Tangential Question re motives etc
morality, gratitude, ingratitude and other fun stuff
http://www.brownpundits.com/2013/04/...f-ingratitude/
People matter in CT investigations
We all now know it was a citizen's call that led to the second suspect's hiding place being identified, so I was interested to read this in a WaPo summary:
Quote:
(Boston Police Commissioner Edward) Davis said he was told that facial-recognition software did not identify the men in the ball caps. The technology came up empty even though both Tsarnaevs’ images exist in official databases: Dzhokhar had a Massachusetts driver’s license; the brothers had legally immigrated; and Tamerlan had been the subject of some FBI investigation.
Plus:
Quote:
Once the photos of the men in caps were made public Thursday, the FBI tip line filled with calls, including one from the brothers’ aunt, who provided her nephews’ identity, according to federal law enforcement officials.
Link:http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...1_story_3.html
The times are a changing?
Carl in his response to Anne Applebaum's article commented:
Quote:
This isn't anything like Europe with its Algerian suburbs the police can't go into.
I don't know about the French suburbs, often mainly North African around Paris and other high density, mainly non-indigenous suburbs across Europe, but know something about those here in urban England.
The police here can go into such areas, it is whether they are effective once there in their law enforcement role and in gaining public support (usually referred to as trust & confidence in the UK). There is a big difference between responding to emergency calls alongside undertaking overt 'normal' criminal investigations and the often covert way of investigating terrorism, organised crime and drugs. The differences are not religious or party political or ethnic, but a mixture.
In my limited time with US LE in urban areas it was quite obvious in some urban areas LE had access, little overt public support and could easily be seen as an 'occupying' power. A topic SWC have discussed before.
Now back to Boston. Amidst all the media reporting and I have read only a little I have yet to see a report(s) that US LE had been alerted by the suspect's family, friends and community about their changing character. Yes that is a big issue itself, for example do families notice and want to tell others?
Maybe that is what Anne Applebaum is talking about:
Quote:
Our response is going to have to be different — very different — as well.
The CT dilemma; well here is one suggestion
A commentary by Raffaello Pantucci, now @ RUSI, whose has written on 'lone wolves' before and this point is well made:
Quote:
The key conclusion for security agencies is that such terrorist cells are notoriously difficult to uncover prior to event. Some work can be done in targeted public information campaigns aimed at chemical companies, storage firms or other industries that might be conduits for individuals to obtain transformative material for homemade explosives. This will help give authorities leads like those that led to Khalid Aldawsari's detention.
The case referred to in Texas I'd forgotten:
Quote:
...Aldawsari attempted to purchase chemicals from the Carolina Biological Supply company, using a commercial shipping company to have them delivered to his home in Lubbock, Texas. Both the chemical company and the shipping company flagged the purchase as one of concern to authorities, leading to an investigation by the FBI that uncovered Aldawsari as a loner terrorist cell building a bomb whose diary was full of menacing jihadist ideas. He was convicted in November last year and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Link:http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment...ikPxU1.twitter