Quote:
Originally Posted by Nepenthes
This is what they did in this case. They found somone who would have detonated a real bomb to kill people.
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I disagree. In this situation, the FBI acted as a stand-in for the type of person they should be focusing on. It's the difference between busting the proverbial drug dealer on the corner vs. the person who supplies the drug dealer on the corner with drugs.
There are a lot of people who have at some point in their life had the potential to detonate a bomb and kill people. Few of them actually do. Maybe some of them end up serving in the armed forces, where their proclivities can be put to a more socially acceptable use. The point being that the ability to find and convince someone to do something stupid and then punish them for doing something stupid doesn't actually reduce the amount of stupidity in the world. Most stupid people eventually wise up without royally fucking up their lives and the lives of those around them.
Is there any evidence that this guy would have done any harm if left alone? I'm sure they FBI would have us think so, but they're hardly impartial observers in this; they're selling their perspective just like everyone else.
It could be argued that operations like this can effect future recruitment, but I don't know if I buy that (not that my opinion matters for shit here). We live in a country where paranoia over this type of thing is rampant, and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of impressionable youngsters with an axe to grind against the status quo.