TPM Reader RW has some questions on that terror plot in New York ...

Reading about the plot to blow up NYC synagogues I'm struck by the similarity of the case to several others where misguided individuals decide to commit terrorist acts based on their interactions with FBI informants. Here, the informant provided the group with dummy 'bombs' which they dutifly planted, no doubt recorded on multiple FBI cameras. The whole terrorist 'act' is carried out simply for the benefit of prosecutors who would love to play an edited version in front of a jury.

The NYT's story quoted Bureau sources describing the plot as 'aspirational,' a word we've heard before with these cases. It is a trend I find troubling.

Setting aside the potential entrapment angle, is this what law enforcement is doing to protect us? Don't we have deep cover guys taking down plots from the terrorist's A-team? Is there a terrorist A-team? These are super-villians, no?

I'll reserve judgment on this one until we hear more. On the face of it this seems different than the notorious and frankly comical Liberty Six story. These were the goofballs who hung out in an abandoned warehouse down in Liberty City and, as Justin Rood then memorably put it, looked to their cult leader "for religious leadership, karate instruction and contracting work." As I, I think, somewhat memorably noted at the time, they were in such an early stage in their jihad that they hadn't even gotten around to converting to Islam.

At the time, the Liberty Six case was termed 'aspirational'. And frankly that was generous. They basically found these numskulls and perhaps because they offered to give them some clothes and shoes or whatever got them into a conversation about blowing up the Sears Tower. (By the way, these guys were recently convicted and sentenced to hard time.)

But this case in New York, at least based on initial reports, sounds very different. They had the suspects under surveillance. And FBI informants or agents sold them inoperative bombs. But the initial reports suggest that the suspects were arrested while actually planting bombs at a Synagogue. That sounds much more operational than aspirational to me.

Presumably, the defense will try to make an argument for entrapment. And it'll depend how disciplined the FBI was in running the case whether they have any luck with that. As to whether or not this is a good use of law enforcement time, it certainly seems like a pretty good idea to have these guys off the streets. And presumably it has some deterrent effect on other terrorist ragamuffins who might get pulled into one of these relatively half-baked but potentially plenty deadly plots.

As for whether law enforcement should be focusing on the A Team, as RW puts it, I'd like to think they can do both at the same time. Of course, if a significant amount of time is being spent ginning up impressionable but otherwise harmless people into buying fake bombs so they can be bagged in high-profile sting operations, that'd be a pretty questionable use of time. But I think we need to see more facts before we jump to that conclusion.

Late Update: Here's the criminal complaint in the case. It gives a very rough sense of the evidence the government has. These folks were, it seems, not big fans of Jews.