Saudi Arabia warned US about bomber in writing, by name.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

If true, not good at all for the Feds

[Mr. Morden]

So did Tamarlan actually get some training on the bombs when he was in Russia or not?  And if so, who did he get it from?  Seems like he had to have had some contact with *someone* besides his brother over all of this.  Otherwise, how did he ever get on the radar of either the Russians or the Saudis in the first place?

[Franzl]

Good thing Obama has already been re-elected.

[afleitch]

Good thing Obama has already been re-elected.

The Romney campaign would still have screwed it up.

[Keystone Phil]

"Saudi foreign minister, national security chief both met with Obama in the Oval Office in early 2013."

Ouch.

[Franzl]

If the story is accurate, it looks like Obama screwed up massively here. Akin to "Bin Laden determined to strike the US", only with (thankfully) far fewer casualties.

Still, as awful as this was, it's still not a reason to prefer the Republican alternative to the Obama government, so I think we can all be grateful that this happened after his re-election...

[Beet]

"Saudi foreign minister, national security chief both met with Obama in the Oval Office in early 2013."

Ouch.

That doesn't necessarily mean anything without knowing if this subject was brought up at the meeting. But yeah, somewhere a screw-up clearly occurred.

[Brittain33]

"Saudi foreign minister, national security chief both met with Obama in the Oval Office in early 2013."

Ouch.

That doesn't necessarily mean anything without knowing if this subject was brought up at the meeting. But yeah, somewhere a screw-up clearly occurred.

Yeah, the odds that they said to him "there's this guy in Cambridge..." and nothing happened are nil, but we do have to learn more about what someone in the administration knew and who dropped the ball. Random radicalized guy on watch lists != Bin Laden, but still to be tracked.

[Keystone Phil]

"Saudi foreign minister, national security chief both met with Obama in the Oval Office in early 2013."

Ouch.

That doesn't necessarily mean anything without knowing if this subject was brought up at the meeting. But yeah, somewhere a screw-up clearly occurred.

Not suggesting that the bomber was the subject of the meeting but in a wide range discussion, something like this could very well have been discussed.

What raises more flags in my opinion is the fact that the White House and Homeland Security are saying they never received such a letter. So is this just a total fabrication by the Saudis? If not, who did the letter go to?

[MaxQue]

If anything, USA government perhaps just said no to something and Saudis decided to throw havoc to get vengeance.

[emailking]

If you go to the link now, the story has been updated to say that the Saudi embassy in DC is denying a warning was ever sent.

[Blue3]

The story is being denied now, but still, how would Saudi Arabia even know anything about Tsarnaev to begin with??

[Keystone Phil]

So now it's "Thanks for not warning us," I guess.

[Old Man Svensson]

If the story is accurate, it looks like Obama screwed up massively here. Akin to "Bin Laden determined to strike the US", only with (thankfully) far fewer casualties.

Still, as awful as this was, it's still not a reason to prefer the Republican alternative to the Obama government, so I think we can all be grateful that this happened after his re-election...

Thus why you support third parties.

[Franzl]

If the story is accurate, it looks like Obama screwed up massively here. Akin to "Bin Laden determined to strike the US", only with (thankfully) far fewer casualties.

Still, as awful as this was, it's still not a reason to prefer the Republican alternative to the Obama government, so I think we can all be grateful that this happened after his re-election...

Thus why you support third parties.

Unfortunately, with America's voting system the way it is, that leads to your opponent winning with a plurality.

[Zarn]

If you don't agree with how Obama handles things, then he is your opponent, too.

[Franzl]

If you don't agree with how Obama handles things, then he is your opponent, too.

Sure, but you're only way of beating him (rather than helping him) was to vote for Romney.

[King]

The story is being denied now, but still, how would Saudi Arabia even know anything about Tsarnaev to begin with??

Because Monkeychelle N0bama met with a Saudi at the hospital instead of with real white victims.

[Zarn]

If you don't agree with how Obama handles things, then he is your opponent, too.

Sure, but you're only way of beating him (rather than helping him) was to vote for Romney.

Well, naturally (as you would know) my argument would be that if everyone did not have that mentality, we would not have Obama and Romney as the only two options.

I did not vote for either, but I did vote.

[Franzl]

If you don't agree with how Obama handles things, then he is your opponent, too.

Sure, but you're only way of beating him (rather than helping him) was to vote for Romney.

Well, naturally (as you would know) my argument would be that if everyone did not have that mentality, we would not have Obama and Romney as the only two options.

I did not vote for either, but I did vote.

You're right, but unfortunately, theory and practice are worlds apart.

[Mr. Morden]

The story is being denied now, but still, how would Saudi Arabia even know anything about Tsarnaev to begin with??

I don't know.  How did Russia know there was something suspicious about him, such that they warned the FBI?  Are they spying on the internet viewing habits of every single expatriot of the Caucasus?  That's the part that I still don't get.

[© tweed]

welcome to the Boston bombing foreknowledge debate.

[Blue3]

The story is being denied now, but still, how would Saudi Arabia even know anything about Tsarnaev to begin with??

I don't know.  How did Russia know there was something suspicious about him, such that they warned the FBI?  Are they spying on the internet viewing habits of every single expatriot of the Caucasus?  That's the part that I still don't get.

Because they lived in Russia, and travelled to Russia, and the parents moved back to Russia.

[Mr. Morden]

The story is being denied now, but still, how would Saudi Arabia even know anything about Tsarnaev to begin with??

I don't know.  How did Russia know there was something suspicious about him, such that they warned the FBI?  Are they spying on the internet viewing habits of every single expatriot of the Caucasus?  That's the part that I still don't get.

Because they lived in Russia, and travelled to Russia, and the parents moved back to Russia.

So the Russian security services read the email of everyone who emigrates from that region or what?  What did he do to get on their radar, such that they realized there was a problem, enough to warn the FBI about him?

[Blue3]

The story is being denied now, but still, how would Saudi Arabia even know anything about Tsarnaev to begin with??

I don't know.  How did Russia know there was something suspicious about him, such that they warned the FBI?  Are they spying on the internet viewing habits of every single expatriot of the Caucasus?  That's the part that I still don't get.

Because they lived in Russia, and travelled to Russia, and the parents moved back to Russia.

So the Russian security services read the email of everyone who emigrates from that region or what?  What did he do to get on their radar, such that they realized there was a problem, enough to warn the FBI about him?

Well, it was an international phone call they wiretapped.

And I bet Russia profiles its people, and tries to keep tabs on any Muslims, especially people in the Chechnya/Dagestan region.

Not saying it's right, just saying it's Russia. You kind of expect it of them. So of course it makes sense for Russia to have info on the Tsarnaev brothers. I think their father used to get in confrontations with the KGB in Soviet times too.


But there's absolutely no reason for Saudi Arabia to know anything in the first place, unless they were in contact with people the Saudi's were keeping an eye on.