That didn’t take long. All of a sudden the Boston bombings have taken a political turn. Who knew what and when. I can see from here that there is a big bulls eye being painted on Janet Napolitano.
Should we retrace the steps taken with these young jihadists wannabes? Absolutely. Any time there is a terrorist attack, successful or unsuccessful, we should look at what went down and what can we learn to prevent similar future events from happening. We should look to see if we need new laws or if our old ones need tweaking.
However, this isn’t the time for the blame-game and turning the situation into a political gotcha. A week or so ago we were one nation standing in full support of the people of Boston. Let’s at least try to keep that spirit for a month and let’s avoid the finger pointing.
I have seen and heard some Republicans licking their lips and whiskers already, in anticipation.
yep!
….
Is that a sly reference to my new beard?
I am more concerned about the nailing of the pelt!!
I cannot imagine why anyone would point fingers at Napolitano. Her focus has been on man-caused disasters and right-wing extremists. So a warning from the Russians certainly would not rate much more than a cursory background check. What could the Russian intelligence possibly possibly know about radicalized Chechneyans?
The Homeland and Intelligence communities dropped the ball. Heads should roll.
Thank you for proving my point, Kelly. You sure know how to politicize a national crisis. So much for national unity.
Just like in the investigations for 9-11, we should figure out why Tamerlan dropped off the radar screen so to speak. But let us not forget all the plots that have been foiled. I think the problem will boil down to not taking seriously the idea of the lone wolf. He had his younger brother to brainwash as his helper so the broader need of an “organization” to support him was probably unneccesary in this case.
What I find encouraging is that even the most he infrequently attended took him aside and told him his hateful rude behavior would not be tolerated.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/24/boston-mosque-refuses-to-bury-alleged-bombers-corpse/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/22/boston-marathon-bombing-suspect-mosque/2104871/
Unlike the high-level screw-up with regard to Benghazi, there would seem to be very little in the Boston Marathon case on which to hang criticism of senior federal management. It looks to me like a slip at the mid-level of counterterrorist operations. It will be reviewed, and adjustments will be made.
There certainly must be a large and constant influx of “tips” to the counterterrorist apparatus — from local law enforcement, from other federal agencies, from domestic and foreign intel sources, from citizens, from foreign liaison entities, from just about anybody here and abroad with a suspicion. You have to prioritize because no one has enough boots on the ground anywhere to be able to launch a full field investigation of every “tip.” You usually go after the ones where you have developed some substantial intel beyond the original tip…with an occasional cold shot in the dark based on an experienced “hunch.”
In this case it looks to me at this point like the Russians, twice asked, were at fault for not providing additional information to back up their original tip and that we did not pursue the issue enough with them at the time. It happens in the press of business. No one who plays regular in the terrorist wars winds up with a fielding average of 1.000. Sad but unavoidable. If you feel badly about this, imagine the counterterrorist officers who missed it. It never rests lightly on the soul.
If you are going to worry about something, worry about recent reports from USG and Brit intelligence(supporting previous Israeli reports) that somebody may be using sarin gas in the Syrian conflict. That is the “Red Line” drawn by Obama. If it proves to be true, we will be facing a very, very difficult humanitarian dilemma; and Syria is not Libya.
The WaPo reported that the Russians said they had nothing on him. Go figure.
Oh sorry, I thought the topic was referring to Chris Matthews immediate jump to some right wing extremist as having done the bombing before the true suspects where identified. I should have known better!
Not this time. @ Alamo
While we should avoid “the blame game” if possible, we should also demand a review/investigation to make sure what we set up post-9/11 is appropriately adjusted to account for the fact that radical-Islamic extremists have changed their tactics. We should review the policies and laws in place, and if it is discovered that some agency or official has been derelict in their duties, there needs to be accountability. Ft. Hood. Little Rock. Ft. Dix. Times Square. Boston. Citizens have been attacked and killed un US soil, by radicalized muslims present in our country. We need to wake up and realize that “truth is not hate-speech”. No matter how much the administration tries to dance around the topic, Ft. Hood was an act of terror, perpetrated by a radicalized muslim who was known to US intelligence and law-enforcement. Calling it “work-place violence” will not change the truth, anymore than calling a cow-pie a steak will change the fact that what’s on the plate is crap. Blame isn’t consutructive. Accountability and truth are.