After learning that the name of deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been added to a government terrorist databse 18 months before the deadly attack, critics say the database may simply be too big to be of great value.

With some 875,000 records, some wonder if the federal terrorist database is too big to use. (Ninian Reid, Creative Commons)

According to the L.A. Times, Tsarnev was added to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment list (TIDE) after a Russian intelligence service informed the CIA that he had become an Islamic radical,

Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shoot-out with police within a few days of rigging the finish line of the Boston Marathon for an explosion that killed 3 and injured nearly 200.

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The suspects' mother, Zubiedat Tsarnaeva, was also added to the database at the same time as her son, according to USA Today.

According to TIME:

The new disclosure that Tsarnaev was included within a huge, classified database of known and suspected terrorists before the attacks was expected to drive congressional inquiries in coming weeks about whether the Obama administration adequetely investigated tips from Russia that Tsarnaev had posed a security threat.

The creation of TIDE was intended to consolidate a number of government watch lists in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in order to ensure that every law enforcement agency nationwide would be aware when it came into contact with a potential terrorist.

But with 875,000 records, some say that the database is so large as to have diminished in value.

According to the Times, "a single credible tip" is enough to add someone to the list. As one unnamed Dept. of Homeland Security intelligence officer pointed out, even Ford Motor Company has an entry in the database.

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Whether the events of April 15 will prompt a change in TIDE remains to be seen, but it is certain that any inadequecy in connection with the Boston Marathon blast will not easily be forgotten.

Reach Executive Producer Francesca Bessey here.