 | Morning Jolt
. . . with Jim Geraghty April 22, 2013 How Well Is the FBI Keeping an Eye on Self-Radicalizing Immigrants? The bombers' mother may be cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Probably is, in fact. But this . . . One of the two ethnic Chechens suspected by U.S. officials of being behind the Boston Marathon bombings had been under FBI surveillance for at least three years, his mother said. Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told the English-language Russia Today state television station in a phone interview, a recording of which was obtained by Reuters, that she believed her sons were innocent and had been framed. "He (Tamerlan) was 'controlled' by the FBI, like, for three to five years," she said, speaking in English and using the direct English translation of a word in Russian that means monitored. "They knew what my son was doing, they knew what sites on the Internet he was going to," she said in what Russia Today described as a call from Makhachkala, where she lives in Russia's Dagestan region after returning from the United States. . . . coupled with this . . . Deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was identified by a foreign government as a "follower of radical Islam and a strong believer" whose personality had changed drastically in just a year, according to the FBI. As investigators considered possible motives for Monday's fatal bombings, U.S. authorities acknowledged that an unnamed government had contacted the FBI to say the 26-year-old ethnic Chechen "had changed drastically" since 2010 and was preparing to leave the United States "to join unspecified underground groups," according to an official statement from the FBI. U.S. officials have not named the foreign nation, but it is presumed to be Russia. Tsarnaev traveled there in 2012 and stayed for six months. . . . coupled with this . . . Department of Homeland Security officials decided in recent months not to grant an application for American citizenship by Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of two brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings, after a routine background check revealed that he had been interviewed in 2011 by the F.B.I., federal officials said on Saturday. It had been previously reported that Mr. Tsarnaev's application might have been held up because of a domestic abuse episode. But the officials said that it was the record of the F.B.I. interview that threw up red flags and halted, at least temporarily, Mr. Tsarnaev's citizenship application. Late last year, Homeland Security officials contacted the F.B.I. to learn more about its interview with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, federal law enforcement officials said. The F.B.I. reported its conclusion that he did not present a threat. At that point, Homeland Security officials did not move to approve the application nor did they deny it, but they left it open for "additional review." . . . raises some disturbing questions. Russia (confirmed) makes its inquiry in 2011; the FBI investigates. Apparently there's not enough evidence for the FBI to take further action, but "late last year" DHS decides there's enough suspicion around this guy to delay his citizenship — not enough to deny it — and he's just left there. Meanwhile, sometime around this time (September 11, 2012) the younger brother gets his citizenship. Then they later decide that whatever they've found is sufficient to deny the citizenship . . . but not enough to get him out of the country. (Oh, and somewhere along the line, one or both illegally register to vote.) For what it's worth, an unidentified intelligence source tells Jake Tapper that it is "rare" for the "Russians to reach out like that, to ask FBI to look into someone as they did with Tamerlan Tsarnaev." So obviously, Russia doesn't ask the FBI to check out every Chechnyan immigrant just out of spite. Tapper also asks a big, big question: Why didn't the FBI re-interview Tsarnaev after his six months in Russia and Chechnya? Before we move on to a 844-page immigration-reform bill, whose primary purpose is to say to 11 million people currently in the country illegally, "you can stay and become citizens as long as you do X, Y, and Z," we need to make sure that our current immigration-law-enforcement institutions are capable of meeting the minimal standard of keeping out those who are here to do us harm. Obviously, this applies to terrorism, but also to the less dramatic crimes that harm Americans — gang membership, drug smuggling and dealing, people smuggling, etc. No, Really, You Snot-Nosed Punks, What The Hell Are You So Angry About? While authorities are still looking into the older brother's trip to Russia last year, there can be little doubt that most of these guys' radicalization occurred here, living on American soil. Somehow these bastards lived among us for the better part of a decade, witnessed everything this country has to offer, and concluded . . . that we all needed to suffer horrific wounds and die, inflicted on one city's happiest day of the year. How does a radical imam on a YouTube video do that? How do you walk the streets of this country, see a family playing, or a child cheering for his father in a marathon, and conclude, "they all need to die painfully?" Friday afternoon, Marc Ambinder wrote a piece that was almost a parody of a liberal journalist seeing what he wanted; he "highly doubted" that what motivated the bombers was "their decision to accept some form of radical Islamic teachings as their foundational belief system." He concluded, "It is far more plausible that American gun culture, the way that Americans are uncomfortable with people who are different, the gaps in the mental heath system, and a hundred other things, some of which cannot ever be controlled, pushed these two men over the edge." (Perhaps he meant America's nails-and-pressure-cookers culture.) He did, however, hit on one point worth chewing over as we contemplate the state of our society in 2013. In the Columbine punks, in one mass shooter after another, and we could argue in many of the Islamist bombings we've seen over the years, particularly in Europe, we've seen angry young men decide that the very best way to deal with their grievances and rage is to slaughter as many innocent people as possible. The world has always had angry young men, and for generations they've found various outlets for it — booze, women, rock and roll, drugs, gangs, sports, driving cars and motorcycles too fast, you name it. For some small but significant number of young men in today's society — Muslim and non-Muslim, immigrant and native-born — none of those other quasi-traditional outlets is sufficient. And maybe the big question, to be aimed at everybody from the black-clad teen who writes of slaughtering his classmates in his diary and sends threatening letters to school, to the angry young Islamist men fantasizing of inflicting bloodshed upon us infidels, to the kids who wear black masks and smash windows at Occupy protests . . . what the hell do you have to be so angry about? You live in a country and an era of unprecedented technological innovation, better public health, lower crime, less discrimination, than ever before. Probably 90 percent of the world's people would trade places with you in an instant, and even at your worst, you're living a life better than that of 99.99 percent of all people in human history. There's no draft. No one owns you. People endure troubles a hundred times worse than yours, and soldier on. Your life is what you make it. What, your life isn't like what you see on MTV's Cribs, showcasing the luxurious homes of wealthy music stars and athletes? And for any immigrant who's feeling anti-American . . . leave. We don't need you. You wanted to come here. Why I Would Urge You to Go on an NR Cruise, Separate From the Marketing Folks So you've probably received an e-mail inviting you to the NR cruise to Norway. You may be asking, "okay, all of that sounds good, but what's it really like?" You've heard from the marketing folks; let me give you the skinny on what to expect on a cruise, if you haven't been on one already.
(They cost a pretty penny, I know. So perhaps it's something you decide, "can't afford this year, but someday" — and try to figure out if someday is 2014 or 2015.)
Is it worth it? Well, we have a lot of repeat cruisers, so my sense is yes. This will be my first non-Carribbean cruise, so I don't know if our European or overseas cruises "feel" different from our traditional post-election journeys around tropical islands. I do know that apparently back in the immediate post-Cold War years, NR did a cruise of all of the Baltic ports with several Reagan-administration defense officials, Cold Warriors freely touring the countries they sought to liberate from Soviet oppression. I wish I'd had a chance to go on that one, to walk alongside the people who shaped the end of the Cold War, witnessing the fruit of their efforts firsthand.
A couple cruisers have told me they never get off the boat — and after a while, the Caribbean destinations can blur together — beach, bars, shops catering to tourists. In other words, for some NR cruise-goers, the ports and itinerary are incidental. If you do like our itinerary — Amsterdam, Norway, the fjords — our organizers try to make sure that no NR events are going on while we're in port, so you never have to choose between exploring some port city vs. attending a panel discussion. During these panels, we (or at least I) try to leave time for some questions from the audience. (Yes, every once in a while, we get one of those guys who has a question in the form of a five-minute monologue.)
As they mention, you'll get at least two dinners with either one of the editors or one of our guest speakers, but my sense is that there is rarely a lack of access to us. They put editors and speakers at the same table every night, so you know where to find us.
I've been told a few of our past guest speakers were a bit on the quiet side. You have to understand, most writers, editors, and think-tank folks toil quietly in offices and very rarely encounter their readers and audience in person. So to hear, "I read your stuff all the time, it's so great!" can be wonderful and also a little strange. The cruises are the one week a year that my colleagues, some of our guests, and myself get treated like rock stars. It can be a little surreal. I know Mrs. Campaign Spot has had to stifle some chuckles as some cruise-goer talks about what a genius her husband is, the same hapless guy who forgets to take out the garbage and puts on shirts hoping no one will notice the grease stain that didn't really wash out, and so on.
But a lot of our guests are regular fountains of charisma. (Allen West, Daniel Hannan, James Lileks, John Sununu, Jonah — this is not a shy crowd.) And in addition to the panels, you'll get to see them at the various cocktail hours, after-dinner smokers, etc., and just walking around the ship. It is probably one of the few times in your life you'll get to see someone like Pat Toomey or Fred Thompson just hanging around with their families at the table next to you. As I've mentioned, a few years back my wife and I went snorkeling with the Breitbart family, and getting to spend time with them very much shaped my admiration for Andrew. On the cruise, you encounter these big-name guests in a very different way than just watching them give a speech.
(As I've mentioned before, to be an NR contributor on one of these cruises is immensely enjoyable and a great honor, but also a bit socially exhausting. We have a couple hundred folks on these cruises, and there are cruises where I feel like I've talked to all of them. I try to be 100 percent with everyone I encounter, but if I seem a little run down by the end of the week, I hope you'll understand.)
I know very little about our destinations this time, but I'm bringing a veteran of the region. The schedule on the home front made it impossible for Mrs. Campaign Spot to join us, so I'm bringing my brother, a rapidly-drifting-right wisecrack artist from New Jersey. If you have a strong stomach for occasionally off-color humor, you can find him on Twitter at . . . [sigh] @fuimfunny. There will be a real sense of worlds colliding for me, and I have no idea what kind of embarrassing stories from my childhood he plans to share over dinner. Like I said, there's a certain surreal quality to the week on the cruise. ADDENDUM: James Skylar Gerrond: [crosses fingers] "Slow news week, slow news week . . ."
 NRO Digest — April 22, 2013
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