Terror in Boston

The fatal attack at the Boston Marathon has reminded Americans of their vulnerability to terrorism and will provoke a bitter and emotional debate about how a democracy can defend itself against its external enemies when it suddenly discovers that they have already penetrated it and are now at home.

The killer brothers lived in the U.S. since childhood, accompanying their father who had applied for political asylum because of the dreadful conditions in his native Chechnya, a rebellious province of Russia in which the combination of guerrilla warfare, terrorism and repression produced bloody chapters in the recent history of the former superpower. The iron fist of the Kremlin had come up against brutal resistance from the Chechen independence movement, which, in the past, had not hesitated to attack civilians and even small children if such actions advanced its cause or claimed a perverse vengeance against Moscow.

The Tsarnaev family emigrated to the U.S. when the children were small, and authorities could not see anything alarming in their behavior — that is, until the Russian government, which maintains a near-obsessive surveillance on the Chechen exile community, officially requested information from the U.S. government concerning Tamerlan, who was planning a trip to his homeland and neighboring Dagestan, which has its own separatist movement. The FBI’s response: There is nothing suspicious in his conduct. However, later investigations found that it was following this trip that the youth’s conduct began to change and find shelter in Islamic fundamentalism. Tamerlan’s YouTube page contains videos that propagate the idea of a “holy war,” the sadly famous jihad, which Americans now associate with hatred toward their country and its values.

Evidently, the investigations, intelligence operations and the methods of the Russian and U.S. agencies concerning the Tsarnaev youths differed, but beyond the political blame game, various elements and consequences of the bombings and the subsequent police manhunt are unmistakable.

First of all, we see an increase in Russian-U.S. cooperation, which had been weak because of tensions between the two countries following Washington’s critique of Moscow’s human rights record and Russia’s vicious response. Other points of contention included the always prickly issue of cross-border adoptions, which were suspended following the still-murky death of a Russian child who was adopted by a family in Texas. From now on, the climate between the two countries will change for the better.

Secondly, the discussion surrounding the measures a democracy can and should take in order to protect itself against terrorism will intensify, above all, when the terrorism comes from its own citizens. One of the two Tsarnaev brothers had already been naturalized and the other was awaiting U.S. citizenship approval. Both seemed to be models of the present system of U.S. integration and assimilation, which has now been exposed as failed and incomplete.

Lamentably, and this is the third point, the attacks and the immigration status of the terrorists coincide with the beginning of debate and analysis of the immigration reform bill presented last week by the so-called “Gang of Eight” legislators who are promoting it. What would have been a relatively smooth and fluid process will now be contaminated by these bloody events which have already provoked alarmist declarations and demagoguery from the right wing in the U.S., as well as a logical and understandable visceral reaction of fear and rejection of foreigners in the general population.

Obviously, it is absurd to want to link the attacks by the Tsarnaev brothers to immigration reform. They best exemplify a current system that does not work and does not protect the security of Americans, but they will also be an excellent pretext for those who oppose the system’s transformation.

The bombing will not free Chechnya or advance the cause of the Islamic holy war, but it will surely put into place an enormous obstacle for the millions of undocumented persons, who are hoping that things will change for them in the U.S.

Nobody knows how it will turn out …