So I was listening to a collection of ‘pundits and experts’ on my Mother’s television and they all had their knickers in a twist of the ‘training’ that Tamerlan Tsarnaev absolutely, positively had to have received during his six-month stay in Russia.

Let’s see, the only component of the bombs that Tsarnaev built that would likely be available in the Russian Caucasus would be the pressure cooker in a very large city. The Chechens have always used captured military explosives and cell phones for remote detonation. Tsarnaev used American components, as one would expect given the genesis of Inspire magazine. There is no evidence that Tsarnaev followed any of the basic rules of a terrorist in building the bombs or setting them off.

He didn’t get false identification, so we know the source of the explosives. He didn’t have an escape plan. He made no effort to disguise himself. He obtained a handgun with an obliterated serial number that is a felony in its own right. He showed no indication that he was aware of the surveillance cameras on the street. They hijacked a high-end vehicle that was almost guaranteed to have GPS tracking built-in. This was amateur hour from beginning to end, so it is highly unlikely that he had ever received any real training in any aspect of this attack.

The Russian FSB was suspicious of him, so there is near zero possibility that he wasn’t being watched the entire time he was in Russia. If he had disappeared long enough for real training, he would still be in Russia. He was 15 when he left for the US – old enough to have learned how to do what he did in the unsettled Caucasus of the time.

Weird

Zzz…zzz…

[Editor: Ms Blue is actually napping in that position.]

Friday Ark