What Really Drove the Boston Marathon Bombing?

For John, BLUF:  Let's not jump to conclusions.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

Shiraz Maher and Samar Batrawi writing in Foreign Affairs, talk about what others think about the Boston Marathon Bombing—What Jihadists Thought About Boston:  "Allah Akbar. Let's Move On."  The lede:

Residents of Boston, pundits, and analysts were not the only ones confused by last month’s bombing at the Boston Marathon.  In jihadist forums, as in the mainstream media, a debate has raged about the suspects’ motivations, allegiances, training, and possible other plans.  As in the rest of the world, no one had good answers about whether the Tsarnaev brothers were operating directly under al Qaeda’s command or were lone wolves, whether they had trained in terrorist camps or found most of the know-how they put to deadly use online, or whether they were part of a larger cell planning further atrocities.

Calling to mind the quote from Reporter H L Mencken:

There is always a well-known solution to every human problem--neat, plausible, and wrong.

If we are going to understand the Boston Marathon Bombing we have to check all the nooks and crannies of this situation before we draw any hard conclusions.

Regards  —  Cliff