The Associated Press: Teen arrested in Oregon car bomb plot led 2 lives
After reading this fairly dry AP recounting of the story, I am left (still) with the conclusion that 'fighting terrorism' in this way is just an exercise and that it doesn't make us safer. Not every person who becomes radicalized is going to be a threat. After all, we have plenty of radicalized white people in this country, too. What's more, they've known about the guy for years apparently and could have simply continued to monitor him. It seems to me that, rather than a legitimate effort to waylay danger, this operation has simply been an opportunity to make a showy arrest on terrorism charges near the holidays. Yay, I feel so much safer.