Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Boston Bombing Suspect, Says US Wars Were Motivation; He And Brother Acted Alone

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the younger of the two brothers accused of the Boston Marathon bombings, has told investigators that the United States' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a motivation in the attacks, the Washington Post reported today. CNN reported on Monday that Tsarnaev had indicated to his interrogators that his older brother Tamerlan was the brains behind the attack and that they had acted alone, without the support of foreign terrorist groups. He also said that he and his brother had watched online videos which contributed to their radicalization but that they had not used the Internet to communicate with jihadist groups abroad.

Tsarnaev reportedly responded non-verbally to every question except one: when he was asked if he could afford a lawyer, to which he answered with a strained, "No." A judge present appears to have had some trouble making out his response.

Tsarnaev was charged on Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death. That same day, he was read his Miranda rights for the first time, more than two days after being taken into custody. A "public safety exception" had been invoked by investigators in their decision not to read his Miranda rights immediately out of the possibility that he may have had information about other plots.

The complaint was filed in US District Court in Boston, ending controversy over what sort of court would try his case. His first, non-public court proceeding took place at his hospital bed, with a federal judge, three defense lawyers, and two federal prosecutors in attendance. The judge present wrote that the suspect was "alert, mentally competent, and lucid." He is currently recuperating from gunshot wounds to the head, neck, legs and hands, according to a court transcript.

The criminal charges were filed in US District Court in Boston, ending controversy over whether Tsarnaev should be treated as an "enemy combatant," as some congressional Republicans had insisted. The appellation would have meant that Tsarnaev would likely have been tried under the laws of war in a military commission, and he could have been held indefinitely.

The Post wrote that White House press secretary Jay Carney had rejected the idea on Monday because the suspect is a US citizen.

"We will prosecute this terrorist through our civilian system of justice,'' Carney said at a White House news briefing.

According to an FBI affidavit cited by the Post, a surveillance video shows Tsarnaev lifting a cell phone to his ear and failing to react to noise and impact of the first explosion, which caused the rest of the people around him to look toward where it had occurred. He then sets his knapsack on the ground and walks away from it quickly. Ten seconds later, the second explosion occurs there.

According to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where the suspect is being held, his condition is now listed as "fair."