Boston bombs similar to IEDs used against our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

[bsteadman]

Boston bombs similar to IEDs used against our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

Atlas Shrugs
Pamela Geller
4/16/2013

Excerpt:

Source close to the investigation tells Fox News that 'pressure cookers' — stuffed inside black nylon backpacks and used possibly as timers — were in both bombs that exploded yesterday at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing 3 and wounding 176. Another source says the style of device closely resembles that commonly seen in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

More clues. This type of device was also used by the Times Square bomber Faisal Shazad when he targeted tens of thousands of Times Square revelers on a Saturday night.

The NY Times is reporting this: (hat tip George)

A few details about the explosives emerged on Tuesday. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who heads the House Homeland Security Committee, said the authorities believe the explosives were likely a “pressure-cooker device,” similar to improvised explosive weapons used against American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. McCaul, a former federal prosecutor who received briefings Tuesday morning from the F.B.I. and Homeland Security officials, said the authorities still did not know whether the attack was a foreign or domestic plot. ’

View the complete post at:

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/a...ghanistan.html

[bsteadman]

Saudi in Boston Bombing is a "devout Muslim from Medina"

Atlas Shrugs
Pamela Geller
4/16/2013

Excerpt:

Of course we have to get this from the British papers. American media covered this same interview with the Saudi national's roommate, but left out what would be the most important piece of evidence if the Saudi national proves to be connected to the terror bombing in Boston.

"He's a quiet, devout Muslim - he couldn't do that': Neighbors' shock as police raid Boston home linked to burned Saudi student seized near race finish line Daily Mail, April 16, 2013

• Bomb squad among 20 bags of evidence removed
• Saudi suspect, 20, under guard in hospital after 'acting suspiciously' in area
• Police also hunting dark skinned man with hooded dark-colored sweatshirt and backpack seen trying to get into restricted area
• Speculation mounts over who could be behind the attack that left three dead
• Fingers point towards either Islamic militants or right-wing extremists who chose to attack on symbolic Patriot's Day
• Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called bombings 'cruel act of terror'
• One of the bombs had been placed in a metal pressure cooker and was designed to look like a discarded item, police sources say

Neighbors of the Saudi student who was detained for 'acting suspiciously' at the marathon finish line said they were shocked to hear he had any involvement in the bombing as he is a 'quiet, devout Muslim who is a huge soccer fan'.

Detectives and bomb disposal officers raided his apartment last night in the Revere area of Boston and could be seen removing several bags of evidence, though he has not been charged with anything.

The 20-year-old, who is studying English, is in hospital after suffering from serious burns and is said to be cooperating fully with police. He was tackled to the ground by a civilian who believed he was acting suspiciously.

CBS, citing police sources, reported that one of the bombs had been placed in a metal pressure cooker and was designed to look like a discarded item. Many of the wounded were hit by discarded ball bearings.

View the complete article at:

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/a...m-medina-.html

[bsteadman]

WTF

Saudi national no longer ‘person of interest’ in Boston bombings, no other suspects

Foreign Policy
Josh Rogin
4/16/2013

Excerpt:

The Saudi national injured during the bomb attacks at the Boston Marathon Monday has been cleared and is no longer even a person of interest, intelligence officials told lawmakers Tuesday.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper briefed members of the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors in a pre-scheduled hearing that was supposed to focus on the budget, but Clapper began with an update of the bombings. Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) emerged from the briefing and said he was told the 22-year old Saudi student who was injured during the bombings and remains in the care of a local hospital was no longer a focus of investigators.

"He was never categorized as a suspect; he was a person of interest. My understanding is that he totally cooperated and that he is no longer a person of interest," Chambliss said.

Asked if there were any other persons of interest at this time, Chambliss said, "Not that I know of."

Details about the bombings are still scarce and the investigation hasn't yielded any firm conclusions about the perpetrator or the origin of the explosive devices yet, according to Chambliss.

"It's a very fluid investigation, the FBI is in the lead, and I personally know the special agent in charge. He is one of the best, and they are doing a very good job of moving the investigation forward," he said. "We don't know at this point whether it was a home grown terrorist, whether it was an isolated incident or part of an overall scheme, whether it was a domestic terrorist or a foreign terrorist."

Chambliss did say that security around the country would have to change for large public events, including greater involvement by the federal government. - (bold, underline and color emphasis added)

"This was a soft target. It was not a target that was able to be totally protected," he said. "This particular incident is going to cause the administration and Congress to evaluate our overall security programs around the country, particularly for major events. We can't leave it just to the communities that host these events to provide the security."

UPDATE: Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said Tuesday afternoon that there had been no advance intelligence information before the attacks.

View the complete article at:

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/po...other_suspects

[bsteadman]

Free Republic is running a thread titled, 'Saudi national no longer ‘person of interest’ in Boston bombings, no other suspects', which was started 4/16/2013 by 'Jean S'

The thread references the 4/16/2013 Foreign Policy (FP) article, written by Josh Rogin and linked on the Drudge Report - http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/po...other_suspects

View the complete Free Republic thread at:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3008659/posts

[bsteadman]

Demanding the truth about the Boston bombings

Canada Free Press
Doug Hagmann
4/16/2013

Excerpt:

Whether it was by design or mere happenstance, the bombings in Boston yesterday will be looked upon as a seminal event in America’s post-9/11 history. At this point, few facts regarding the bombings have been officially disclosed and verified, fueling widespread and rampant speculation about suspects and motive. In real-world scenarios, investigations take time, and certain information, when prematurely or improperly disclosed, create unimaginable difficulties for “boots on the ground investigators” who are actually committed to doing their job.

Those with experience know that the higher one goes in the chain of investigation and investigators, however, the efforts between getting to the actual truth versus satisfying any number of political agendas associated with the event becomes perverted to the point that it often becomes unrecognizable. Experience also confirms that the higher the profile of an event, the more that politics and political agendas play a role. This case is no exception and in the context of history, will be a pivotal event in many areas.

Few will argue that we are at a most vulnerable point in our national history, although many will disagree on the reasons. Our country is currently split along racial and societal lines, and strong ideological differences exist on nearly every important aspect of our culture. We are a country divided and are at a breaking point. This division is based, in large part, on the lack of integrity of our leadership, both past and present, and by our failure to demand truth and accountability.

History has shown us that we cannot depend on our government leaders to be honest with us on anything of importance, from our economy to wars and terror attacks. The political affiliation of the elected officials doesn’t matter, for they all refuse to answer straightforward questions with simple answers that don’t requirement careful parsing of words and responses regardless of political bias. Do we honestly believe that we will get the truth as it relates to yesterday’s bombing? Moreover, do we honestly believe that the media and talking heads will provide us with an unbiased accounting absent of a political agenda? History tells us no.

Considering the past behavior of those in high positions of power, are we wrong to be a bit skeptical in advance of their official narrative about the Boston bombing? Are we, as a nation concerned for our future and those of our children and grandchildren, acting out of line by asking certain uncomfortable questions about certain specific aspects of the bombing, or by openly noting that there exist a number of things that we’ve seen in past “terrorist” bombings that appear to be present in this event? For example, the concurrent training drill that reportedly took place at the same time of yesterday’s bombing, which is something we’ve seen in previous bombing events where unanswered questions linger, seems to fit a template of sorts. This is just one example of many that serve as “markers” that must be viewed in the context of history. Many more can be listed.

We must demand the truth behind the Boston bombings, absent of political agenda, but will we get it? Again, in the context of history, it is unlikely unless we are proactive and accept nothing less. As Americans, have we received the complete truth about the attack at Benghazi? Have we received the complete truth about events surrounding other life-changing events from the Oklahoma City bombing to the attacks of 9/11? The downing of TWA 800? Need I continue?
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View the complete article at:

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/54526

[bsteadman]

U.S. was warned of terror attacks

Source: Look for trail through Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

WND
Reza Kahlili
4/16/2013

Excerpt:

Although it is not known yet who is responsible for Monday’s heinous bombings at the Boston Marathon that killed three and injured more than 100 people, a source within Iranian intelligence services told WND the Islamic regime was behind them and to look for trails through Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The source said the bombs were planted near the end of the race so that the horrific images of the blasts would be captured by all the media there and be replayed over and over throughout the world.

A senior commander of the Islamic regime had warned less than two months ago that terrorism was coming to America.

“If the people of America and Europe do not confront the aggressive policies of their governments, they cannot then remain far from the possible future events (terror attacks),” the regime’s armed forces deputy chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, said in a Feb. 23 interview with Fars News Agency, a media outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards. “Al-Qaida groups and other services which operate for the interests of America (in Syria) will soon change the region of their operations and thereafter create new problems for America and Europe.”

Jazayeri, objecting to U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war, warned that explosions similar to those in Syria would take place in other countries.

With information from a source in the supreme leader’s office, WND reported exclusively on Dec. 11, 2012, that a team of Quds Force terrorist leaders had infiltrated the United States to attack from within in 2013. The source said the team is to create instability in America through terrorism should the U.S. fail to accept the regime’s illicit nuclear program or increase sanctions, confront Iran militarily or intervene in the Syrian civil war.

In a WND exclusive report on Feb. 28, the source said that a six-member team, including an explosives specialist, was to join 10 Quds Force commanders who already have a cell of 50 terrorists in the U.S. The source added that Iran is working with al-Qaida factions because al-Qaida attacks would not leave behind a link to Tehran.

The source for today’s information blamed the Islamic regime for the Boston attack and pointed to the collaboration of the regime’s Quds Forces with Hezbollah and elements of al-Qaida with links to individuals in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He said that under Quds Force guidance, Hezbollah recruited Sunni terrorists allied with al-Qaida factions in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who then entered the U.S. for terrorist activities.

The information has been shared with U.S. officials.

But until the FBI and other U.S. agencies complete their investigations, all information regarding the bombings must be considered with great caution and any conclusions would be premature.

If the source is correct, however, then three individuals will likely have had a hand in planning and preparing for the attack:

• Mustafa Badr Al Din, the brother-in-law and cousin of the dead terrorist Imad Mugniyah, who now serves as Mugnyiah’s replacement as the military leader of Hezbollah and who also serves as the deputy of Qasem Soliemani, the head of the Islamic regime’s Quds Forces.
• Mohammad Ali Hamadei, on the FBI’s most-wanted list, a Hezbollah operator responsible for operation and infiltration of forces into America who was based in New Mexico with a Latin American passport and who was also seen last year in England.
• Talal Hamieh, the head of Hezbollah’s External Security Organization responsible for operations outside of Lebanon. He has been in Mexico collaborating with drug cartels to raise funds for Hezbollah cells and facilitates the transfer of arms and terrorists into the U.S.

Both Badr Al Din and Hamieh were designated for sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department last year for their involvement in terrorist activities throughout the world.

In the aftermath of the Boston bombings, Fars News Agency put out a piece headlined, “Obama in deep trouble if Boston bombing was by Salafis (ultraconservative Sunni Muslims).”

Fars said one reason that Obama has not linked the Boston bombing to al-Qaida is that his administration wants to show it has defeated al-Qaida and any mention of the terrorist group would undermine his position.

It ominously mentioned that America is now allied with the Salafis and al-Qaida in confronting Syria’s Bashar Assad and that if it’s proven that the same elements were responsible for the bombings in Boston, then Obama would be severely criticized by the American public.
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View the complete article at:

http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/u-s-was-w...error-attacks/

[bsteadman]

Investigator pleads for help in marathon bombing probe: 'Someone knows who did this'

NBC News
Pete Williams, Richard Esposito and Erin McClam
4/15/2013

Excerpt:

The FBI’s lead investigator into the Boston Marathon bombings on Tuesday made a passionate plea for information from the public, saying the “range of suspects and motives remains wide open” as the probe into who might be responsible for the attacks begins.

“Someone knows who did this,” said Richard DesLauriers, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office. “Importantly, the person who did this is someone’s friend, neighbor, coworker or relative. We are asking anyone who may have heard someone speak about the marathon, or the date of April 15, in any way that indicated that he or she may have targeted this event to call us.”

DesLauriers told reporters in an afternoon briefing that the FBI has received more than 2,000 tips as of midday Tuesday, and investigators have already vetted some of those. In addition, many people and businesses have submitted photographs and video of the scene near the marathon’s finish line where the blasts occurred.

Still, investigators have no firm suspects in the case and no groups or people have stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack that killed three people and injured at least 176.

“At this time,” DesLauriers said. “there have been no claims of responsibility.”

Federal prosecutors are preparing a limited number of search warrants in the Boston area in their search for evidence in the bombing, a senior federal law enforcement official told NBC News.

And, late Tuesday the FBI released photos showing contorted metal that it said were the remains of one of the pressure-cooker bombs used in the Boston Marathon attack.

'Weeding through' evidence

Agents are "weeding through" the evidence, the official said. But the searches do not indicate that agents have any hard leads right now into who was behind the bombing, the official said, adding that the number of search warrants are "less than a half dozen."

More than a day after the bombs went off, crime scene processing continues with hundreds of hours of video simultaneously being viewed, a federal official said. At some point FBI behavioral profilers will join in the analysis, officials said, as they begin their effort to put together who the person or persons were who launched the attack.

Investigators have begun the process of recovering tiny pieces of bombs to learn how they were made. So far, they know the bombs were made from pressure cookers filled with ball bearings and nails – a method used for decades in terror bombings. But no suspects are in custody and investigators are asking the public for help. NBC's Pete Williams reports.

Investigators have found fragments of dark or black nylon, which were possibly from a bag or backpack that contained the bombs. In addition, pieces of what is believed to have been a pressure cooker used in making the bomb have been discovered.

Those pieces of evidence, along with others, are being sent to the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Va., for testing to determine if they were indeed part of the bomb. The lab will attempt to reconstruct the explosive devices to determine their origin, DesLauriers said.

"This is a painful and tragic lesson, but we will learn from this as well," said Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

Patrick also announced that President Barack Obama would attend an interfaith service honoring the victims of the tragedy at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Cathedral of the Holy Cross in South Boston.

Sources involved in the investigation said late Tuesday that the pressure-cooker bombs were powerful "homemade claymore," directional explosives that appeared to include a triggering mechanism using a battery pack and a circuit board. Both of those elements were recovered at the scene.
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View the complete article at:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...-did-this?lite

[bsteadman]

Saudi terror cell, possibly al Qaeda, behind Boston Marathon bombings. Manhunt for escaped suspect


DEBKAfile
Exclusive Analysis
4/16/2013

Excerpt:

FBI Special Agent Richard Deslauriers told reporters Tuesday, April 16, that the probe had no leads 18 hours after two explosions blew up at the annual Boston Marathon’s finishing line, killing three people and injuring 176 – 17 critically. debkafile’s counterterrorism sources can disclose however that the investigation has in fact homed in on a suspected terror cell of three Saudi nationals, very possibly tied to Al Qaeda.

The flat they share in the Revere, Massachusetts, near Boston, was searched after the questioning of one of the suspects, a Saudi student, who was hospitalized with badly burned hands. One of his flatmates was taken into custody over “visa problems.” A third is on the run. All three hail from a prominent Saudi family belonging to a tribe from the Asir province bordering on Yemen.

The search for the wanted man led to the grounding of a plane at Logan International Airport Tuesday. The investigation has meanwhile broadened out to places in and outside Boston in a search for the cell’s accomplices.

The origins of the Saudi cell, if confirmed, strongly suggest that Al Qaeda of Arabia – AQAP –succeeded in planting a cell in the United States for the bombing attack in Boston – and possibly more than one in other parts of the US. Asir Province is known as a hotbed of resistance to the Saudi throne in Riyadh.

US law enforcement authorities in charge of the probe are refusing to confirm any suspects are in custody, or even leads to whoever carried out the bombings. President Barack Obama said in his second statement in 24 hours: “…we don’t know if who was behind the bombings were foreign, domestic or individual.” The President was forced to admit for the first time that the FBI was investigating “an act of terror.”

debkafile earlier Tuesday was alone in reporting that the FBI Boston Marathon probe pointed to Mid-East terrorists with domestic support.

The lack of adequate security jumps to the eye after twin bombings struck the high-prestige Boston Marathon Monday, April 15, killing three people, including an 8-year old boy and injuring 140 – seventeen critically.

This was the world's oldest annual marathon, with 28,000 runners representing athletes from every US state and more than 90 nations. Yet there was no sign of dogs along the route trained to sniff out explosives or a police helicopter overhead with sensors for detecting explosives or traces thereof on the person of anyone present around the finishing line after the blasts.

Tuesday morning, while interviewing witnesses and collecting photos taken by spectators, the Boston police and security officers announced they were seeking two wanted men: One was described as swarthy, speaking with a foreign accent, his face partially hidden by a hood, who was carrying a large backpack and kept on trying to enter a closed section near the finishing line. This was the first time an area was disclosed as having been closed to the public.

The second man was photographed by a spectator walking on a rooftop overlooking the finishing line after the second bomb exploded.

After the event, police searches turned up and defused another three explosive devices. Had that search taken place before the event, at least one of the lethal devices might have been discovered and the race aborted.

Tuesday, the FBI admitted “a potential terrorist inquiry” was underway, although President Barack Obama, when he pledged justice for “the perpetrators,” carefully skirted the term “terror.” This recalls his administration’s refusal to brand as an act of terror the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, and the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens, although it was clearly the work of an al Qaeda element.

Counterterrorism experts are equally certain of the Middle East terrorist hallmarks on the Boston Marathon bombings, although it is too soon to say whether it was the work of Al Qaeda or an allied radical jihadi group such as the Ansar al-Shariah, which was responsible for the Benghazi consulate in conjunction with a clandestine al Qaeda command center in Cairo.

Here, too, initial investigation discloses the hand of al Qaeda or an affiliate.

Ahead of the London marathon scheduled for next week and the state funeral of the late UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Wednesday, April 17, a determined official effort is being made in Washington and London to present the Boston bombings as the work of a lone wolf.

However, experts experienced in these matters maintain that an attack on this scale and of this type would have required four or five bombers on the ground and a support team of about 10 spotters and accomplices familiar with the terrain, further back. They would have needed more than one vehicle and communications gear, in addition to mobile phones which are easily tracked.

The two explosions, 400 meters apart, were obviously coordinated and designed to cause maximum casualties. The ball-bearings scattered across the crime scene and found in the pockets of some of the casualties were familiar to Israelis and others and telling evidence of Middle East terrorist authorship.

The explosive device which caused such havoc and agony was small yet deadly – another pointer to the “professionalism” of the attackers. A similar device was discovered in time three years ago in a bomb-rigged car parked in Times Square New York and left there by the Pakistani student Faisal Shahzad.

Unlike the president, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had no compunctions about putting into words the general suspicion. Straight after the event, she said, “My understanding is that it’s a terrorist incident” - although it is too soon to say whether it was carried out by a foreign or domestic element.

Suspicion of a foreign hand was strengthened when the US media reported that a Saudi national suffering from severe burns was being questioned in hospital. The Boston Police Department denied the report and the FBI, now in charge of the case, said that no one has so far been taken into custody. They did not deny questioning “persons of interest.”
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View the complete article at:

http://www.debka.com/article/22901/S...scaped-suspect