The Russian Connection? Experts Cautious About Moscow’s ‘Tip’ To FBI

[DonViejo]

The Russian Connection: What Can Moscow’s Tip Tell Us About The Boston Bombings?

-snip-

Experts who talked to TPM described the request to look into Tsarnaev that the FBI received from the Russian government as a fairly common occurrence.

Dr. Christopher Swift, is a professor at Georgetown University, lawyer, and former Treasury Department official who researches terrorist organizations. His work has taken him to both the Middle East and Chechnya. He said the Russian government often participates in information exchanges with U.S. law enforcement officials about terrorism.

“These are routine,” Swift said of Russia’s request to the FBI. “On terrorism issues, this is one of the few places where the United States and Russia maintain some semblance of a functional relationship.”

Steve Sestanovich, who served as America’s ambassador-at-large to Russia from 1997 to 2001 and is currently a senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, agreed it would be fairly standard practice for Russia to reach out to American law enforcement agencies for information about someone applying for a visa to Chechnya, which Tsarnaev reportedly visited during his trip to Russia last year.

“It wouldn’t be too surprising for the Russians to ask for information on any Chechen visa applicant — certainly 20-something males,” said Sestanovich.

Both Swift and Sestanovich said that the U.S. government would have had reasons to take Russia’s concerns about Tsarnaev with a grain of salt. Swift suggested Russia’s desire to stamp out extremists in Chechnya motivates some of the information they distribute about the region and that it is his “understanding” that “the Russians have sent us a lot of bad data in the past.”

“One of the things we have to be very careful about is trusting what the Russians tell us, because they have other equities involved. They want to show Chechnya’s part of Al Qaeda, when it’s not. They want to show things that help them politically that may not necessarily be true,” explained Swift. “So, we’ve got to be very careful about how we do our due diligence on the intelligence the Russians give us.”

Sestanovich raised the possibilty the Russians may not actually have had information about Tsarnaev being tied to Chechen rebels.

“Question: Did the Russians really have any information on him, or were they just fishing?” Sestanovich asked.

-snip-

full article
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/04/the-russian-connection-what-can-moscows-tip-tell-us-about-the-boston-bombings.php?ref=fpa

[dballance]

1. "They want to show Chechnya’s part of Al Qaeda, when it’s not." Very Important Statement

I think that is a very important statement that I doubt will get any time in the MSM. Or by our government officials for that matter. It plays better for them if they can tie all Muslim extremists back to Al Qaeda; further justifying our interference in the Middle East.

[LisaL]

2. If that is the attitude that FBI had before questioning the older brother, then

I am not surprised they decided he was not a threat.
Big mistake.

[DonViejo]

3. How so? The FBI was asked to check him...

out when he made his visa application. If the Russians were concerned about him, why didn't they watch him for the six months he was there (assuming that's when he received his "training" and was radicalized)

[LisaL]

4. How do we know Russians didn't watch him when he was there?

Obviously he didn't blow anything up while in Russia.

[DonViejo]

5. We don't know...

but if that's when he received his training and radicalization, why didn't THEY alert us? Granted, it's an assumption about his radicalization and training but, there seems to be an abundance of information on line and through postings here on DU, that something went seriously wrong in the last three to four years, aside from the denial of citizenship, that had a profound impact on him.

[sofa king]

6. Hop on the word-substitution time machine:

“One of the things we have to be very careful about is trusting what the Americans tell us, because they have other equities involved. They want to show Iraq’s part of Al Qaeda, when it’s not. They want to show things that help them politically that may not necessarily be true,” explained Swift. “So, we’ve got to be very careful about how we do our due diligence on the intelligence the Americans give us.”

Look at that, I change three little words and it's 2003 all over again.

[FarCenter]

7. Smith in particular appears to be an apologist for the US program to destabilize the Caucasus

They would like us to think that Chechen extremists are simply the result of "freedom fighters" inside the former USSR.

They would like us to ignore the Salafist-Wahhabi elements from Saudi Arabia, supported by the US, who infiltrated Chechnya and ultimately subverted the moderate Sufi Islam of Chechnya.

Other posters on this site have testified to Chechen fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting against US forces. There have also been news reports of Chechens in Syria fighting with Sunni islamist forces there.

While Chechen and other Caucasus Islamic extremists may have been our allies in the destabilization of the southern flank of the former Soviet Union, they are no longer.