A TERROR RING THAT PLANNED OKLAHOMA-CITY-STYLE BOMBINGS has reportedly been smashed in Canada. Interestingly, it seems that Internet monitoring played a key role.
It’s also interesting that this happened at almost the same time as the major bust in London. So what’s cooking here in the United States?
UPDATE: Brendan Loy has more, plus a complaint about Reuters’ coverage, which leaves out a lot of details about the Islamist character of the defendants: “Reuters didn’t see fit to mention any of that, or to specify whether the arrested terrorists are Muslims, or Arabs, or Islamists, or Al Qaeda members/sympathizers, or… anything. From the Reuters article, you wouldn’t know whether these guys are Osama bin Laden’s band of brothers, or a band of angry rednecks from Saskatchewan. Well, actually, maybe we do sorta know, because if they were angry rednecks from Saskatchewan, I’m sure Reuters would have told us that.”
Indeed.
MORE: Some additional background here:
Mathers said an investigation of this magnitude by INSET would been an “accumulative effort” involving informants, electronic intercepts of communication, and “hours and hours and hours of surveillance — very boring surveillance too.”
But he said it’s most likely human sources — acquaintances of those planning a terrorist attack, or people somehow linked to the plans themselves — who would have provided the most vital information that would provide enough evidence for arrests.
“Electronic sources don’t always provide you with enough timely information. You need human beings,” he said.
That’s certainly true. I hope we’re keeping a close eye on likely terrorists here in the United States.