# The Boston Marathon Bombing Debate Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 15, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799 "2013-04-15T23:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/21 "2013-04-16T00:10:40Z")
Not to put too fine a point on it but radical Muslim terrorists are “right wing”. They just attended different churchs. Not that I think there is any reason to blame them yet. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/22 "2013-04-16T00:15:41Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Not to put too fine a point on it but radical Muslim terrorists are “right wing”. They just attended different churchs. I’m tired. What I _should_ have said is “American right wing” groups. As opposed to the other favored target for blame Al Qaeda, which of course has lots of expertise in bombing. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/23 "2013-04-16T00:19:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > If this is domestic terrorism, I hope it turns out to be a **Commie** terrorist for once. Just to prove they still have some life in 'em, this long after the 1970s. The bombs were crappy enough. The FALN makes crappy bombs, but they usually bomb NYC. While Boston was a hotbed of support for the IRA, they also built better bombs. The militias would want it closer to the anniversaries of Waco and Oklahoma City. The Tea Party might also go for the 19th to remember the battles of Lexington and Concord, but Tax Day is also special to them so I can’t rule them out. Then there are the commies. It’s a stretch, but April 15th is the anniversary of the murders for which Sacco and Vanzetti fried. Anarcho-communists may be ineffectual, but they have long memories. Or it coulda been a lone nut. Lots of them running around. And what’s so sophisticated about using ball bearings instead of nails? ETA: If anybody saw an old person hurrying away from the bomb sites on a Hoveround I’ll be more inclined to go with the Tea Party option. Or Rosie Ruiz. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/24 "2013-04-16T00:21:02Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I’m tired. What I _should_ have said is “American right wing” groups. As opposed to the other favored target for blame Al Qaeda, which of course has lots of expertise in bombing. I think it was a home grown nutter, but the types of bomb doesn’t rule out Al Qaeda. They would have had to use local materials, since attempting to smuggle in more sophisticated stuff would be as silly a risk to blowing the operation as trying to buy more sophisticated stuff when they got here. And, assuming the tactics used weren’t luck, someone knew something here…either ex-military, or someone who reads a lot of military type books on tactics for explosives. Or someone with some training. I still think it was a nut, but won’t surprise me if it’s some AQ wanna-be, or even someone loosely connected to some external terror group. Won’t surprise me, though, if it’s a couple of crazy killer kids either, or even your ‘right wing terrorist’ types. Could be any of them…or even left wing or eco-terrorists, or just some nut who is trying to get the voices out of his or her head and stop the government from reading their mind with cell phone rays in Boston. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/25 "2013-04-16T00:24:39Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] And what’s so sophisticated about using ball bearings instead of nails? [/QUOTE] You can pack more ball bearings in than nails, and they are more effective…which is why the US military uses ball bearings in it’s claymore mines instead of nails. Even nails would be more sophisticated than I would think most lone nutter types would be, plus there is the timing. Not saying this proves anything…but then, this whole thread is nothing more than WAGs and speculation anyway, so what the hell? ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/26 "2013-04-16T00:28:22Z")
Seems very similar to the kinds of bombings that were common at public events in Iraq and Afghanistan. My guess is some kind of retribution for the havoc we’ve inflicted on innocent people in those countries over the past decade. I can’t believe it is a conventional “right-wing” terrorist. Sure, crazy people are crazy, so anything’s possible, but attacking a non-specific group of innocent civilians isn’t really in that playbook. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/27 "2013-04-16T00:29:41Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Well, it’s kind of silly to bomb the Boston Marathon on the day of the _New York_ Marathon Speaking of which, the 2012 NY Marathon got cancelled due to the Sandy aftermath, now I can imagine that preps for the 2013 NY Marathon will be going nuts on the security front, after this. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/28 "2013-04-16T00:31:03Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > The most obvious controversial question is who was behind the bombings? > \ > … I’d caution not to jump to conclusions as initital speculation during the Times Square bombing plot in 2010 and the Tucson shootings and Oslo attacks of 2011 were mistaken Right. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/29 "2013-04-16T00:32:12Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > I think this is a bit of a stretch. In any event, what little right-wing domestic terrorism that has taken place in the United States has almost universally been directed at government, not civilian, targets. > > The coordinate dual-site nature of the attack seems more sophisticated than “lone wolf” attacks are (which, of course, is “being arrested at the materiel purchasing phase”). > > For at least the last fifteen years, three leading purveyor of terroristic activity in the West has been Al Qaeda and its affiliates/successors. They should remain the prime suspect here. Suspect. > [@](#): > > Investigators have a suspect — a Saudi Arabian national — in the horrific Boston Marathon bombings, The Post has learned. > > Law enforcement sources said the 20-year-old suspect was under guard at an undisclosed Boston hospital. > **[Authorities ID person of interest as Saudi national in marathon bombings,...](https://nypost.com/2013/04/15/authorities-id-person-of-interest-as-saudi-national-in-marathon-bombings-under-guard-at-boston-hospital/)** > > Investigators have a suspect — a Saudi Arabian national — in the horrific Boston Marathon bombings, The Post has learned. Law enforcement sources said the 20-year-old suspect was under guard at an … ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/30 "2013-04-16T00:33:28Z")
“Hey, he’s foreign. It must be him.” ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/31 "2013-04-16T00:35:32Z")
It was the moderates. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/32 "2013-04-16T00:36:17Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > “Hey, he’s foreign. It must be him.” Similar to ‘For the reasons already said, and the apparent crudity of the bomb I think we’re probably looking at a right wing terrorist, Either acting alone, in a small group, or if from a larger group isn’t using their resources in order to provide plausibly deniability for the larger movement (which has been claimed of McVeigh).’ except with a shred more credibility as it’s actually in the news. I doubt the story, but it HAS been repeated quite a bit, especially on twitter, so it’s not totally made up horseshit. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/33 "2013-04-16T00:39:38Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > I can’t believe it is a conventional “right-wing” terrorist. Sure, crazy people are crazy, so anything’s possible, but attacking a non-specific group of innocent civilians isn’t really in that playbook. I’ve heard it said that family members of the Sandy Hook massacre were in the VIP section and hit by the bombs. They could be targets of some of the conspiracy nuts who think Sandy Hook was a government conspiracy and who think they are “part of the conspiracy”. I’m already seeing people try to link the two as both “false flag” operations by the government. > [@Chen019](#): > > Suspect. > > [Authorities ID person of interest as Saudi national in marathon bombings, under guard at Boston hospital](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/authorities_under_suspect_guard_y2m8cJO29uC2PDGIjYBalO) Discredited [hours ago](http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/boston-police-no-arrests-have-been-made-in). ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/34 "2013-04-16T00:40:20Z")
> [@Chen019](#): > > Suspect. > > [Authorities ID person of interest as Saudi national in marathon bombings, under guard at Boston hospital](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/authorities_under_suspect_guard_y2m8cJO29uC2PDGIjYBalO) Just call me the Miss Cleo of National Intelligence! Well, except for the fact that I posted that NY Post article in the MPSIMS thread earlier this afternoon and managed to get a lot of people very shirty by doing so… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/35 "2013-04-16T00:43:43Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Just call me the Miss Cleo of National Intelligence! > Well, except for the fact that I posted that NY Post article in the MPSIMS thread earlier this afternoon and managed to get a lot of people very shirty by doing so… Translation: people pointed out you were quoting a really unreliable newspaper, and crowing about the neocons supposedly being right: > [@Explosions at Boston Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/277): > > Sorry, libs, but this is going to be one of those days where reality has a neoconservative bias. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/36 "2013-04-16T00:46:54Z")
The Post article is mentioned in the OP and I expanded on what was reported in post #2. The police have not called the Saudi guy a suspect or even a person of interest. He has not been arrested, and it’s not clear that he had anything to do with this. He could be involved or responsible, or he could have been an Arab guy who was standing near one of the bombs and got singed when it went off. He’s denied responsibility. Some of the particulars in the TPM and Post articles don’t contradict each other, by the way, they just suggest different things. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/37 "2013-04-16T00:51:10Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The Post article is mentioned in the OP and I expanded on what was reported in post #2. The police have not called the Saudi guy a suspect or even a person of interest. He has not been arrested, and it’s not clear that he had anything to do with this. He could be involved or responsible, or he could have been an Arab guy who was standing near one of the bombs and got singed when it went off. He’s denied responsibility. Some of the particulars in the TPM and Post articles don’t contradict each other, by the way, they just suggest different things. Exactly. Basically, even if the police did suspect him they would be doing and saying the same things. What it looks to me, again as a WAG, is that the guy was just caught up in it and perhaps looked suspicious (someone of ME ancestry at a bombing is going to get attention in Boston)…or, some reporters trying desperately to get any info at all they could use simply jumped to conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Randvek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a6a055/32.png) [@Randvek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randvek)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/38 "2013-04-16T00:53:26Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > If this is domestic terrorism, I hope it turns out to be a **Commie** terrorist for once. Just to prove they still have some life in 'em, this long after the 1970s. It’s a bombing that occurred in _Boston_, on _Patriot’s Day_, which happened to fall on April 15th this year, which is also _Tax Day_. If this isn’t a far right anti-government attack, that’s a weird coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/39 "2013-04-16T01:09:03Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > While Islamists are IMO pretty much the default go-too guys in terrorist attacks > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Why not just say “Muslims”? Because they’re not the same thing. Muslims are adherents to the religion of Islam; “Islamists” are the subset of that group who believe in Islamic law and that society and government as a whole should be Islamic. (And even “Islamist” doesn’t _necessarily_ equate to “terrorist”–some Islamists try to bring about Islamic Republics or other Islamic states by running for office in elections.) > [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > In any event, what little right-wing domestic terrorism that has taken place in the United States has almost universally been directed at government, not civilian, targets. > > The coordinate dual-site nature of the attack seems more sophisticated than “lone wolf” attacks are (which, of course, is “being arrested at the materiel purchasing phase”). > [@Absolute](#): > > I can’t believe it is a conventional “right-wing” terrorist. Sure, crazy people are crazy, so anything’s possible, but attacking a non-specific group of innocent civilians isn’t really in that playbook. We clearly can’t rule out Al Qaeda or some “lone wolf” Al Qaeda sympathizer yet, but it’s certainly not true that American domestic extremists don’t stage general attacks on random civilians, or carry out “dual bomb” attacks. [Eric Rudolph](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Rudolph) started out with an attack on the Atlanta Olympics (which was _mentioned in the OP_) and also used dual bombs in his later attacks. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/40 "2013-04-16T01:09:42Z")
I doubt it’s some anti-government Tim McVeigh types. Yes, just as the OKC bombing occurred on the second or third anniversary of Waco(I can’t remember which) this occurred on Tax day and Patriots day, but guys like that usually target government buildings or government facilities. For example Timothy McVeigh blowing up the Federal building in Oklahoma City or that guy who slammed his plane into an IRS building. It could be some wannabe Jihadi. There’ve been a number of attacks by wannabe Jihadis in the US since 911 and despite the earlier comments about how the bombers are probably American right-wingers, most of the wannabe Jihadis, such as the Times Square bomber, the underwear bomber etc., seem to have far more in common with the gang that couldn’t shoot straight than the 911 hijackers. Frankly, I think people are jumping to conclusions in assuming that the bombing was political at all. It may have been but we’ve had three recent attacks, the shooting of Gabby Giffords and the others in Arizona, the Sandy Hook massacre, and the Aurora massacre, which all turned out to have nothing to do with politics. One last thing. I really find it both annoying and obnoxious when people talk about “domestic terrorist groups” and “Muslim terrorists” as if they’re automatically different. Most of the wannabe Jihadist attacks in the US since 911 have been carried out by Americans. I know people don’t mean anything offensive by categorizing it that way, but when you do so you further the notion that Muslims are somehow more foreign or less American than non-Muslims. We’re neither. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799.md?page=3)