Lindsey Graham: Boston Bombings were an Intelligence Failure
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Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Cal(WASHINGTON) — Speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation, Senator Lindsey Graham expressed his belief that the Boston Marathon bombings were the result of intelligence failures.
Graham said that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the dead bombing suspect, left a trail that should have raised a red flag.
“The FBI investigated the older brother but never shared the information with the fusion cell in Boston so people in the Boston area could be on the lookout,” Graham said. “When he goes back to Russia in January of 2012 the system pings at DHS but DHS doesn’t share the information with the FBI or CIA.”
Graham believes that the failure of American intelligence agencies to connect the dots illustrates that “We’re going back to the pre-9-11 stove piping.”
The bombings, he said, must serve as a wake-up call.
“We’re gonna have to up our game and when one of these guys goes into the system and they leave the country we’ve got to make sure we know where they’re going and interview them and when somebody in the data base like this begins to openly interact with radical Islamic website and FBI agent should knock on his door,” said Graham.
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