Do you feel safer now?

This week FBI agents arrested Muhammad Hussain, née Antonio Martinez, as he tried to blow up a military recruiting facility in Catonsville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Hussain/Martinez’ bomb, like the one Somalia-born Mohamed Mohamud tried to detonate at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, two weeks ago, was obligingly supplied by the FBI. Fortunately, both bombs were fake.

Now Antonio Martinez is in jail. So is Mohamed Mohamud. So is Julian Assange. And Tom Delay has been convicted and is facing the possibility of life in prison. And the Department of Homeland Security is protecting us from buying unauthorized copies of copyrighted music by shutting down websites that were selling them. And agents of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are protecting airline passengers by looking at nude pictures and fondling toddlers and great-grandmothers.

There, now. Don’t you feel much safer?

Apparently, the only thing Martinez and Mohamud did on their own was to have evil thoughts. These thoughts became action only because the FBI encouraged them, helped them and even constructed their “bombs” for them, taught them how to “detonate” them, and provided the vehicles with which to deliver them. Traditionally, three elements are necessary to prove that someone committed a crime: means, motive and opportunity. Here, the FBI supplied both the means and the opportunity. Technically speaking, this is not necessarily entrapment. Realistically, though, it is.

Just ask yourself this: how many terrorists commit their acts of terror all by themselves, with no assistance from anyone else? I’ll answer the question for you: None. Every terrorist, successful or unsuccessful, had the support of others. Their evil thoughts became evil deeds only because others provided encouragement and support.

Would Martinez and Mohamud have become terrorists if the FBI had not gotten to them? I suppose it is possible some real terrorists could have recruited them at some point. But the fact remains, they didn’t. It was the FBI that recruited them and encouraged them. And it was the FBI that armed and trained them.

The media persists in calling the operations that entrapped Martinez and Mohamud “sting” operations. But they are not, really. A sting operation is one in which the target, say a drug dealer, is acting completely on his own. When he sells illegal drugs to an undercover narcotics officer, he is not doing anything he doesn’t normally do, and the undercover cop’s participation is almost incidental. The cop is on the other side of the transaction; he doesn’t become the drug dealer’s confederate.

In the operations that nabbed Martinez and Mohamud, FBI agents’ participation was far from incidental. In both cases, they were actively involved in the plot.

The charging documents in Martinez’ case detail conversations he had with an FBI informant who had discovered the suspect’s Facebook postings. Significantly, the documents only reveal Martinez’ side of the conversation. How did he go from just being angry — and what he was angry about was the same thing Mohamud was angry about: the killing of Muslims — to actively plotting to blow up a military recruiting station? According to the documents, he attempted to enlist three friends in the plot. His friends turned him down. Would he have gone through with it had he not had undercover FBI agents as his “confederates”, and had they not supplied him with the “bomb” and the vehicle to deliver it? I seriously doubt it.

Thinking evil thoughts is not a crime. If it were, we’d all be in prison. Yet, this is what the government is intent on punishing in those two cases.

In fact, you don’t even have to think evil thoughts. All you have to do is expose the govenment’s incompetence and duplicity, as Julian Assange did, or engineer a Congressional redistricting that reflects the will of the voters, as Tom Delay did. The government will manufacture a crime to cover whatever it is you did.

We have a lawless government that is intent on turning all of us into law breakers. They already treat us that way when we get on an airplane or report for jury duty — or make a video recording of police abusing their authority.

And it has gotten worse. When the Department of Homeland Security seized 70-some websites two weeks ago, they didn’t bother to get a court-order or provide any notice or warning to the sites. Some of the sites that were seized were not even in the business of selling anything, legal or illegal. Their only “crime” was providing links to sites that did.

So, knowing what the government is doing to “protect” you, do you feel any safer? I sure don’t.

One thought on “Do you feel safer now?”

  1. “JUST ASK YOURSELF THIS: HOW MANY TERRORISTS COMMIT THEIR ACTS OF TERROR ALL BY THEMSELVES, WITH NO ASSISTANCE FROM ANYONE ELSE? I’LL ANSWER THE QUESTION FOR YOU: NONE. ”

    I would say none that you know of is more correct. At this point it seems that George Jakubec, the individual who was found to have a huge stash of homemade bombs and explosives in his home was operating on his own.

    “IT WAS THE FBI THAT RECRUITED THEM AND ENCOURAGED THEM.”

    Did the FBI really recruit and encourage them? Is it possible that these individuals could have successfully carried out these attacks on their own eventually? Obviously we are now aware of the existence of clandestine bomb-makers in this country who could have provided them with the means.

    “WOULD HE HAVE GONE THROUGH WITH IT HAD HE NOT HAD UNDERCOVER FBI AGENTS AS HIS “CONFEDERATES”, AND HAD THEY NOT SUPPLIED HIM WITH THE “BOMB” AND THE VEHICLE TO DELIVER IT? I SERIOUSLY DOUBT IT.”

    Would he have gone through with it if he had been able to assemble the means for doing so on his own or with the assistance of like-minded individuals? Since he obviously didn’t know the FBI was assisting him, it seems likely that if he could have found the right person or people to assist him, he would have.

    “IN FACT, YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE TO THINK EVIL THOUGHTS. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS EXPOSE THE GOVENMENT’S INCOMPETENCE AND DUPLICITY, AS JULIAN ASSANGE DID, OR ENGINEER A CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING THAT REFLECTS THE WILL OF THE VOTERS, AS TOM DELAY DID. THE GOVERNMENT WILL MANUFACTURE A CRIME TO COVER WHATEVER IT IS YOU DID.”

    I don’t believe Julian Assange has been charged with a crime at this point; he is only wanted for questioning. As to whether or not the accusations made against him were trumped up by the Swedish government in retaliation for the WikiLeaks leaks, that is pure speculation. What is real is the fact that the US DOJ is considering the possibility of bringing espionage charges against Assange, although I doubt they’ll do it unless they believe they can make the charges stick. As for Tom Delay, he had his day in court, and unless you believe the jury was tampered with by the government, I can’t see where you can find fault with the prosecution.

    “WHEN THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SEIZED 70-SOME WEBSITES TWO WEEKS AGO, THEY DIDN’T BOTHER TO GET A COURT-ORDER OR PROVIDE ANY NOTICE OR WARNING TO THE SITES.”

    When a law enforcement agency raids an illegal operation it doesn’t give notice ahead of time. That would be foolish. Do you really believe the people operating these websites didn’t know they either were, or at least might be, in violation of the law? They were just gambling that the government didn’t have the time, resources or inclination to shut them down. Copyright, trademark, patent, etc. infringements cost legitimate businesses and unsuspecting consumers lots and lots of money and can even put consumers at risk. Not sure where you got your information regarding the absence of court orders since the article you linked to doesn’t make any mention of them.

    “SO, KNOWING WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING TO “PROTECT” YOU, DO YOU FEEL ANY SAFER? I SURE DON’T.”

    The government writes laws and maintains agencies to enforce those laws on behalf of its citizens for a variety of reasons, not just to protect them from coming to harm. I certainly wouldn’t feel safer living in a society without any laws although I might agree that some laws could stand to be repealed.

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