I’m especially interested in Dzokhar, I see little to nothing that would explain his motive or actions.
As far as I am aware Tamerlane’s widow who he had a toddler with has also never provided any interview or explanation.
This is unusual for terrorists, they usually use their crime as a pulpit almost to get their views or motives out.
I’m not proposing a conspiracy theory, I just find it inexplicable the father and husband of a toddler daughter and his younger brother do something like this and no real motive or explanation in their own words or those who knew them is offered.
To head off duh replies, Islamic terrorism is not what I consider a coherent motive.
I’m not sure what you’re looking for. Dzokhar literally wrote his motive out while hiding in the boat while the police were searching for him. He felt the attacks were revenge for US military invasions of Afghanistan and Iran. I don’t think any reason to doubt that statement has emerged since.
he was a pissed-off 19-year-old douchebag who needed to feel “important” and this was his way of making sure the world knows who he is. in case you hadn’t noticed, most of these people become “radicalized” when they’re in their teens, because teenagers are incredibly stupid.
My theory is that a lot of these disaffected young terrorists come from similar households where parents have immigrated to western culture, but spend all their time raging against everything in it; liberal dress, liberal morals, liberated women, etc, etc.
Possibly because they find themselves no better off and surprisingly unable to accept the kind of open mindedness and change required to succeed in another culture. Their children are left as vessels of the parent’s rage, the culture of their peers constantly derided. This produces youngsters filled with regular teenaged angst, topped with misplaced parental rage, and cultural alienation.
They will never feel that they fit in, with school mates or peers. As they mature more they must surely recognize they don’t fit in here, nor any longer in their homelands either, and possibly never will!
I know, from Muslim friends, that this topic is much discussed at the local mosque. The community recognizes how dysfunctional and damaging this dynamic is, but struggles with how to help such families. The imam speaks out against it even.
Terrorists are by-and-large not crazy, either in the legal or clinical sense. They are rational and know exactly what they’re doing and why. What they are is radicalized - inculcated into an extremely binary way of thinking about the world. It’s very tempting. It makes the world suddenly seem very simple: you’re either on the side of perfect righteousness or are completely evil and must be destroyed. That kind of world model can be very appealing to someone who is struggling to make their way in the world.
A lot of young males, of every religion and NO religion, are constantly pissed off at pretty much everyone and everything around them. Sometimes, one particular person or group becomes a specific target of that anger. Other times, the kids just hate everyone in general.
Dylan Roof turned his anger on blacks. The Borat brothers (er, Tsarnaev brothers) turned theirs on the USA. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris turned theirs on their entire school.
The elder Tsarnaev brother is supsected of involvement ina triple homicide (Waltham, MA, in 2012). The case is still shrouded in mystery-no new info has been released.
If I could talk to Dzokhar, since talking to Tamerlane involves a Ouija board, and he agreed to answer me honestly, I would ask him a few simple questions. What was your end game? Did you think the entire country would rise up and call you a hero for what you did? Did you think that someone was going to sweep in and safely take you out of the country and then you would be made a hero? Was it really all about the 22 virgins?
I have to believe that they put a little thought into what if they figure out we did it and come after us. Shooting it out with law enforcement usually isn’t a great way to escape a tight situation. I can’t see how this could possible turn out well for them under any circumstances, no matter how far fetched, that I can imagine. You kill a bunch of innocent people and then what? Revenge for liberating Iraq from a dictator and Afghanistan from the repressive Taliban regime? It doesn’t add up for me.
Also, it’s hard to believe that Tamerlane’s wife knew absolutely nothing about this plot. Either she was incredible stupid not to know, or Tamerlane was incredibly smart about hiding what he was up to. You decide. Tamerlane just doesn’t seem all that bright to me.
Confession notwithstanding, I think it’s still prudent at this time to harbor a conspiracy theory, or at least keep it on the back burner. Neither brother behaved like a committed Jihadist. Both wanted to become landed immigrants. I think the younger had done so, but the elder’s application was in jeopardy due to, iirc, charge(s) of domestic violence by a partner, maybe even conviction(s), though I don’t remember this for sure. I think the older brother became an asset of the FBI or CIA in order to hopefully advance his application beyond the point at which it was stuck. I think his trip to Chechnya and Dagestan was on behalf of his handling agency. I think the fact that two rebel leaders were killed soon after meeting him was the fruit of his trip. He had located them for his handlers, who were in a cooperative situation with Soviet intelligence. I don’t know how much of this the younger brother knew. My inner conspiratorialist tells me probably not much. It also tells me that probably neither of them thought they were doing any more than participating in a drill on the day of the Marathon. I’m not sure why the younger accepted his attorney’s suggestion to plead guilty. (I’ve linked something in another response re the boat “confession”.) It reminds me somewhat of Timothy McVeigh’s guilty plea in the OKC bombing trial. All in all I find that there are too many unresolved inconsistencies to accept the official account. (Hey, I didn’t even mention the unfortunate Ibragim Todashev. He was killed because his phone or email or whatever was on the older Tsarnaev’s electronic device. I don’t use these things so don’t know how to properly refer to them. I think Todashev’s death is very important to an understanding of the Tsarnaev situation. I think it’s significant that a corrupt and dismissed California cop was hired by the FBI and sent to interview him. I think it’s significant that he was shot, according to the FBI narrative, as he was about to sign a confession (I think re the Waltham murders. And I can’t help thinking that he was really shot because in communicating with the older Tsarnaev he might know something of his relationship with the FBI or CIA, and it could even have been both.)
Not so. There was no knife, or ceremonial sword taken from the wall. He was killed because, according to the agent, he came from the kitchen bearing a broom handle. But there are pictures of his corpse, dead, multiple wounds, in the short portion of the hallway between the kitchen and the living room. By his outstretched right hand is a packet of cigarets. Under his left shoulder is what seems to the the aluminum handle of a broom or cleaning device.
