Mohamed Osman Mohamud
According to OregonLive.com, the FBI “thwarted” a terrorist attack on Friday when it arrested Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a 19-year-old Somali-born US citizen who hoped to murder a large number of people by detonating a bomb in Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square moments before the city’s annual tree-lighting ceremony. Sounds good, right?
Well, there’s a bit of a problem. You see, the FBI helped Mohamud plan the bombing and even supplied him with a fake bomb. The attempted bombing never would have happened if the FBI hadn’t held Mohamud’s hand throughout the entire process because he didn’t have the know-how to pull it off without outside help.
Do you feel safer?
I suspect that now the FBI will use this incident as “proof” of the Dangerous Terrorist Menace threatening to destroy America and lobby Congress for more money so they can set up more schmoes like Mohamud and get even more funding. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Absolutely. This man is a terrorist. He wants to kill you and all the other innocent Americans reading this. And you’re complaining because the FBI stopped him? The attempted bombing would never have happened without the FBI’s help. This is true. But what if the FBI never got him? What could happen ten or twenty years later? He may not have the ability to bomb things by himself right now but given time he very well could.
Of course, if that had happened, I’m sure you’d be complaining about how bad the FBI is at there job, how they found a terrorist years ago interested in making bombs and did nothing to stop him. If you don’t like the policies employed by our government move the fuck out of the United States.
“If you don’t like the policies employed by our government move the fuck out of the United States.”
That right there is why the government gets away with most of the BS that it does. Our government was founded on the very principle that if you don’t agree with what the powers that be are doing (and may I remind you that we pay their salaries, therefore, we employ them), we have the right and the power to question and challenge them. If my boss just sat in the back office and trusted me to do every part of my job perfectly and without fail, there would be a lot of problems and I could get away with a lot of BS.
“If you don’t like the policies employed by our government move the fuck out of the United States.”
Yeah see that’s not how it works here. If you don’t like the policies, you work to enact change from within, in order to both protect citizens and not trample rights. In this case, the FBI’s means were kind of stupid, and I’d like them to find a better way. Informing people is the best way to get things done, because if enough people raise a stink, they might actually make some changes.
“If you don’t like the policies employed by our government move the fuck out of the United States.”
Oh, how sick and tired I am of hearing this. What it is essentially saying is:
“I don’t want to have to discuss this or justify why I think it’s right, because truly I don’t understand it myself, but I think it’s for MY benefit, so STFU!”
As the previous posters have pointed out.. this country was founded on the premises that we not only CAN question why things are done but we SHOULD.
I think it’s weird that the FBI has to go to these lengths to find reasons for their terrorist programs, surely there are plenty of criminals that don’t actually need their help in order to commit crimes.. shouldn’t we concentrate on the ones with the know-how and the tools to do it, rather than the ones who need everything supplied, as well as the know-how?
I will agree that I do not understand all the ins and outs of the system that the FBI uses for its counterterrorism programs. And unless you are actually working for the FBI you cannot make the claim either.
As an engineer I am a firm believer in the fact that those who do not understand how the system works do not have a valid opinion on how the system should be changed. If someone tells me that I am doing something incorrectly at my job and they do not have a degree in engineering they are generally dead wrong (like my boss). The “solution” they give makes no sense. Is it there fault? No. They’re not educated enough in the matter to make the decision.
I have faith in the government but I have even more faith in the power of a proper education. I’ll let the FBI do there thing. As long as I’m safe, I’m happy.
Where is the proof?? Where are the facts to support this claim?
@ Anonymous#1 – unfortunately, saying if someone doesn’t like it, they should just get out is neither a logical nor intelligent argument. For more, read here: http://www.examiner.com/anti-establishment-in-national/if-you-don-t-like-it-you-can-get-out (or watch this South Park episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT0OqHr3wHQ&feature=player_embedded)
@ Anonymous #2 – Yeah, that sounds kinda right, saying that a non-engineer shouldn’t be telling an engineer how to do a job. But that doesn’t always really apply. For instance, I don’t have to be a Nazi or soldier to know that genocide and pogroms are morally wrong. Should I not protest unjust wars or genocide because I am not trained in the military arts or knowledgeable about how to execute minorities? Similarly, I don’t have to be an FBI operative to criticize FBI lies, government waste, and poorly conceived undercover operations. Further, my tax dollars fund the FBI. If it was someone else’s money, and someone else’s operation, I probably have a lot less right, or perhaps no right at all, to tell them how to spend their money and conduct their business. But it is some of my money, which they seize from me annually, and I should have a right to question their methods, even if I am not highly educated in FBI or law enforcement matters.
FBI admitted to helping support this guy. Yes, they taught him to do stuff on dummy equipment. And now he’s going to rot in jail for being a terrorist. Good.