U.S. counterterrorism task force was warned of Boston Bomber's return trip to U.S.

As I noted in an earlier post, U.S. officials have given two contradictory explanations as to why the FBI failed to take heed when the Boston Marathon bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, returned to the U.S., in 2012, from his overseas trip to the Russian provinces of Dagestan and Chechnya.

Explanation Version 1) - In the spring of 2011, The FBI included Tsarnaev's name in a database called TECS -- the Treasury Enforcement and Communication System. The aforementioned database is used by U.S. officials at the border to help screen people coming in and out of the U.S. However, entries into this database remain active for only a year. Hence, when Tsarnaev returned to the United States in June 2012, there was no "ping" of his TECS database entry because it had already expired. And thus, the FBI was unaware of his return trip to the U.S.

Explanation Version 2) - When Tsarnaev returned to the U.S., there indeed WAS a "ping" generated in his TECS database entry. This information was shared with the Customs and Border Protection officer on the FBI's Boston joint terrorism task force. But because the FBI had closed its investigation into Tsarnaev a year earlier, there was no reason to be suspicious of his travels to Russia.

Contradictory explanations, to say the least.

But now, the anonymous U.S. officials are offering up a third alternative - just in case the American people are not completely satisfied with the earlier prevarications. The third alternative is similar to version 2 with a few alterations and a little added makeup [cosmetic].

"Change you can believe in!"

According to the latest version, a U.S. counterterrorism task force received a warning when Tsarnaev returned to the U.S, but only one person - a Customs officer assigned to the [aforementioned] Joint Terrorism Task Force - knew about the warning, and he failed to tell his colleagues and his superiors in the FBI about it. Or, maybe he did tell them about it....

Confused?

Here's the third version:

Nine months before the Boston Marathon bombing, a U.S. counterterrorism task force received a warning that a suspected militant had returned from a lengthy trip to Russia, U.S. officials said.

Who these anonymous U.S. officials are, no one knows; only President Obama, his lackeys in the mainstream media, and various members of the adminstration, know their true identity.

The warning was delivered to a single U.S. Customs official assigned to Boston's Joint Terrorism Task Force, a cell of specialists from federal and local law enforcement agencies.

The Joint Terrorism Task Forces are led by the FBI and the Justice Department.

It is not clear whether the aforementioned warning came via a database system ping, or some other source: Russian officials etc.

The task force was part of a network of multi-agency organizations set up across the country after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to make sure that clues and tips were shared.

But officials said there is no indication that the unidentified Customs officer provided the information to any other members of the task force, including FBI agents who had previously interviewed the militant.

Difficult to believe.

There's no reason to assume that the Customs officer was aware of an earlier investigation in which the FBI deemed Tsarnaev a non-threat. So, why in the world wouldn't he notify the Feds about the warning?

The man whose return from Russia went largely unnoticed was one of the two brothers who would later be accused of carrying out the April 15 bombing that killed three people and injured more than 250 others near the finish line of the Boston Marathon...

The FBI opened an investigation of Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011 at the behest of Russian officials who expressed concern that he was becoming radicalized and could be planning an attack in Russia.

The bureau set the inquiry aside after concluding that Tsarnaev posed no threat. But notice that he had returned from a seven-month trip to Russia might have provided the FBI with new reasons to question him. He had traveled to the strife-torn region of Dagestan, in the North Caucasus, where rebels have adopted the tactics and language of militant Islamists...

U.S. officials also said that the customs officer in Boston may have mentioned Tsarnaev’s return to FBI agents serving on the task force without creating a computer file to record the information had been shared.

Well, that's a quick shift. "The customs officer MAY have mentioned Tsarnaev’s return to FBI agents serving on the task force..." Heh....

Nah, I don't believe it. Why would he do such a silly thing like that?

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said during an appearance at a conference in Washington on Thursday that he has seen no evidence that U.S. agencies failed. “The dots were connected,” he said.

"No evidence that U.S. agencies failed?!!" Three people dead, more than 250 injured, amputees - add to that the various prevarications, contradictory talking points, excuses - that's all the evidence we need!

[Clapper] also called on the public “not to hyperventilate for a while before we get all the facts.”

"Before we get all the facts"?!! You gotta be kidding..... All we're getting is an endless stream of revision, changes, alterations, prevarications, excuses - you name it!

"All the facts?" I don't think we'll ever get the facts.

Related Post: U.S. officials: Tsarnaev Did / Did Not set off a 'Ping' in the TECS database when he returned to the U.S.