Tamerlan and Mom Talked Jihad

The details of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s life pre–Boston Marathon bombing continue to be revealed. Russian authorities have now informed U.S. investigators for the first time that they’d heard the bombing suspect discuss jihad and the possibility of taking a trip to Palestine with his mother during a recorded telephone conversation back in 2011. While this phone call seems enlightening, counterterrorism experts say it doesn’t necessarily indicate that the now-deceased suspect had actually been plotting an attack. The real issue authorities are focused on is Tsarnaev’s 2012 trip to Dagestan and whether he and his brother, Dzhokhar, had any help in planning the April 15 attack.