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Did the CIA commandeer the Boston bombing investigation?
MadCow
Morning News
May 3, 2013
by Daniel Hopsicker
It's been more than 300 years ago since demonic possession figured as
heavily in a criminal probe as it has in the investigation into the
Boston Marathon bombing.
Not since the Salem Witch Trials has the search for accomplices to a
major crime centered so heavily on finding a suspect who believed he
could talk to demons.
"He took (and ate?) his brains"
Since the remaining of the two brothers accused of planting the bombs
was found cowering under a tarpaulin in a boat in a backyard in
Watertown Massachusetts two weeks ago, coverage of the bombing by the
most respected organs of the American mainstream media has been full
of breathless updates-delivered with a straight face-about the
progress of an FBI manhunt for a red-haired Muslim who talked to
demons, dabbled in exorcism, and walked around carrying other people's
brains.
The drumbeat was started by Ruslan Tsarni, who became famous as
=80=9CUncle Ruslan' for his forthright condemnation of the attack in a
now-famous news conference on his front lawn just four days after the
Boston Marathon Bombing.
`There is someone who brainwashed him, some new convert to Islam,''
Tsarni said. I would like to stress (the acquaintance was) of
Armenian descent.''
Since then he has been using the media to press investigators to find
Misha, a man who appeared to combine the worst features of villains
from two different horror movies.
`The Exorcist' meets `The Walking Dead.'
"This person just took his brain. He just brainwashed him completely,"
Tsarnaev's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, told CNN from his home in Maryland,
describing the friend as an Armenian convert to Islam.
`The bombers' uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, depicts Misha as a Rasputin-like
figure who "took [Tamerlan's] brain" and said that his presence soon
became a source of tension within the family,' reported USA Today.
Also citing the boys' uncle, London's Daily Mail reported that `Misha
used to give one-on-one sermons to Tamerlan over the kitchen table,
during which he claimed he could talk to demons.'
Tsarni, Tsarnaev's uncle, told CNN he was so concerned about someone
brainwashing his nephew that he called a family friend in the
Cambridge area to investigate.
"I said, 'Listen, do you know what is going on with that family? With
my brother's family?' Then he says ... there is a person, some new
convert into Islam of Armenian descent," Tsarni told CNN's Shannon
Travis.
Tsarni said, "Armenians, I have no intention to say anything about
Armenians.'
Then he proceeded to do just that. =80=9CIt's a neighboring region
with North Caucasus," the same area where the Tsarnaev family also
hails from.'
A red-haried Armenian exorcist...with a big mouth...in Cambridge
Tsarni described Misha as being "chubby, a big guy, big mouth
presenting himself with some kind of abilities as exorcist
. . . having some part-time job in one of the stores, not married. All
of the qualifications of a loser, just another big mouth.'
According to Uncle Ruslan, Misha, over a considerable period of time,
had radicalized Tamerlan.
=80=9CBut there are signs that Tamerlan had become radicalized -
apparently from a friend in the United States named `Mischa' -
described as a Russian of Armenian descent who was a relatively recent
convert to Islam and who lived in Cambridge, according by Tsarnaev's
uncle, Ruslan Tsarni,' NBC reported.
Tsarni told NBC News that Mischa presented himself as an `exorcist'
who specialized in `removing demons from people's bodies.'
Not a day went by without references in the press to the search for
Misha. There were literally hundred of news reports about him. Very
soon, it began to appear there was nothing new to be said.
But that didn't stop anyone. Reported New York magazine:
`According to reports, family members point the finger at a man
identified only as Misha, a friend whom Tamerlan knew through a local
mosque. Misha is described as a bald, red-bearded, 30-year-old
Armenian convert to Islam who "claimed to be an exorcist who is
fighting with demons."
OMG...you mean he's even scarier than...Alex Jones?
There was also a half-hearted attempt to draw Alex Jones into the
controversy. Reported the Atlantic Magazine online:
`The major development in the sleuthing of the Tsarnaev brothers,
specifically sinister Tamerlan, involves a red-bearded exorcist named
Misha.'
`Tamerlan listened to Alex Jones's popular and usually looney radio
show Infowars. BuzzFeed's Rosie Grey reached out to Jones to see how
he felt about having a suspected terrorist as a listener.'
It's hard to imagine anyone asking Alex Jones, =80=9CHow does that
make you feel.' But the effort to smear him was no doubt duly
noted. But the problem with doing any serious damage to Alex Jones was
simple: When you're lookng for an Armenian exorcist who talks with
demons, slandering a poor radio host in the bargain loses its lustre.
The fever over finding Misha finally broke when somebodsy actually
found him. Christian Caryl of the New York Times Review of Books
scored the first media interview with Misha. In her interview with the
alleged Boston Bomber's `Svengali,' he told her he hadn't seen or
spoken to anyone in the Tsarnaev family for more than three years.
Ooops! Uncle Ruslan's response spoke volumes about him. Was he
abashed? Far from it. He changed his story without batting an eye, and
turned his attention to a secondary target, a woman who, if you're
trying to create a distraction, is right out of Central Casting.
`Check out Bomb Mom'
Ruslan dismissed Zubeidat, who was arrested last year for stealing
$1,600 of lingerie from a department store, as a `bad character'.
`Ruslan Tsarni, told the AP from his home in Maryland that he
believed his former sister-in-law had a "big-time influence" on her
older son's growing embrace of his Muslim faith and decision to quit
boxing and school.'
` Ruslan Tsarni claimed that Zubeidat allowed a firebrand cleric into
their house to give one-on-one sermons to Tamerlan over the kitchen
table during which he claimed he could talk to demons and perform
exorcisms.'
He told London Daily MailOnline : `The change of the older boy, one of
the biggest causes is her. `First she started playing into this
religious crap, they say is a devotion to Islam.'
"I work. Why do you want to know?"
Tsarni was cagey with reporters about what he did for a living.
`Tsarni was careful not to give out too much information, reported the
Washington Post. `When asked about his profession, he responded, `I
work, I work.''
And with good reason, because for the past twenty years he has almost
certainly been a CIA asset operating in a number of former Soviet
Republics.
Tsarni's bio, in an official SEC filing, stated he worked for the US
Agency for International Development, USAID, during the early
1990's. Bloomberg Business Review revealed last week that since 2008,
he's again been working for USAID.
Famously, USAID workers build schools, as well as provide cover for
CIA assets overseas. Recently they were thrown out of Russia. Just
last week, they were asked to leave Bolivia.
In between his stints with the obviously-conflicted US Agency, Ruslan
Tsarni worked for several Halliburton-controlled oil companies, as
well as a Kazakh man charged with a major banking scandal in
Kazakhstan whose repercussions earlier this year stretched all the way
to London.
Maybe Ruslan Tsarni's commute car doesn't bear a `smoking gun' parking
sticker from CIA headquarters in Langley. But neither his bio nor his
demeanor since the bombings qualify him for a `Humanitarian of the
Year' award, either.
Of demons, exorcists, and shoddy shoddy journalism
The search for foreign involvement in the Boston Marathon Bombings has
been a sad joke.
The fact that no one has stood up and called "shenanigans" on the
mainstream purveyors of what is supposed to be responsible journalism
in this country is a national disgrace.
When you look at how this happened, its hard not to suspect that a
`higher power' than the FBI was steering the investigation.
This raises the strong possibility that the FBI's investigation into
the bombing has been manipulated, or steered, by the CIA.
In the post-mortems to come on the Boston Marathon bombing
investigation, the crucial question will be: Who was behind this
effort, and why?
A big question is what Uncle Ruslan stood to gain by making
accusations about Misha.
If you're on a CIA's crisis management team, and your job is to play
for time and try to run the clock out on the American people's
attention span, the result might look something very much like the
last two weeks in America.
And if your goal was to forestall pointed questions about Ruslan
Tsarni and top CIA official Graham Fuller's roles in the Tsarnaevs
family's frequent trips to Dagestan, you couldn't have played it
better.
Daniel Hopsicker is an investigative journalist dubious about the
self-serving assertion of U.S. officials that there are no American
Drug Lords.
MadCow
Morning News
May 3, 2013
by Daniel Hopsicker
It's been more than 300 years ago since demonic possession figured as
heavily in a criminal probe as it has in the investigation into the
Boston Marathon bombing.
Not since the Salem Witch Trials has the search for accomplices to a
major crime centered so heavily on finding a suspect who believed he
could talk to demons.
"He took (and ate?) his brains"
Since the remaining of the two brothers accused of planting the bombs
was found cowering under a tarpaulin in a boat in a backyard in
Watertown Massachusetts two weeks ago, coverage of the bombing by the
most respected organs of the American mainstream media has been full
of breathless updates-delivered with a straight face-about the
progress of an FBI manhunt for a red-haired Muslim who talked to
demons, dabbled in exorcism, and walked around carrying other people's
brains.
The drumbeat was started by Ruslan Tsarni, who became famous as
=80=9CUncle Ruslan' for his forthright condemnation of the attack in a
now-famous news conference on his front lawn just four days after the
Boston Marathon Bombing.
`There is someone who brainwashed him, some new convert to Islam,''
Tsarni said. I would like to stress (the acquaintance was) of
Armenian descent.''
Since then he has been using the media to press investigators to find
Misha, a man who appeared to combine the worst features of villains
from two different horror movies.
`The Exorcist' meets `The Walking Dead.'
"This person just took his brain. He just brainwashed him completely,"
Tsarnaev's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, told CNN from his home in Maryland,
describing the friend as an Armenian convert to Islam.
`The bombers' uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, depicts Misha as a Rasputin-like
figure who "took [Tamerlan's] brain" and said that his presence soon
became a source of tension within the family,' reported USA Today.
Also citing the boys' uncle, London's Daily Mail reported that `Misha
used to give one-on-one sermons to Tamerlan over the kitchen table,
during which he claimed he could talk to demons.'
Tsarni, Tsarnaev's uncle, told CNN he was so concerned about someone
brainwashing his nephew that he called a family friend in the
Cambridge area to investigate.
"I said, 'Listen, do you know what is going on with that family? With
my brother's family?' Then he says ... there is a person, some new
convert into Islam of Armenian descent," Tsarni told CNN's Shannon
Travis.
Tsarni said, "Armenians, I have no intention to say anything about
Armenians.'
Then he proceeded to do just that. =80=9CIt's a neighboring region
with North Caucasus," the same area where the Tsarnaev family also
hails from.'
A red-haried Armenian exorcist...with a big mouth...in Cambridge
Tsarni described Misha as being "chubby, a big guy, big mouth
presenting himself with some kind of abilities as exorcist
. . . having some part-time job in one of the stores, not married. All
of the qualifications of a loser, just another big mouth.'
According to Uncle Ruslan, Misha, over a considerable period of time,
had radicalized Tamerlan.
=80=9CBut there are signs that Tamerlan had become radicalized -
apparently from a friend in the United States named `Mischa' -
described as a Russian of Armenian descent who was a relatively recent
convert to Islam and who lived in Cambridge, according by Tsarnaev's
uncle, Ruslan Tsarni,' NBC reported.
Tsarni told NBC News that Mischa presented himself as an `exorcist'
who specialized in `removing demons from people's bodies.'
Not a day went by without references in the press to the search for
Misha. There were literally hundred of news reports about him. Very
soon, it began to appear there was nothing new to be said.
But that didn't stop anyone. Reported New York magazine:
`According to reports, family members point the finger at a man
identified only as Misha, a friend whom Tamerlan knew through a local
mosque. Misha is described as a bald, red-bearded, 30-year-old
Armenian convert to Islam who "claimed to be an exorcist who is
fighting with demons."
OMG...you mean he's even scarier than...Alex Jones?
There was also a half-hearted attempt to draw Alex Jones into the
controversy. Reported the Atlantic Magazine online:
`The major development in the sleuthing of the Tsarnaev brothers,
specifically sinister Tamerlan, involves a red-bearded exorcist named
Misha.'
`Tamerlan listened to Alex Jones's popular and usually looney radio
show Infowars. BuzzFeed's Rosie Grey reached out to Jones to see how
he felt about having a suspected terrorist as a listener.'
It's hard to imagine anyone asking Alex Jones, =80=9CHow does that
make you feel.' But the effort to smear him was no doubt duly
noted. But the problem with doing any serious damage to Alex Jones was
simple: When you're lookng for an Armenian exorcist who talks with
demons, slandering a poor radio host in the bargain loses its lustre.
The fever over finding Misha finally broke when somebodsy actually
found him. Christian Caryl of the New York Times Review of Books
scored the first media interview with Misha. In her interview with the
alleged Boston Bomber's `Svengali,' he told her he hadn't seen or
spoken to anyone in the Tsarnaev family for more than three years.
Ooops! Uncle Ruslan's response spoke volumes about him. Was he
abashed? Far from it. He changed his story without batting an eye, and
turned his attention to a secondary target, a woman who, if you're
trying to create a distraction, is right out of Central Casting.
`Check out Bomb Mom'
Ruslan dismissed Zubeidat, who was arrested last year for stealing
$1,600 of lingerie from a department store, as a `bad character'.
`Ruslan Tsarni, told the AP from his home in Maryland that he
believed his former sister-in-law had a "big-time influence" on her
older son's growing embrace of his Muslim faith and decision to quit
boxing and school.'
` Ruslan Tsarni claimed that Zubeidat allowed a firebrand cleric into
their house to give one-on-one sermons to Tamerlan over the kitchen
table during which he claimed he could talk to demons and perform
exorcisms.'
He told London Daily MailOnline : `The change of the older boy, one of
the biggest causes is her. `First she started playing into this
religious crap, they say is a devotion to Islam.'
"I work. Why do you want to know?"
Tsarni was cagey with reporters about what he did for a living.
`Tsarni was careful not to give out too much information, reported the
Washington Post. `When asked about his profession, he responded, `I
work, I work.''
And with good reason, because for the past twenty years he has almost
certainly been a CIA asset operating in a number of former Soviet
Republics.
Tsarni's bio, in an official SEC filing, stated he worked for the US
Agency for International Development, USAID, during the early
1990's. Bloomberg Business Review revealed last week that since 2008,
he's again been working for USAID.
Famously, USAID workers build schools, as well as provide cover for
CIA assets overseas. Recently they were thrown out of Russia. Just
last week, they were asked to leave Bolivia.
In between his stints with the obviously-conflicted US Agency, Ruslan
Tsarni worked for several Halliburton-controlled oil companies, as
well as a Kazakh man charged with a major banking scandal in
Kazakhstan whose repercussions earlier this year stretched all the way
to London.
Maybe Ruslan Tsarni's commute car doesn't bear a `smoking gun' parking
sticker from CIA headquarters in Langley. But neither his bio nor his
demeanor since the bombings qualify him for a `Humanitarian of the
Year' award, either.
Of demons, exorcists, and shoddy shoddy journalism
The search for foreign involvement in the Boston Marathon Bombings has
been a sad joke.
The fact that no one has stood up and called "shenanigans" on the
mainstream purveyors of what is supposed to be responsible journalism
in this country is a national disgrace.
When you look at how this happened, its hard not to suspect that a
`higher power' than the FBI was steering the investigation.
This raises the strong possibility that the FBI's investigation into
the bombing has been manipulated, or steered, by the CIA.
In the post-mortems to come on the Boston Marathon bombing
investigation, the crucial question will be: Who was behind this
effort, and why?
A big question is what Uncle Ruslan stood to gain by making
accusations about Misha.
If you're on a CIA's crisis management team, and your job is to play
for time and try to run the clock out on the American people's
attention span, the result might look something very much like the
last two weeks in America.
And if your goal was to forestall pointed questions about Ruslan
Tsarni and top CIA official Graham Fuller's roles in the Tsarnaevs
family's frequent trips to Dagestan, you couldn't have played it
better.
Daniel Hopsicker is an investigative journalist dubious about the
self-serving assertion of U.S. officials that there are no American
Drug Lords.