How far should FBI ‘plot’?
Published 3:47 pm Tuesday, November 30, 2010
As we’ve learned since Sept. 11, 2001, rooting out terrorists — abroad and at home — is not an exact science. Balancing safety and freedom is our risky but mandatory high-wire act; there is so much to lose either way.
The arrest of Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, on Friday in Portland illustrates one scenario we are up against. Here, it would appear, we have a very willing foot soldier, one who would very much like to see a “spectacular fireworks show” and death and mayhem, but who, it would also appear, was incapable of carrying out much of anything on his own.
Despite the reports that Mohamud had “plotted for months” to bomb the tree-lighting ceremony, the plot would not have existed if not for the FBI. Mohamud is not a mastermind, as the FBI reveals.
Mohamud, who dropped out of Oregon State University on Oct. 6, came to the attention of authorities after receiving a tip from someone concerned about him, the Associated Press reported. Way to go, concerned citizen, friend or family member.
The FBI began monitoring Mohamud’s e-mail and found he was asking people how he could travel to Pakistan and join the fight for jihad, according to the affidavit. They believed a former OSU student living in Pakistan involved in terrorist activities was inviting Mohamud to join him.
OK, so far. But next is a crucial fork in the road for the FBI:
“For reasons unexplained,” AP reported, “Mohamud tried to board a flight to Kodiak, Alaska, from Portland on June 14, wasn’t allowed to board and was interviewed by the FBI, the affidavit states.”
Mohamud told the FBI he wanted to earn money fishing and then travel to join “the brothers.” He said he had earlier hoped to travel to Yemen but failed to get a ticket or a visa.
Mohamud tried to board a plane without a ticket? He told the FBI he did it so he could make money and join “the brothers?”
This is what amateur psychologists would call a cry for help and what law enforcement officials would not call a sophisticated criminal.
Anyone else trying to board a plane would be arrested. End of story.
But it was after this that the “plotting” began; the FBI e-mailed Mohamud, pretending to be the Pakistani contacts who, in reality, never got back to him.
Since the arrest, authorities reassured citizens that the “public was never in danger.”
The same would be true if the FBI had arrested Muhamud on June 14 after he tried to board a plane and willingly confessed to wanting to join terrorists.
