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LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 04:11 PM Apr 2013

Mark Geragos blasts media allegations about ‘Armenian’ trace in Boston bombings

Last edited Fri Apr 26, 2013, 05:19 PM - Edit history (1)

http://armenianow.com/news/45632/armenian_misha_boston_bombings_mark_geragos_cnn

News | 26.04.13 | 12:08
Prominent US attorney ridicules media allegations about ‘Armenian’ trace in Boston bombings

Mark Geragos, a well-known Armenian-American criminal defense attorney, has described the ongoing speculation that an ethnic Armenian ‘Moslem convert’ could have been involved in masterminding the recent deadly bombings in Boston as “ludicrous” and "insulting" to Armenians as he spoke to CNN on Thursday.


Snip

“This whole speculation about a recent convert named Misha, which, by the way, is not an Armenian name, is insulting to Armenians everywhere, who, by the way, are the first Christian nation,” said Geragos, who also urged media to be more critical when passing around such information as ‘gospel’.

The prominent representative of the Armenian-American community, which has a sizable presence in Massachusetts as well, reminded of the significance of the current week for Armenians around the world as the 98th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was marked on April 24.

“1.5 million Christian Armenians were wiped out by Moslem Ottoman Turks. So, the idea that there is some convert from Christianity to Moslem who’s doing it, who doesn’t even have an Armenian name, is ludicrous to begin with,” stressed Geragos, suggesting that the bomber suspects’ uncle pass a sobriety test -- “Because I think this guy was under the influence of something.”

Meanwhile, CNN reported more information today about the possible identity of Misha. It said he could be an Armenian from Azerbaijan. Hundreds of Armenians fleeing ethnic violence in Azerbaijan were granted asylum as refugees in the United States in the early 1990s. Many of them settled down in and around Boston.


An Armenian from Azerbaijan?? Hmmmmm...The story changes again.

************************************************
Video below with Geoffrey Toobin and Mark Geragos:
Supporting civilian legal system for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev while blasting Gitmo and statements made by Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Mike Rogers.

Rogers said that ever since the younger Tsarnaev, who is recovering from a bullet wound to his throat, was read his Miranda rights to consult a lawyer and to remain silent, he “has not continued to cooperate with the authorities.”


<src="
?feature=player_detailpage" >

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I think Toobin and Geragos do a good job of explaining the civilian legal process with regard to terrorists.

Personally I am sick of the fear mongering neocons. They are saying there is accomplice. They did interrogate Dzhokhar before reading his rights and used the public safety option. What if police had killed Dzhokhar in the shoot out? What could he say then?
29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Mark Geragos blasts media allegations about ‘Armenian’ trace in Boston bombings (Original Post) LeftInTX Apr 2013 OP
The "Armenian convert to Islam" struck me as odd the first time around jberryhill Apr 2013 #1
Yep, sounds like they just want a scapegoat LeftInTX Apr 2013 #2
Not really. All those places are Ottoman successor states. nt Deep13 Apr 2013 #4
...and rebelled against it something like six times jberryhill Apr 2013 #8
When? Deep13 Apr 2013 #12
Not Turks, Ottomans. Deep13 Apr 2013 #3
What? eissa Apr 2013 #6
Georgian, Kurdish, and Albanian Deep13 Apr 2013 #14
That is simply untrue eissa Apr 2013 #17
The denial is because the genocides against Armenians... Deep13 Apr 2013 #19
There are a handful of Armenians who assimilated with ethnic Turks LeftInTX Apr 2013 #23
yes, the various millets were their own communities... Deep13 Apr 2013 #24
Then what were they??? Then who killed my family??? LeftInTX Apr 2013 #9
Envar Pasha, the CPU people, the Ottoman and then Turkish armies, the deposed Sultan... Deep13 Apr 2013 #15
The Young Turks started out as a multi-ethnic reform minded group LeftInTX Apr 2013 #25
Why is it insulting treestar Apr 2013 #5
Saying Adam Lanza was an American isn't a reflection of all Americans by any means... tarheelsunc Apr 2013 #7
Exactly.. This sort of dissention is what comes from religion being mooshed SoCalDem Apr 2013 #10
Yeah, I'm more concerned that he doesn't exist... LeftInTX Apr 2013 #11
What difference does it make to note his ethnic lineage? Deep13 Apr 2013 #16
Because it makes as much sense eissa Apr 2013 #18
I see. That explains everything. Deep13 Apr 2013 #21
To understand this eissa Apr 2013 #22
Gerragos doesn't know anything. He speculates. kwassa Apr 2013 #13
If Misha exists, he should be easy to find LeftInTX Apr 2013 #20
Tamerlan is responsible for his own radicalization and his own actions. kwassa Apr 2013 #26
adam gadahn is more than likely not a real convert, but an operative. HiPointDem Apr 2013 #27
I think we need to approach anything this family says with LeftInTX Apr 2013 #28
I think that there is a lot of confused thinking in this family in the first place. kwassa Apr 2013 #29
 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
1. The "Armenian convert to Islam" struck me as odd the first time around
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 04:40 PM
Apr 2013

Armenia is quite a different place from its neighbors.

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
2. Yep, sounds like they just want a scapegoat
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 05:07 PM
Apr 2013

Maybe they were somehow trying to divert attention and came up with this "hybrid". It's possible, but no one at the Boston mosques or Armenian community can find this guy.

Deep13

(39,154 posts)
12. When?
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 06:47 PM
Apr 2013

And do you mean all the Armenians, some of the Armenians, or the few that the Russians and British hired as agitators?

eissa

(4,238 posts)
6. What?
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 06:17 PM
Apr 2013

Then what were they, Jamaican? They were/are Turks.

I called bullshit on this fictional Misha right from the start. Chechens have historical grudges against Armenians, joining both the Turks and Azeris in their atrocities against them. It's quite convenient for this family to try and shift the blame to an imaginary member of a hated community rather than believe one of their own committed such heinous acts.

Deep13

(39,154 posts)
14. Georgian, Kurdish, and Albanian
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 06:53 PM
Apr 2013

They were leaders of the CPU, intellectuals, and not Turkish. In fact the idea of a Turkish nation was not really constructed until WW1 and did not get off the ground until Mustafa Kemal took over.

eissa

(4,238 posts)
17. That is simply untrue
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 07:01 PM
Apr 2013

Ottoman Turks, with the assistance of some Caucaus Muslims (Kurds, Chechens, Azeris, etc.) were the perpetrators of the genocide of Armenian, Assyrian and Pontic Greek communities post WWI. This is historical fact.

If it wasn't Turks, then why do they fight so diligently all these years against any country that recognizes the genocide? And why did Turkish-Americans, carrying Turkish flags, show up at last week's genocide protest in Chicago yelling out "you deserved it!" at those commemorating the genocide?

Deep13

(39,154 posts)
19. The denial is because the genocides against Armenians...
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 07:09 PM
Apr 2013

...Assyrians, some Kurds and probably some other groups I don't know about are at the foundations of the Turkish nation-state. To become a Turkish rather than Ottoman state, they felt they had to remove those who were not Turkish despite the centuries-old tradition of being a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional empire. So, what makes Anatolia Turkish as it mostly is today, is a crime of enormous proportion. The feeling is that if it were generally known and accepted it would undermine Turkish unity, something that was only created a short time ago.

Now, officially, there are no ethnic minorities in Turkey, despite the fact that a friend of mine who grew up there is convinced that he is Kurdish and not a "mountain Turk" as teachers insisted when he was going up. Like America, it is a republic built on a monstrous lie, and the truth is seen as too terrible to reveal. So they deny it even to themselves.

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
23. There are a handful of Armenians who assimilated with ethnic Turks
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 07:33 PM
Apr 2013

In one case, it was the tax collector who lived in my grandparent's village. He worked for the Ottoman government and he knew he would no longer be accepted within the Armenian community.

In other cases it was a survival mechanism.

In rare cases the communities would intermingle and an affair would happen. However, the communities were segregated, no dating was allowed and marriages were arranged.

However, even within these strict parameters somehow forbidden love would happen!


Deep13

(39,154 posts)
24. yes, the various millets were their own communities...
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 07:37 PM
Apr 2013

...and for the most part were not integrated, although I have to think that borders areas were more heterogeneous.

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
9. Then what were they??? Then who killed my family???
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 06:32 PM
Apr 2013

I'm Armenian. My family is from Turkey. (Anatolia) Former home of about 3 million Armenians. Turkey was the home of almost all Armenians in the world because we didn't have a country. There was no Armenia at the time.

Trust me, it was the Turks.

The Young Turks were Turks within the Ottoman Turks.

Mark is Armenian and he is articulating this correctly.

Deep13

(39,154 posts)
15. Envar Pasha, the CPU people, the Ottoman and then Turkish armies, the deposed Sultan...
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 06:58 PM
Apr 2013

...Kurdish militia groups and Mustafa Kemal.

No doubt that Turks were involved. No doubt it was a genocide. I'm only saying the "Young Turks" were actually not ethnically Turkish and that before the end of the war, the Ottoman government and military structure, both of which were multiethnic and multiconfessional, was still functioning.

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
25. The Young Turks started out as a multi-ethnic reform minded group
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 09:01 PM
Apr 2013

But that quickly changed in 1909.

The Young Turks overthrew the Sultan in a bloodless revolution, only to have the Sultan regain power in a counter coup. When the Sultan was reinstated, he was viscous. He massacred thousands of Armenians at Adana. I had family who were involved in the Young Turks, but when the Sultan was reinstated in 1909, they had contracts on their heads. They managed to escape to America.

After 1909 the Young Turks changed. They were no longer multi-ethnic reform group anymore. I'm sure the Sultan and instability in the region had something to do with it.

As you know, friends can become enemies very quickly in the Middle East.

tarheelsunc

(2,117 posts)
7. Saying Adam Lanza was an American isn't a reflection of all Americans by any means...
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 06:23 PM
Apr 2013

if there really was an Armenian who was involved, that's also by no means a reflection of all Armenians, it's just a factual statement.

Now, if this guy does not exist, then there is a bit of a problem...

SoCalDem

(103,856 posts)
10. Exactly.. This sort of dissention is what comes from religion being mooshed
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 06:40 PM
Apr 2013

into ethnicity/culture/whatever.

Some embrace both...some embrace neither..some pick and choose according to a situation.

People not IN that mix, are judged unfairly by both sides at any given time.

European/M8iddle Eastern people have been "on the move" since the Crusades...Borders there were amorphous until the British started drawing lines on maps.

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
11. Yeah, I'm more concerned that he doesn't exist...
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 06:45 PM
Apr 2013

And that is why I posted it.
The family could be trying to deflect the investigation in a different direction.

The mom seems to have serious credibility issues.
I don't know about the uncle.

If Misha exists, he exists. Then, I hope they find him.

I'm a bit skeptical as I'm Armenian myself. And the reason I'm skeptical is not because of the story, but because no one can locate this "Misha". An Armenian convert to Islam named Misha living in Boston should be very easy to locate.

Searches of Boston area mosques and the Armenian community have come up empty handed.

Maybe there is someone who radicalized Tamerlin and he isn't Armenian?

Maybe this is an attempt to send authorities on a wild goose chase?

Deep13

(39,154 posts)
16. What difference does it make to note his ethnic lineage?
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 07:00 PM
Apr 2013

Unless it is to feed into the idea of marked citizens.

Deep13

(39,154 posts)
21. I see. That explains everything.
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 07:12 PM
Apr 2013


One of my professors is Jewish and someone wrote on "rate my professor" that she tried to convert him to Islam because she talks about Middle Eastern cultures from their perspective and not from that of Fox News.

eissa

(4,238 posts)
22. To understand this
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 07:22 PM
Apr 2013

You have to understand the region and mentality, one that is extremely conspiracy-minded and where ethnic grudges date back centuries. It is very common for people in this region to blame almost anything that befalls them on some sinister plot involving a member of another community. So of course these boys didn't radicalize on their own, it was one of those evil Armenians who converted to Islam (about as rare as a black member of the KKK) who did this to them. That no one other than members of the bombers' families has ever met, let alone heard, of this fictional character only confirms my belief that he's as real as Santa.

kwassa

(23,340 posts)
13. Gerragos doesn't know anything. He speculates.
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 06:52 PM
Apr 2013


Both the uncle and former brother-in-law know the man named Misha.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/eds-a-version-of-this-story-originally-appeared-in-usa-today-it-is-available-for-use-by-rns-subscribers-please-use-the-usa-today-byline/2013/04/26/a5819ace-aeaa-11e2-b59e-adb43da03a8a_story.html

The Associated Press reported Tuesday (April 23) that relatives of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two suspects, say he came under the influence of a man named Misha who preached to him in his kitchen and turned him to a radical form of Islam.

Tsarnaev’s uncle in Maryland, Ruslan Tsarni, and his former brother-in-law in Kazakhstan, Elmirza Khozhugov, said the man was an Armenian convert who was heavyset, bald, around 30, and had a long reddish beard.

..................................................................................................

Tsarni, 42, is the brother of the boys’ father, and defended his brother as a hard worker who tried to stop his wife from inviting the radical “Misha” into their home. In 2007, Tsarni had a falling out with the Tsarnaev brothers and their mother.

During that time Tsarni said the boys’ father told him “Misha” began visiting the family’s small Cambridge apartment. The man would stay past midnight and talk to the family about Islam. When the Tsarnaevs’ father would object, the wife would brush him off, Tsarni said.

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
20. If Misha exists, he should be easy to find
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 07:10 PM
Apr 2013

I hope authorities are questioning the uncle and former brother in law.

It gets repeated over and over as if this is a fact.

As an Armenian myself, I think Mark did the right thing here. I think we need to view these statements with healthy skepticism. Armenian Misha was repeated over and over, yet no one can find him - not the Boston Islamic community nor the Boston Armenian community.

If there was someone who influenced Tamerlin, this person needs to be located.

However, it is important to look in the right direction. And it's also important not to be feeding the neocons the wrong information. The neocon, Lindsey Graham, is already salivating over Armenian Misha!!


kwassa

(23,340 posts)
26. Tamerlan is responsible for his own radicalization and his own actions.
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 09:34 PM
Apr 2013

It would be unlikely that an Armenian would convert to Islam and take a common Russian nickname as a moniker. Maybe the guy wasn't Armenian.

Stranger things have happened, though.

Here is an American brought up Protestant, with a Jewish grandfather, who converted to Islam and became a member of Al Queda:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Yahiye_Gadahn

Here is an Wikipedia story with a long list of converts to Islam from other backgrounds, who later became terrorists:

http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Converts_to_Islam

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
28. I think we need to approach anything this family says with
Fri Apr 26, 2013, 11:10 PM
Apr 2013

a healthy dose of skepticism.

It's up to the investigators to figure this out. I think Mark was trying to counter-act the media frenzy. It has been crazy with all the Neocons coming out and pointing the finger to this Misha guy because it proves some sort of terrorism conspiracy which Obama is ignoring, if you know what I mean.

They didn't learn about the existence of this Misha guy until AFTER Dzhokhar was advised of his rights and stop talking. So, it just proves their point that Dzhokhar should have not been Mirandized. So, they keep blabbing.

I thought both Geoffrey Toobin and Mark made a good case against the "enemy combatant" status for Dzhokhar in the interview.

kwassa

(23,340 posts)
29. I think that there is a lot of confused thinking in this family in the first place.
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 10:43 AM
Apr 2013

Considering the entire string of remarkably bad decisions made by Tamerlan at all stages of this process. I don't except to find a coherent train of thought behind the belief he developed in the first place.

If there was a Misha, maybe he was an influence, but he might be equally as confused and incoherent as well.

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