Winning hearts and minds, and preventing the very people you'd like to hear from in the event of an actual terrorist plot from ever talking to you, by persecuting and prosecuting people who call you with information about nutsos yelling "Jihad!" (who are actually your own planted informants). Brilliant job.
To recap: in 2006, Monteilh, working for the FBI and posing as a French Syrian in search of his Islamic roots, infiltrated the Islamic Center of Irvine in southern California. He attended prayers regularly, started wearing a robe, and would reportedly go up to mosque members saying things like, "It's good that you guys are getting ready for the jihad."
Monteilh apparently gravitated to the Afghan-born Niazi in particular. In May 2007, Monteilh recorded a conversation between himself, Niazi and a third man, in which Monteilh suggested blowing up buildings and Niazi agreed. But just a few days after the conversation, Niazi and the other man got in touch with Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, to express concerns about Monteilh. Ayloush then reported Monteilh, the FBI informant, to the FBI.
Oh, excellent! A Muslim citizen, Ahmadullah Sais Niazi, concerned about a possible threat does the responsible, intelligent thing, and informs the authorities. That would seem to be a good thing to do, welcomed by law enforcement officials.
Oops. Ayloush wrote:
In April 2008 Mr. Niazi reported to our office that he had been at the home of a potential business partner when it was raided by the FBI. He told us that, during the raid, Special Agent Thomas J. Ropel III urged Mr. Niazi to "work" with the agency, saying that if Mr. Niazi refused to cooperate his life would be made a "living hell." While he expressed his willingness to assist law enforcement, Mr. Niazi refused to become an informant. In June 2008, when the FBI raided the Niazi home, Agent Ropel allegedly told Mr. Niazi, "I told you; you didn't listen to me. Now you get it."
"On February 11, 2009, a grand jury indicted Niazi on terror-related immigration and perjury charges." ... "On February 20, Niazi was arrested. Four days later, Niazi's bail was set at $500,000." ... "On September 29, in the application to dismiss the indictment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald cited 'evidentiary issues, including the unavailability of an overseas witness' as reasons prosecutors were seeking to drop the charges."
Does anyone wonder how a fuck-up like this will resonate within the Muslim community? Will they be more, or less, likely to pick up the phone?
Not that those in charge will ever admit to the harm they are doing to national security:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/19/national/main601135.shtml
An internal FBI report kept under wraps for three years details dozens of cases of agents fired for egregious misconduct and crimes, including drug trafficking, attempted murder, theft, misuse of informants and consorting with prostitutes.
The report, released Wednesday by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, found that about one in 1,000 agents was dismissed for serious misconduct or criminal offenses by the FBI during the period examined, from 1986 to 1999. The average was between eight and nine per year.
Although the numbers were small, the FBI's attempts to prevent the report's disclosure from the public and Congress since its completion in June 2000 are raising questions among FBI critics about an attempt to avoid embarrassment.
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