In re the latest latest foiled terror plot-four small-time criminals planned to blow up a couple of temples in the Bronx and shoot down military planes at an air base in Newburgh-a few questions: Are the authorities only breaking up conspiracies planned by demonstrable idiots, are or are those the only ones they're telling us about? And which scenario is scarier?
I jumped the gun on this one. Reposted from the last thread...
If four would-be terrorists reach would-be terrorist classification because an FBI informant “armed†them with fake weapons provided by the FBI, are they still would-be terrorists?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/nyregion/22terror.html?_r=1&hp â€" “The informant soon helped them get the weapons, which were incapable of being fired or detonated, according to the authorities.â€Â
Yes, is that not entrapment?
I think they call it "good police work" or something these days.
Any chance these agents majored in philosophy?
I liked the quote in the Times from the FBY, "This was a completely controlled operation."
Again I am reminded of "Fatso", in which Dom Deluise, Suzanne Pleshette and Jerry Reed bust criminals by running a fake pawn shop.
Too bad Homeland Security has searched all over Arizona and Nevada with no results, trying to catch the criminal mastermind, Interpol-most-wanted global terrorist, one Mr. Wile E. Coyote.
//slightly better than a Jack Bauer joke
///much better than a Paul Blart joke
////not as good as a 9/11 joke
Authorities have, however, secured an injunction that will prevent the Acme Novelty Company from selling over-engineered weapons of mass personal destruction to non-human predators.
Let's sell some fake terror weapons to disgruntled Muslims, arrest them, hold a press conference, then call it a day. We'll be home in time to watch Top Chef.
I thought we were entrapping them over there so we didn't have to entrap them over here, no?
How boring would it have to case those dopes for a year? Yeah, we just sold some play-doh to some poor Haitians. They thought it was C4.
Really? We're still targeting synagogues? That's so 1980s.
I love the frogwalk with the "Ireland: The Craic was Mighty" hooded sweatshirt. And now I can make fun of the several dozen people I know named "David Williams" for being terrorists. All-in-all a pretty worthwhile operation from my point of view. It'll be so less fun when we just preventatively detain people.
I'm a bit surprised by the attitude here. An explosives expert on their cabal would have been useful to confirm the functionality of the bomb. But, we shouldn't dismiss them as stupid. For all we know, this was the only slip-up they made along the way. What presumptuousness to assume that all criminals are knuckle-dragging morons. You're setting yourself up for the fall if you keep underestimating the efforts to cause some trouble.
Not suggesting that we get paranoid and pump up the NSA budget. Just on a personal level, don't pretend that it's impossible for someone to sit down with his accomplices and do some damage.