Close to the worst words that can be heard in an open society is that a secretive organization responsible only to itself is investigating something. The absolute worst words are that it is investigating its own actions. How difficult it must be to do that in an upright manner? How strange in a democracy with its checks and balances one group remains unaffected by or responsible to any others? How dangerous is it that it is a police force?
I wrote the other day how the FBI alerted law enforcement agencies around the country that terrorist attacks were planned for the Fourth; nothing happened. The FBI Director took credit for that. He said it broke up those planned attacks with over ten arrests. He refused to tell us anything more. The one person he mentioned had nothing planned for the Fourth.
No one holds him accountable. He does not have to back up his statements. We have no one, even a group of top Americans with the highest security clearance, that can learn any more than what the FBI wants to dole out.
I thought of this (hat tip to Rather) reading an article that said the father of the Tennessee gunman Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez was investigated by the FBI several years ago and put on the terrorism watch list but was later removed.
That brings us back to Tamerlan Tsarnaev to whom the same thing happened. I’m sure there are others but I am away from my resources to note them. If we do not have a mechanism for discovering whether the FBI’s action was appropriate given the circumstances, which we do not when the FBI investigates itself, how do we expect to prevent such horrors as happened in Chattanooga?
With respect to Abdulazeez’s action in murdering four Marines we will have to rely on the FBI to tell us what it knew about him Do you expect knowing its historic fear of embarrassment that it will tell us it did anything improper? What will it tell us of how the son of a man on the terrorist watch list got the guns? If it hides its errors and mistakes then it won’t change
We need to know if the deaths of four Marines could have been prevented We need to be able to open up the FBI files to independent investigation Failing to do so puts the lives of more and more Americans in jeopardy as the evil of IS continues to infect American Muslims
Having an Independent body overseeing the FBI in matters such as this makes eminent sense. That it has not been done only shows the power and fear our elected leaders have of it
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/16/howthefbicreatedaterrorist/
Eyre:
Thanks. A quite good article.
First thought that came to my mind was Tsarnaev. A family investigated by the FBI for terrorist connections. A family then cleared. Then a murder rampage by that FBI cleared family. When was the family cleared and by whom? How long was the investigation? How many members of their clan were suspect? What about the foreign travel? Were these criminals working as FBI informants at any time? What were the foreign connections? Was this a sleeper cell placed in the U.S. by Al Quaeda? The FBI clearly lied about their knowledge of Tamerlan. That fake news conference asking for the public’s help in identifying him was absurd. Twenty or thirty employees of that office knew who he was. Yet a major disinformation campaign is launched against the American people by a government agency. Thank God the Russians exposed the fraud. 2. Is the DEA going to display a photo of El Chapo and ask the public’s help in making this drug kingpin? It wouldn’t be any more nonsensical than what the FBI did with Tamerlan. Was Todashev killed because he knew Tamerlan was an informant and would disclose such? If Congress, the judges and the Executive won’t expose wrongdoing or incompetence then we don’t have a free country. America is a fascist state if government misdeeds can’t be remedied. Keep up the good work.
Matt,
Thanks for the hat tip. Don’t all law enforcement agencies have Internal Affairs divisions?
JRC- I feel sick to my stomach. In retrospect, I deeply regret that I did not serve my country when I was younger… but my grandfather fought on Guadalcanal and helped capture Henderson Field as part of the First Marine Division, the legendary “Big Red One” and my brother served in the Corps in Desert Storm, and I have numerous other veterans in my family.
I have the utmost respect for all military personnel. They are protecting us, and we can’t even protect them at home?
Some crazy things are happening in this country, and around the world on a DAILY basis now, when it used to be just a handful a year.
I think it’s time for the USA to start reevaluating its policies.
I’m semi-embarrassed to say this, but I agree with Trump’s ideas in a few areas.
Hello Matt, how must you feel ,as a former Marine, when you learn four fellow unarmed Marines are gunned down by this nut. When are we going to arm our Military and give them a fighting chance against these cowards who plan these attacks and know they will be facing unarmed personel?