Terrorism : Holder calls on Europeans to adopt U.S. counterterrorism methods

Published 14 July 2014

Last week in Oslo, Attorney General Eric Holder called on more European countries to adopt American-style counterterrorism laws and tactics to prevent would-be terrorists from traveling to Syria. “If we wait for our nations’ citizens to travel to Syria or Iraq, to become radicalized, and to return home, it may be too late to adequately protect our national security,” Holder said.

Attorney General Eric Holder // Source: el-balad.com

Last week in Oslo, Attorney General Eric Holder called on more European countries to adopt American-style counterterrorism laws and tactics to prevent would-be terrorists from traveling to Syria.

Since 9/11, the FBI has been actively tracking people who expressed interest in joining terrorist groups or attacking America. That has led to a number of high-profile cases, but it has also drawn criticism, claiming theJustice Department is manufacturing terrorism cases and entrapping Muslims. In some cases, prosecutors have arrested suspected terrorists before they boarded international flights or engaged with other terrorists, then charged them with providing support to terrorist groups.

According to theNew York Times, the undercover sting, one of the most criticized FBI tactics, begins when the agency intercepts communication between someone residing in the United States and a terrorism suspect, or when a tipster informs authorities about a potential terrorist. An undercover agent then engages with the would-be terrorist, offers to help plan an attack, and then supplies (fake) weapons. The FBI later makes an arrest at the scene of the would-be crime.

The tactic has been successful and courts have rejected claims of entrapment. FBI agents say sting operations catch dangerous people before they hurt anyone, and they sow distrust by reminding people that the person offering to help plan an attack might be an FBI agent.

Counterterrorism officials report that up to 7,000 foreigners, including dozens of Americans, are in Syria fighting alongside Islamist militants against Syrian forces. The flexible travel agreements between European countries and the United States make some officials fear that trained Syrian rebel fighters with European passports could enter the United States to launch an attack. Holder has offered to help European countries draft laws giving governments the authority to prosecute potential terrorists before they launch attacks. Norway and France have adopted and implemented such laws.

“In the face of a threat so grave, we cannot afford to be passive,” Holder said in prepared remarks. “Rather, we need the benefit of investigative and prosecutorial tools that allow us to be pre-emptive in our approach to confronting this problem. If we wait for our nations’ citizens to travel to Syria or Iraq, to become radicalized, and to return home, it may be too late to adequately protect our national security.”

http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/