(WMR)—The Chechen origin and reported military training of the two suspect brothers in the Boston Marathon bombing, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsaraev, raises some pointed questions about past U.S. support for the Chechen insurgency and who sponsored the brothers to live in the United States, paid for their college tuition, receive military training abroad, and paid for Tamerlan’s Wai Kru mixed martial arts training in Boston.
There are conflicting reports on when the two brothers first arrived in the United States. Some say it was in 2002 while others claim it was in 2011. Dzhokhar reportedly received his U.S. citizenship last year and Tamerlan was a green card holder. The brothers’ immigration papers claim they arrived in the United States from Kyrgyzstan.
It is known that the late Russian-Israeli tycoon Boris Berezovsky, as well as non-governmental organizations associated with the Open Society Institute of George Soros, have provided financial and logistical assistance to Chechen exiles, some of whom have been associated with Doka Umarov, the self-appointed head of the Caucasian Emirate who calls himself “Emir of the Caucasus Emirate Abu-Usman.” Dukaev’s group has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist bombings in Russia, including those of a high speed Moscow-St. Petersburg train, Domodedovo International Airport, and Moscow Metro stations.
The Chechen secessionist cause also received support from the regime of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. Arizona Republican Senator John McCain has been a leading defender of the Chechen separatists and has been vehement in denials that the Chechen movement has been infiltrated by Islamist radicals and members of Al Qaeda. McCain was also a major supporter of Libyan rebels allied with Al Qaeda and he currently supports Syrian rebels who sympathize with Al Qaeda groups.
Chechen Republic President Ramzan Kadyrov, whose name was reportedly placed on a classified portion of the U.S. Magnitsky List that bars certain Russian citizens from entry into the United States, stated that the Tsarnaev brothers had no connection to the Chechen Republic and that the family’s connections to the region dated back many years ago. In fact, some reports suggested that the father was an ethnic Russian who worked in Chechnya for a number of years. Kadyrov suggested that investigators look closely at the latter years of the brothers’ lives and where they received their support rather than their younger years in Dagestan and Kyrgyzstan. There are also reports that the two brothers emigrated to the United States from Kazakhstan and Turkey.
Kadyrov’s office confirmed the Tsarnaev family spent time as refugees in Kazakhstan. The Chechen President’s press office spelled the name of the family “Tsornayev.” Other reports claimed the Tsarnaev family left Dagestan in 2002. Reporters have interviewed the brothers’ father, Anzor Tsaraev, in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. The brothers’ mother, Zubeidat K. Tsarnaeva, 45, was arrested on June 13, 2012 for defacement and destruction of property after being arrested for shoplifting at the Lord & Taylor store in Natick, Massachusetts.
The Natick police report stated:
Wednesday, June 13
7:24 p.m.: Police received a call for teenagers causing a loud disturbance at the Natick Common, East Central Street. Police responded and arrested Michael Schultz, 20, listed as homeless. He was charged with assault and disorderly conduct.
7:42 p.m.: Loss prevention from Lord & Taylor called to report they had detained a shoplifter. Zubeidat K. Tsarnaeva, 45, of 410 Norfolk St., Apt. 3, Cambridge, was arrested and charged with larceny over $250 (women’s clothing valued at $1,624), and two counts of malicious/wanton damage/defacement to property.
It is after 2002 that the story becomes murky. Some reports claim the Chechen brothers emigrated to the United States while others claim they did not arrive until 2011. However, Dzhokhar received a competitive scholarship from the city of Cambridge in 2011, an indication that he had already been in the United States for some time before 2011.
A Youtube account in the name of Tamerlan Tsarnaev was discovered to have posted videos associated with Salafist radicals, the Al Qaeda-linked “Black Banners of Khurusan,” and Feiz Muhammad, an Australian Islamic cleric who has condemned the Harry Potter books and films. There is no actual way to determine whether the Youtube account belonged to the older Tsarnaev brother or whether it was a feint established by parties intending to link him to Islamist radicals.
The entire marathon bombing event was punctuated by the wrong suspects being identified in the media before the authorities could positively conclude the identities of the suspects. Chief media offenders were Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post and CNN. However, most of the media began resurrecting a slogan from the post-9/11 months: that the Boston marathon bombings represented the “new normal,” that is, that Americans should get used to the idea of living under virtual martial law with the U.S. Constitution representing nothing more than a “quaint piece of paper.”
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
Copyright © 2013 WayneMadenReport.com
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
