THE NEW FACE OF TERRORISM

The two brothers suspected of the Boston bombings, Chechens who grew up in America, fit the profile of a new generation of jihadists who are radicalized online and strike in their home countries.

 "It seems the issue here is less that they conducted training in camps or not and radicalized in Chechnya, and more that they were involved in a social media radicalization," he said prior to the arrest of Dzhokhar.

Some say  the uprooting of young people at an early age can make them more vulnerable to being radicalized in later years.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev had a YouTube page in his name, created in August 2012, where he favorited several Islamist videos in a category entitled "terrorism."
It had links to videos of a radical Australian preacher, Feiz Mohammad, and a playlist entitled "terrorists," according to the Washington-based SITE Intelligence Group.
Fiona Hill, a Caucasus specialist at the Brookings Institution think tank, said the conflict in Chechnya is used as a recruiting tool for Al-Qaeda.
"Videos from Chechnya are all over the Internet. They're constantly packaged as part of the Al-Qaeda network recruitment," she said.
Dzhokhar used Twitter and VKontakte -- the Russian equivalent of Facebook -- where his profile identifies "Islam" as his world view, lists information about Chechnya and Islam, and relates jokes about the unfair treatment of Muslims in the Caucasus.
Ben Wittes, an expert on terrorism and national security at Brookings, said the attack in Boston could be construed as domestic but have international resonance.


 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

1 IS IT FAIR TO BLAME THE MEDIA?
2 YOU MUST BE PRETTY GULLIBLE TO BE RADICALISED ONLINE?
3 ARE THEY ALREADY PREDISPOSED TO SUCH VIOLENCE AND HATRED?
4 WERE THE PARENTS ANTI- AMERICAN?
5 HOW IS IT THAT AN AMERICAN EDUCATION DID NOT HELP MAKE THEM MORE MODERATE?

WHO IS TO BLAME? OR SHOULD WE FOCUS OF WORKING ON HOW TO PREVENT A RECURRENCE OF SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME?