TerrorismReport: Some terrorist plots hatched by FBI

In recent years a number of terrorist attacks against the United States have been foiled by federal, state, and local authorities. Among them, a plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and a plan for an explosive attack against the New York subway system.

The New York Times reports that a number of these plots may have been initiated by the FBI, and though they fall short of entrapment, they may well never have been developed without the FBI’s direct encouragement.

Many of these averted terrorist plots were facilitated by the FBI, using informers and undercover agents to provide dummy missiles, simulated C-4 explosives, a disarmed suicide vest, and rudimentary training in their use.

The Times cites the example of Mohamed Osman Mohamud, the would-be Christmas Tree lighting bomber in Portland, Oregon. When Mohamud made known his desire to detonate a car bomb, the FBI provided him with a van filled with several 55-gallon drums of inert material, harmless blasting caps and detonator cord, and included a gallon of diesel fuel to make the van smell flammable.

An FBI investigator drove the van to a designated “detonation” point, with Mohamud in the passenger seat. On arrival, Mohamud was told to dial a particular number into a cell phone, which he was told would detonate the bomb.

He dialed the number at the appropriate time, but caused no explosion, only confirmation of his intent to detonate a bomb.

Defendants often claim entrapment when their cases reach trial, but such claims do not hold up in court. since the law only requires a predisposition to commit the offense. To underscore their predisposition, suspects are “warned about the seriousness of their plots and given opportunities to back out,” said Dean Boyd, a Justice Department spokesman.

Undercover operations have long been an essential component of FBI undercover operations, but they have been adapted to the post-9/11 environment, with primary goal being prevention.

Typically, FBI sting operations would center around a suspect’s ongoing business. A drug dealer would sell drugs to an undercover agent, or an arms dealer would make a weapons deal with the FBI.

Such is not the case with counterror operations, and for good reason. “There isn’t a business of terrorism in the United States, thank God,” a former federal prosecutor, David Raskin, explained.

Investigators are not likely to go to a street corner to find someone who has already blown something up. Therefore, the goal changes from finding someone who has already engaged in terrorism to finding someone who is predisposed to engaging in a terrorist act.

Many plots need no help from the government. The failed Times Square bombing, the New York City subway plot, the failed Christmas Day underwear airline bomber, intent on destroying an aircraft in flight over Detroit, all were discovered and foiled by intelligence or logistical failure.

For some people with a predisposition to engage in terrorism, some “help” from the FBI may be needed to draw them out and expose their schemes.