It has become painfully clear that the federal government blew it when dealing with the Boston bombers. Even after receiving multiple warnings from the Russians that the Tsarnaev family and Tamarlan Tsarnaev in particular were suspected Islamic terrorists, the FBI and other federal agencies did essentially nothing. The government claims that the FBI checked out the Tsarnaevs but that claim is belied by the fact that the same FBI office that supposedly did a detailed check could not identify the Tsarnaev brothers from the photos taken at the Marathon. This was a failure of federal law enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security and our intelligence agencies. The proper response from president Obama would be to admit that there was a failure and to take action to make sure that no more such failures occur. That would protect Americans from future bombs. But nothing of the sort has happened. Instead, we get some really strange excuses and happenings designed to deflect criticism.
Sadly, the mainstream media is now getting in on that action. This morning, the AP ran a story detailing that the Russians had recorded conversations in which Tamarlan and his mother discussed jihad and one in which the mother spoke to suspected terrorists in the Chechnya area. This is important news. After all, it reinforces the obvious conclusion that the Tsarnaevs were affiliated with Islamic terror groups and were not the so called "lone wolves" that some want them to be. Without a doubt, it is a much bigger failure for the FBI to miss an attack by an arm of an Islamic terror group than a one off attack by some demented lone wolves. But that is not the way that the AP reporters pose the story. No, according to the AP, the big issue is why the Russians did not hand over the tapes of the phone conversations until after the bombing. The AP reporters actually state it this way:
The conversations are significant because, had they been revealed earlier, they might have been enough evidence for the FBI to initiate a more thorough investigation of the Tsarnaev family.
Just to make sure that their readers do not blame the federal government for the failure to prevent the bombing, the reporters go on to say this:
Even had the FBI received the information from the Russian wiretaps earlier, it's not clear that the government could have prevented the attack.
That's right. Ignoring the warning from the Russians and the reality on the ground in Boston was no big deal. The feds could not have stopped the bombing anyway -- at least according to the AP.
Even this bit of apology for the federal government's failures was not enough for the AP. The reporters have to restate the story that explains why the FBI supposedly missed the Tsarnaev brothers. Once again, here is how the AP poses it:
After receiving the narrow tip from Russia in March 2011, the FBI opened a preliminary investigation into Tamerlan and his mother. But the scope was extremely limited under the FBI's internal procedures. After a few months, they found no evidence Tamerlan or his mother were involved in terrorism. The FBI asked Russia for more information. After hearing nothing, it closed the case in June 2011. In the fall of 2011, the FSB contacted the CIA with the same information. Again the FBI asked Russia for more details and never heard back.....
Authorities have said they've seen no connection between the brothers and a foreign terrorist group. Dzhohkar told FBI interrogators that he and his brother were angry over wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the deaths of Muslim civilians there.
So there you have it. The Russians only gave the feds a narrow tip, nothing big, nothing important. The FBI only did a preliminary investigation which was extremely limited as a result. The Russians were asked for more info and never responded, except when they did in the fall of 2011. Oh, and there is no connection between the Tsarnaev and foreign terrorists.
The AP is playing politics with a tragedy and a failure of America's defenses. We are seeing a zeal to protect president Obama from any negative fallout of this failure. What we need is zeal to protect America, not Obama.
Sadly, the mainstream media is now getting in on that action. This morning, the AP ran a story detailing that the Russians had recorded conversations in which Tamarlan and his mother discussed jihad and one in which the mother spoke to suspected terrorists in the Chechnya area. This is important news. After all, it reinforces the obvious conclusion that the Tsarnaevs were affiliated with Islamic terror groups and were not the so called "lone wolves" that some want them to be. Without a doubt, it is a much bigger failure for the FBI to miss an attack by an arm of an Islamic terror group than a one off attack by some demented lone wolves. But that is not the way that the AP reporters pose the story. No, according to the AP, the big issue is why the Russians did not hand over the tapes of the phone conversations until after the bombing. The AP reporters actually state it this way:
The conversations are significant because, had they been revealed earlier, they might have been enough evidence for the FBI to initiate a more thorough investigation of the Tsarnaev family.
Just to make sure that their readers do not blame the federal government for the failure to prevent the bombing, the reporters go on to say this:
Even had the FBI received the information from the Russian wiretaps earlier, it's not clear that the government could have prevented the attack.
That's right. Ignoring the warning from the Russians and the reality on the ground in Boston was no big deal. The feds could not have stopped the bombing anyway -- at least according to the AP.
Even this bit of apology for the federal government's failures was not enough for the AP. The reporters have to restate the story that explains why the FBI supposedly missed the Tsarnaev brothers. Once again, here is how the AP poses it:
After receiving the narrow tip from Russia in March 2011, the FBI opened a preliminary investigation into Tamerlan and his mother. But the scope was extremely limited under the FBI's internal procedures. After a few months, they found no evidence Tamerlan or his mother were involved in terrorism. The FBI asked Russia for more information. After hearing nothing, it closed the case in June 2011. In the fall of 2011, the FSB contacted the CIA with the same information. Again the FBI asked Russia for more details and never heard back.....
Authorities have said they've seen no connection between the brothers and a foreign terrorist group. Dzhohkar told FBI interrogators that he and his brother were angry over wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the deaths of Muslim civilians there.
So there you have it. The Russians only gave the feds a narrow tip, nothing big, nothing important. The FBI only did a preliminary investigation which was extremely limited as a result. The Russians were asked for more info and never responded, except when they did in the fall of 2011. Oh, and there is no connection between the Tsarnaev and foreign terrorists.
The AP is playing politics with a tragedy and a failure of America's defenses. We are seeing a zeal to protect president Obama from any negative fallout of this failure. What we need is zeal to protect America, not Obama.
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