Simple Boston Bomb Plot Hatched Without Foreign Help, Authorities Believe

[onehandle]

In the hours before Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged with the crime that could lead to the death penalty, authorities tell ABC News the 19-year-old accused terrorist has started to provide his version of the events that led to the deadly Boston Marathon bomb attacks.

For all the power of the two explosions at the Boston Marathon finish line, and for all the dramatic gun fights on the streets of Watertown, and for all the suppositions about the role of disciplined, well-trained terrorists, the college student reportedly told investigators the whole attack was devised from the Internet. The two brothers, he said, had no direction or financing from governments or rogue groups overseas.

Authorities tell ABC News they now believe the two foreign-born brothers were inspired to violence by the Internet preaching's of al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, the charismatic American-born radical jihadist, who has been dead now for more than a year. They used instructions from an al Qaeda Internet magazine to make their pressure cooker bombs. And Dzhokhar, the younger of the brothers, may not have even known about the plot until a week or so before the attack, sources told ABC News.

Seth Jones, a counter-terror expert at the RAND Corporation, said the attack's simplicity and home grown origins may wind up being some of the most chilling aspects the Boston bombing.

http://news.yahoo.com/simple-boston-bomb-plot-hatched-082418855.html

This was domestic terrorism. Now we need to find out where they got the gunpowder and the assault weapons.

No terror cell. Just another Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold type 'dyad.'

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2013/04/tsarnaevs_and_columbine_were_dzhokhar_and_tamerlan_like_dylan_klebold_and.html

I think the families and survivors of Boston should join with the families of Sandy Hook. All victims of domestic terrorism should band together and demand taggants for explosives/ammo, and expanded gun safety laws.

[dkf]

1. And the older brother didn't learn a thing about bombs when he visited Dagestan and Chechnya?

Oh boy this is not a vote of confidence in our intelligence or investigatory capabilities.

I'm beginning to wonder about the competence of our government...yet again.

[onehandle]

3. The plans are widely distributed on the Internet.

This was not an Al Qaeda plot. The people in that area of Asia can only lose if tied to this.

They are distancing themselves.

[dkf]

4. And the vast majority are duds.

The instructions to overhaul a car engine are on the Internet too I imagine. That doesn't mean the average person can get the car running.

And just because this isn't Al Qaeda doesn't mean it's not a problem. Hating America isn't unique to Al Qaeda. Nor is bomb making.

I wonder if this is all political for the purpose of dealing with Russia and its human rights issues. If so that is wrongheaded.

[onehandle]

5. What I mean is that this was not a conspiracy by an organized group.

Yes. Anyone can hate America. Left, Center, Right, or none of the above.

The older brother had problems, and like many mass murderers, delusions of grandeur from a disappointing life.

Leader/follower dynamic.

[dkf]

7. And if the threat has changed the methods of detection must adapt.

How long have they been warning of the lone wolf theory? I now realize its because they know our systems aren't geared to defend against this.

Tracking bomb making inquiries should be so obvious. Add to that posting extremist videos and you wonder how the FBI tells homeland security Tamerlan is clear when they inquire about his US citizenship application in late 2012. What do they have on Tamerlan's attending a notorious mosque when he visits Dagestan? Apparently nothing because they didn't even realize he went to Dagestan!

The FBI and Katherine Russell have that in common...both had no clue anything was going on.

[femmocrat]

2. Probably a dumb question, but...

Doesn't anyone monitor those sites?

During the bush years, there were reports of Homeland Security monitoring (spying) the internet by code words, like "bomb", etc. Is this still going on?

[onehandle]

6. Yeah. A few years ago, a RW militia group was raided after a series of clues led to a conclusion.

They were trying to build bombs and a 'gun factory.' They got some of their info from an Al Qaeda site.

These guys were really dumb and thought that they weren't doing anything illegal. Open activity made them easy to catch.

Unless the older brother was being specifically monitored, there is little chance of detection. These web sites are looked at by all kinds of people including militias, the media, law enforcement, and the curious.

[liberal N proud]

8. This leaves the right wing and their media talking heads in a quandary

They don't know how they will start a war with this information made public.

[marions ghost]

9. yep

unless you can start a war against sociopaths of every nationality...You'd have to first identify the sociopaths at the top levels of all governments.

Shucks, can't even go to war against Chechnya or Dagestan. Darn.

How about we look at what makes young sociopaths, and what makes them pawns of fundamentalist organizations who promote violence?

These killers look like the Norway shooter, just influenced by another extremist ideology.