Terrorists on the Southern Border vs. Terrorists Sponsored by the FBI

The House Committee on Homeland Security heard testimony today
from intelligence apparatchiks Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh
Johnson, FBI Director James Comey, and Director of the National
Counterterrorism Center Matthew Olson concerning potential “threats
to the homeland”—with ISIS, naturally, at the center of
attention.

The witnesses reminded the committee several times during the
proceedings that, in the words of Olson, the intelligence community
has “no information that ISIL is plotting an attack against the
United States.” Nor, once again, does the intelligence community
have any specific evidence that ISIS is trying to ooze through the
“porous southern border.” Cue Johnson:

We see no specific intelligence or evidence to suggest that ISIL
is attempting to infiltrate this country through our southern
border.

Olson concurred, stating that, while there has been a “very
small number of sympathizers of ISIL posting messages on social
media about this,” evidence remains scarce that “there’s an
operational plot to infiltrate or move operatives into the United
States from the south.”

Meanwhile, ISIS may be working to help America grow our very own
terrorists here at home. Olson, while admitting that “it remains to
be seen what the impact of that information on potential recruits
is,” warned that “there’s obviously a concern that the [ISIS]
propaganda is having an impact on recruiting,” evidenced by the
number of foreigners traveling to fight in Syria.

And all three witnesses agreed that declaring homegrown
terrorism a problem is far easier than doing anything about it. As
Comey dryly noted, “in a country this big and this free…it’s a big
challenge for us.”

A challenge that keeps getting bigger, as Rep. Michael McCaul
(R-Tex.) pointed out:

There have been more than 70 homegrown violent jihadist plots or
attacks in the United States since 9/11, according to the
Congressional Research Service. More than two-thirds of them have
been uncovered or have taken place in only the past five years.

Given the dearth of terrorist attacks actually carried out, has
the intelligence community has been doing a relatively decent job
despite the bigness and the freeness of the nation?

Well, perhaps. But the FBI has developed a rather worrisome
habit of manufacturing terrorist plots that it can then foil in
heroic fashion. According to a report from
Human Rights Watch:

All of the high-profile domestic terrorism plots of the last
decade, with four exceptions, were actually FBI sting
operations—plots conducted with the direct involvement of law
enforcement informants or agents, including plots that were
proposed or led by informants.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) was therefore unintentionally
right when he said “we need to remain vigilant and improve
awareness and vigilance at home.” We should certainly be keeping an
eye on our public servants, at the very least.