NOT IF, BUT WHEN THE USA ATTACKS THE USA AGAIN: Nearly all of the - TopicsExpress

NOT IF, BUT WHEN THE USA ATTACKS THE USA AGAIN: Nearly all of the highest-profile domestic terrorism plots in the United States since 9/11 featured the direct involvement of government agents or informants, a new report says. Some of the controversial sting operations were proposed or led by informants, bordering on entrapment by law enforcement. Yet the courtroom obstacles to proving entrapment are significant, one of the reasons the stings persist. The lengthy report, released on [July 21] by Human Rights Watch, raises questions about the US criminal justice systems [respect for] civil rights and due process in post-9/11 terrorism cases. [The report] portrays a system that features not just the sting operations but secret evidence, anonymous juries, extensive pretrial detentions and convictions significantly removed from actual plots. In some cases the FBI may have created terrorists out of law-abiding individuals by suggesting the idea of taking terrorist action or encouraging the target to act, the report alleges. Out of the 494 cases related to terrorism the US has tried since 9/11, the plurality of convictions ... are not for thwarted plots but for material support charges, a broad category expanded further by the 2001 Patriot Act that permits prosecutors to pursue charges with tenuous connections to a terrorist act or group. Several cases featured years-long solitary confinement for accused terrorists before their trials. Some defendants displayed signs of mental incapacity. Jurors for the 2007 plot to attack the Fort Dix army base, itself influenced by government informants, were anonymous, limiting defense counsels ability to screen out bias Government agents directly involved in most high-profile US terror plots July 21, 2014, The Guardian (One of the UKs leading newspapers) theguardian/world/2014/jul/21/government-agents-directly-involved-us-terror-plots-report