Shahzad's Motive 'Unclear' to CBS, Cites Money Pressure Since He 'Hasn't Realized Any American Dream'
Botched bomber Faisal Shahzad's failure to achieve the "American dream"
may have been an important motive for his terrorist act, CBS's Bob Orr
contended Wednesday night in a story in which he declared: "Shahzad's
motive also remains unclear." After noting how Shahzad "told
interrogators he's upset with U.S. policies which he feels unfairly
target Muslims and he's angry over Predator strikes that have killed
both terror leaders and civilians in his native Pakistan," Orr proposed:
Investigators say a quest for revenge seems to have played some role, but personal financial pressures may also have pushed Shahzad to act. He became a U.S. citizen just a year ago, but he has not realized any American dream. He quit his job, lost his house, and was separated from his family.
How about the
hypothesis Shahzad became a U.S. citizen as a ruse to make it easier to
carry out his Islamic jihad - and so quitting his job, moving his family
to Pakistan and not paying his mortgage were not what drove him to
terrorism, but were what he did to get training and rid himself of
encumbrances.
Audio: MP3
clip
Earlier in his piece, Orr maintained "the crude nature of the device he
left in the smoking SUV showed little evidence of training" and "sources
say it's not consistent with the kind of bombs that we usually see from
Islamic extremists."
So, Orr did at least utter the "Islamic
extremist" term, if only to suggest the possibility Shahzad isn't one,
or at least isn't a competent one.
Earlier:
"AP Humanizes Times Square Terror Suspect, Cites 'Unraveled' Life"
"ABC Sees Optimistic Terrorist: Wife Enjoys American Sit-Coms While He Dots 'i' with a Heart"
From Orr's lead story on the
Wednesday, May 5 CBS Evening News:
BOB ORR: ...Shahzad claims he was schooled in explosives at a Pakistani terror camp, but sources say investigators have not been able to verify that. The crude nature of the device he left in the smoking SUV showed little evidence of training, and sources say it's not consistent with the kind of bombs that we usually see from Islamic extremists.
JUAN ZARATE, CBS NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This individual may have been trained, be he wasn't trained very well. This was a sloppy, amateurish device that had multiple points of failure.
ORR: Shahzad's motive also remains unclear. He's told interrogators he's upset with U.S. policies which he feels unfairly target Muslims and he's angry over Predator strikes that have killed both terror leaders and civilians in his native Pakistan.
Investigators say a quest for revenge seems to have played some role, but personal financial pressures may also have pushed Shahzad to act. He became a U.S. citizen just a year ago, but he has not realized any American dream. He quit his job, lost his house, and was separated from his family.
While the FBI builds the criminal case...
- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
