US: Terrorism Prosecutions Often An Illusion - Polidicks

[url]http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/21/us-terrorism-prosecutions-often-illusion[/url] [QUOTE]The [URL="https://www.hrw.org/united-states"]US[/URL] Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have targeted American Muslims in abusive counterterrorism “sting operations” based on religious and ethnic identity, Human Rights Watch and Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute said in a report released today. Many of the more than 500 terrorism-related cases prosecuted in US federal courts since September 11, 2001, have alienated the very communities that can help prevent terrorist crimes. The 214-page report, [URL="http://hrw.org/node/126101"]“Illusion of Justice: Human Rights Abuses in US Terrorism Prosecutions,”[/URL]examines 27 federal terrorism cases from initiation of the investigations to sentencing and post-conviction conditions of confinement. It documents the significant human cost of certain counterterrorism practices, such as overly aggressive sting operations and unnecessarily restrictive conditions of confinement. “Americans have been told that their government is keeping them safe by preventing and prosecuting terrorism inside the US,” said [URL="http://www.hrw.org/bios/andrea-prasow"]Andrea Prasow[/URL], deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch and one of the authors of the report. “But take a closer look and you realize that many of these people would never have committed a crime if not for law enforcement encouraging, pressuring, and sometimes paying them to commit terrorist acts.”[/QUOTE]

So, entrapment on a massive scale? If not for the prospect of having to face the least trustworthy elements of the US government, there'd be lawyers salivating all over these cases.

These cases are always reported in the media as "Muslim Terror Cell Thwarted Inside The US!" when the reality is anything but. The people who end up in prison for the rest of their lives typically do nothing more than agree to a plan formulated by an FBI agent using equipment provided by the FBI and all under intense surveillance by the FBI. Without the undercover agents enticing or cajoling them into participating, most of these people were no threat by themselves. In some cases, they were offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for their participation in the supposed plot. The FBI basically views all Muslims as potential terrorists and goes out of their way to try and compel Muslims into participating in fake plots so they can be arrested and paraded in front of the TV cameras. Terrorism really isn't that big of a threat, but the FBI and the rest of the counterterror/surveillance state need to provide a constant flow of terrorism convictions to justify the massive, bloated budgets they've had since the kneejerk post-9/11 funding bonanza. None of the NSA spying or fusion centers or mosque infiltrating is necessary, but no government agency wants to lose jobs by admitting that they're insanely overfunded. Thus, otherwise innocent people have to pay the price to make the agency look good and keep the American people afraid enough to pay taxes and not ask questions.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;45466121]In some cases, they were offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for their participation in the supposed plot. The FBI basically views all Muslims as potential terrorists and goes out of their way to try and compel Muslims into participating in fake plots so they can be arrested and paraded in front of the TV cameras. [/QUOTE] Thanks for reminding me that I'm fresh out of tinfoil.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;45466121]These cases are always reported in the media as "Muslim Terror Cell Thwarted Inside The US!" when the reality is anything but. The people who end up in prison for the rest of their lives typically do nothing more than agree to a plan formulated by an FBI agent using equipment provided by the FBI and all under intense surveillance by the FBI. Without the undercover agents enticing or cajoling them into participating, most of these people were no threat by themselves. In some cases, they were offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for their participation in the supposed plot. The FBI basically views all Muslims as potential terrorists and goes out of their way to try and compel Muslims into participating in fake plots so they can be arrested and paraded in front of the TV cameras. Terrorism really isn't that big of a threat, but the FBI and the rest of the counterterror/surveillance state need to provide a constant flow of terrorism convictions to justify the massive, bloated budgets they've had since the kneejerk post-9/11 funding bonanza. None of the NSA spying or fusion centers or mosque infiltrating is necessary, but no government agency wants to lose jobs by admitting that they're insanely overfunded. Thus, otherwise innocent people have to pay the price to make the agency look good and keep the American people afraid enough to pay taxes and not ask questions.[/QUOTE] Wait is this true if so holy shit

I've always suspected that terrorism trials were just Kangaroo courts

[QUOTE=catbarf;45466208]Thanks for reminding me that I'm fresh out of tinfoil.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Pyroknight;45466346]Wait is this true if so holy shit[/QUOTE] I recall a couple articles on this stuff. A quick search turned up these ones. One of the operations actually ended in the targets reporting the informant to the FBI. [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/04/AR2010120403710.html[/url] [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/terrorist-plots-helped-along-by-the-fbi.html[/url]

[QUOTE=Cliff2;45466541]I recall a couple articles on this stuff. A quick search turned up these ones. One of the operations actually ended in the targets reporting the informant to the FBI. [URL]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/04/AR2010120403710.html[/URL] [URL]http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/terrorist-plots-helped-along-by-the-fbi.html[/URL][/QUOTE] Yeah, okay. Using an informant to infiltrate a suspected network is not the same as paying fake terrorists hundreds of thousands of dollars to make fake terror plots so the FBI can fake arrest them and look good to keep the populace in check, like Used Car Salesman said. A collection of wild accusations (don't forget to mention the surveillance state!) without a single shred of evidence is nothing more than the usual conspiracy theory nonsense and can be dismissed as such.

Gitmo is a magic trick

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;45471188]Gitmo is a magic trick[/QUOTE] And with just a flick of my wrist, I can make these human rights [I]disappear![/I]

[QUOTE=catbarf;45470925]Yeah, okay. Using an informant to infiltrate a suspected network is not the same as paying fake terrorists hundreds of thousands of dollars to make fake terror plots so the FBI can fake arrest them and look good to keep the populace in check, like Used Car Salesman said. A collection of wild accusations (don't forget to mention the surveillance state!) without a single shred of evidence is nothing more than the usual conspiracy theory nonsense and can be dismissed as such.[/QUOTE] Taken from the HRW report, pages 46-47: [quote] Even after the informant offered Cromitie $250,000 to carry out an attack, Cromitie appeared hesitant and disappeared for six weeks, refusing to speak to the informant, despite the informant’s constant efforts to contact him. Cromitie sold a $200 camera that the informant had bought him for surveillance of Stewart Air Base for around $60. But he had lost his job at Walmart, and eventually returned to the informant, who reiterated his offer. In the same conversation, the informant told Cromitie that he was concerned for his own safety, and hinted that harm could come to Cromitie as well if he failed to engage in a terrorist attack. Cromitie then said he was willing to go forward with Hussain’s plan, but he did not want anyone to get hurt. [/quote] They don't actually pay the sting targets to carry out attacks, but they do [I]offer[/I] life-changing amounts of money, often to people in dire economic situations. Wouldn't you be tempted to take a risk if it meant lifting your family out of poverty, even if it meant death or prison? And what if you were told that you might be killed anyway to keep you quiet if you didn't go through with it?

i don't doubt it's real, we just need to make people more aware of what they are doing. I find this kind of shit wrong, just all in the name of money.