The trouble with Dzhokhar

The Wall Street Journal reports that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was indistinguishable from any other young man in the Boston area.

After a month of intensive investigation, authorities, according to people involved in the case, have yet to find any actions by Mr. Tsarnaev before last month's attack that would have stood out as alarming—no frequent visits to jihadi websites, no violent rhetoric, no suspicious purchases.

Friends described Dzhokhar as a jokey teenager who seemed to genuinely enjoy his life in America. At his college, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the worst that fellow students would say about him was that he was a lackluster student.

Nabil Siddiqi, a recent UMass Dartmouth graduate who remains involved in the Muslim Student Association, recalled a time in January when Dzhokhar and several friends from Kazakhstan showed up at a weekly study circle, giggling and disturbing the discussion.

His freshman-year roommate, Jason Rowe, said Dzhokhar wore jeans and hoodies, liked hip-hop music and late-night Taco Bell. He didn't talk much about his family and was excited when he became a U.S. citizen.

Mr. Rowe saw no signs Dzhokhar held any extremist views. Mr. Rowe walked into the room once to find his roommate praying, but "other than that he didn't talk about religion." Added Mr. Rowe, 19: "He seemed very Americanized."

Dzhokhar was as American as any Occupy Wall Streeter.

The most disturbing thing about the facts brought out in this article is that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is perfectly normal for a young college student in the Boston Area. Authorities tell us that there’s nothing that would make him stand out. Perfectly willing to plant bombs and kill people if there are people around him who will take the initiative. Could it be that he’s a pretty good example of what the culture and educational system is producing? "He seemed very Americanized." That’s troubling.