A lot has been written about the Boston bombings, the Tsarnaev brothers, and the way the case was handled. I don’t want to add to that, but here are links to some of the more insightful articles, along with a brief excerpt from each:
- Lockdown, USA: Lessons From the Boston Marathon Manhunt, by Henry Giroux
The collective expressions of relief, compassion, and adulation were reasonable and appropriate once the threat from the Boston Marathon bombers had ended. But such feelings are short-lived in a country that infamously is losing its capacity to question itself, embracing instead a mode of historical amnesia “in which forgetting has become more important than learning.” - Treatment of Suspect Exposes ‘Muslim Exception’ to the Constitution, by Alex Kane
Tsarnaev’s Constitutional rights have been treated like luxuries to be granted by the U.S. government.… In the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, Tsarnaev was not read his Miranda rights.… the Los Angeles Times reported that “a senior congressional aide said Tsarnaev had asked several times for a lawyer, but that request was ignored.” - Boston Marathon, This Thing Called Terrorism, and the United States, by William Blum
What is it that makes young men, reasonably well educated, in good health and nice looking, with long lives ahead of them, use powerful explosives to murder complete strangers because of political beliefs? - The Terrorist “Radicalization” of the Tsarnaev Brothers, by Gary Leupp
For most people it’s difficult to fathom. What’s more fundamental to the social contract underlying human society than the rule, “You shall not kill”? The principle is enshrined in all law codes and religious traditions. Still, these same traditions allow, even sometimes mandate, exceptions.