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I guess I'm in a questioning mood today, and apparently ready for potential controversy, so here are some questions regarding the Boston Marathon bombing.
1) It's hard to argue with success, but I'm kind of like this guy - did we really need to lock down a major US city to find one guy? Yes, he was a terrorist - but surely Boston has had other desperate gangbangers who've killed three or four people running from the law before, and to my knowledge they didn't close the city.
2) Apparently, the fertilizer factory in West, Texas violated Federal anti-terrorist regulations by storing 270 tons of ammonium nitrate. Since the explosion killed 14 and destroyed a town, will the plant owners be charged as terrorists?
3) We are and will continue to hear a lot about how the Tsarnaev brothers were "radicalized" by Islam. How is this different then whatever process radicalized the Aurora Colorado shooter or the nutjob in Arizona? Isn't it equally plausible that the older Tsarnaev felt disconnected and went to find an outlet for his discontent?
4) Related to the above - does anybody really think somebody with the (lack of) planning skills implied in the need to rob a 7/11 for getaway money was backed in any substantial way by Al-Qaeda? I mean, maybe some Al-Qaeda nut is sitting in his hole clapping enthusiastically, but is that "backing?" ETA: Apparently they just visited the 7/11, not robbed it. The question remains - what realistic level of support do we see from Al-Qaeda?
1) It's hard to argue with success, but I'm kind of like this guy - did we really need to lock down a major US city to find one guy? Yes, he was a terrorist - but surely Boston has had other desperate gangbangers who've killed three or four people running from the law before, and to my knowledge they didn't close the city.
2) Apparently, the fertilizer factory in West, Texas violated Federal anti-terrorist regulations by storing 270 tons of ammonium nitrate. Since the explosion killed 14 and destroyed a town, will the plant owners be charged as terrorists?
3) We are and will continue to hear a lot about how the Tsarnaev brothers were "radicalized" by Islam. How is this different then whatever process radicalized the Aurora Colorado shooter or the nutjob in Arizona? Isn't it equally plausible that the older Tsarnaev felt disconnected and went to find an outlet for his discontent?
4) Related to the above - does anybody really think somebody with the (lack of) planning skills implied in the need to rob a 7/11 for getaway money was backed in any substantial way by Al-Qaeda? I mean, maybe some Al-Qaeda nut is sitting in his hole clapping enthusiastically, but is that "backing?" ETA: Apparently they just visited the 7/11, not robbed it. The question remains - what realistic level of support do we see from Al-Qaeda?