of the most handgun restricted cities in the USA, and I will be able to procure a handgun. Give me fifteen more, and I will be able to get you an M60, grenades or even more destructive weapons.

    peedoffamerican (a84075)

  53. That is ifn you have enough cash or gold.

    peedoffamerican (04dfe5)

  54. Pat why did your site give me two different identifying numbers after my name? Same computer and the comments were just three minutes apart.

    peedoffamerican (35b482)

  55. And now its three different ones. Could it be because I have a satellite connection?

    peedoffamerican (35b482)

  56. The f.b.i. should by the Heroe a couple cartons of smokes.
    I wonder what brand he enjoys? Perhaps he is a Marlboro Man.

    mg (31009b)

  57. Comment by peedoffamerican (a84075) — 4/23/2013 @ 2:04 am

    Dhimmicraps magically assume that these scum would be deterred by background checks and gun free zones.

    Not deterred, prevented. Deterred yes by the prospect of getting arrested and going to jail for carrying an illegal gun, and that’s true in New York but not so much in Chicago.

    Give me fifteen minutes in Chicago or NYC, two of the most handgun restricted cities in the USA, and I will be able to procure a handgun. Give me fifteen more, and I will be able to get you an M60, grenades or even more destructive weapons.

    Really???

    In 15 or 30 minutes, with no prior contacts?

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  58. Yes, Sammy, 15 minutes in any of several select ethnic ‘hoods, and you can find several someone’s that will sell you a piece, and will be able to point you in the direction of someone that can provide heavier artillery if’n you have enuff scratch to buy it with.

    Just like if’n you wants you some good times with some illicit drugs or women, you just have to knows where you gots to look fo’ it so’s you can finds it. You dig what I’m asayin’ dog?

    Whether it be Little China, Little Mexico, Little Puerto Rico, Shanty Town, The Hood, etc. etc. etc., there is always a prevalent criminal element that can deliver whatever yo’ little heart desires as long as you don’t smell like “The Man” and show the proper respect.

    Hell in NYC, you can damn near buy a pistola on any street corner.

    peedoffamerican (ee1de0)

  59. “Hell in NYC, you can buy a pistola on damn near every street corner.”

    peedoffamerican (ee1de0)

  60. Went on a roadtrip to the Apple with a friend while living in MD about 30 years ago, I was offered sex for sale half a dozen times, drugs about the same amount of times, and weapons sales three times in a 15 minute three block walk from my friends parents house to a local market. They moved not long after that and have since passed on. But yeah, it’s there to buy if you want it, and not hard to find at all.

    peedoffamerican (ee1de0)


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