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Related: About this forumBoston Bombing Suspects' uncle tells of familial break
This is an interview with the uncle of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. It is about 27 minutes long.
It is from CNN, but most of the talking is done by the uncle. So, it is interesting to watch.
LukeFL
(594 posts)He was not more involve in those kids lives. Apparently he had not seen them since 2009. What kind of family do that?
He remembers the oldest's happy youth- why didn't he do more for them?
elleng
(130,126 posts)between Boston area and DC area, and family relationships. Not clear about interviewee's relationship with his own brother and sister-in-law.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)the kids are now 18, 20 and 24. i have always been there for them. and i wont take their shit. they know it. they come to me sincerely, nad i am there. they play their manipulative games that their father taught them, they go.
i am also respected and listened to by these kids.
two of them now use me as their base. but, they had to get to a point in their lives where this is what THEY wanted. i could not do it for them.
the other is still out there fucking up. i cant make him do right. but, i am here for him when he is ready.
that is the best we can do....
as far as i know. others may be better. i am not that good. just this.
DonViejo
(60,536 posts)and had not spoken with until last Fall when he required open heart surgery. He had to be detoxed before the surgery could be performed. During this time period I spoke with his daughter, my niece, who has received a degree in psychology. In one of our phone conversations she said, "I was raised by a drunken father and a drug addicted mother, I had to pull myself up or become just like them." She's accomplished that goal.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)still_one
(91,938 posts)Wernothelpless
(410 posts)This man chose to protect his own children from his nephews ..... you can see he's torn now, but he knows as a father it is what he had to do ....
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)it all.
i really like this man. liked him from day one. integrity. it means something.
from all i read, i see it exactly as he says it.
now... shame on cnn. not giving this man a kleenex immediately. that drove me mad. i wanted to hand him a kleenex.
xiamiam
(4,906 posts)he brings authentic thoughtful human to the situation re his nephews. I'm glad he's done these interviews including his anger the other day. He is powerful in a very good way. Maybe its the honesty and compassion and sorrow and understanding combined. I don't know but I think he is right when he says that Tamerlan was influenced right there in Cambridge in 2009.
Thanks for posting this.
zeemike
(18,998 posts)This is more relevant than all the TV shows on the air...and more revealing as to the motive...
The one person I would like to talk to is that "new convert to Islam" he talked about.
CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)some kind of ideology or concept or preaching technique that changed the older brother.
Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)It has to be defeating to see what you think might be going on with the nephews being led astray, but not to be able to do anything about it. I think we have all had some member of the family or extended family head down the wrong path and wish we could turn them into a detour to the right road, so it doesn't take much to understand what he is saying.
Listen to the entire interview. He is a broken man, but still willing to do what he can to convince his nephew to tell everything and to make amends to those who lost so much.
hlthe2b
(101,707 posts)DonViejo
(60,536 posts)While the Uncle has made his feelings clear about the older brother, I have a feeling he doesn't have much regard/respect for his SIL, the mother of the boys
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)what i have read separately about her, i do not either.
DonViejo
(60,536 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,572 posts)Triana
(22,666 posts)The man is clearly sincere and clearly very upset about what has happened with his nephews. I don't think there was any more he could do. You cannot raise your brother's children for him or guide or babysit them when they are in another state or town -- and when they are by all rights grown men.
And yes, why didn't the CNN schmucks give him a tissue or something.
Control-Z
(15,681 posts)It is clear he is suffering. I hope he finds peace.
xiamiam
(4,906 posts)GitRDun
(1,846 posts)We would all be fortunate to have him as our neighbors.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Thanks for posting this.
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)The family broke --
I know that there appears to be an element of radical religiousity here, but I am starting to believe that this might be a case of the Older brother not meeting the standards expected of him -- watching his brother do well -- and then being let to care for him after the parents fled--
The older brother, by almost every account sounds like he has been pretty angst ridden for years -- listen to the part where the Uncle talks about his wanting to go to harvard. He never got the scholarship for boxing. His brother got one for wrestling.
Then his parents leave the USA and tell him to watch out for the younger brother. All this happens after both Uncles appear to have stopped communication with this part of the family.
I think this is more about a depraved man who may have some serious failures in life than religious extremism. He himself said -- in a photo essay about his dreams to be a boxer -- that he had 'no friends' in America -- this was a year an a half after the person he called his best friend was killed in nearby Waltham. He didn't have friends because by every account I've read, he wasn't friendly.
This Uncle is talking about serious family fissures -- He knows more, and seeing him as a prideful man, he is only saying what he can. He reminds me of some members of my family.
I wonder if the younger brother even knew what he was involved in. This kid -- this 19 year old wasn't hiding in a boat in order to die for a cause. He was hiding. It was his brother that went out like James Cagney in White Heat. No one ever called him a martyr.
-- and yes, I just wonder.
There is a part of me that thinks we might see that this case is more like what happened in DC with the sniper -- or maybe columbine -- than anything terrorist related.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)at 26 not having accomplished what he felt he deserved and turning to extremism to justify his failings.
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)anAustralianobserver
(633 posts)dkf
(37,305 posts)It is so sad that Tamerlan didn't listen to his uncle's advice and did not realize how wise he is. What a waste.