corrente

All terrorists are evil, but some terrorists are more evil than others. EEEE-vil terrorists, those worthy of law enforcement attention, share certain characteristics: Foreign, swarthy, Islamic, and target "iconic structures" related to the financial industry.

Not-quite-so-evil terrorists, not nearly so worthy of law enforcement attention, much less announcements from Tom Ridge, are: American, white, Christian and target abortion clinics, gays, members of the media, and/or left wing Jews or blacks.

Some members of law enforcement agencies haven't got the memo and try to go after the not-quite-so-evil terrorists. This guy, with the FBI as it happens, tried to go over a group that fits the not-so-evil profile just perfectly: people in prison, often skinheads, who either join or form alliances with people they meet in the slam.

(via NYT)

In early 2002, when [Mike] German got word that a group of Americans might be plotting support for an overseas Islamic terrorist group, he proposed to his bosses what he thought was an obvious plan: go undercover and infiltrate the group.

But Mr. German says F.B.I. officials sat on his request, botched the investigation, falsified documents to discredit their own sources, then froze him out and made him a "pariah." He left the bureau in mid-June after 16 years and is now going public for the first time - the latest in a string of F.B.I. whistle-blowers who claim they were retaliated against after voicing concerns about how management problems had impeded terrorism investigations since the Sept. 11 attacks.

[O]fficials with knowledge of the case said the investigation took place in the Tampa, Fla., area and centered on an informant's tip about a meeting between suspected associates of a domestic militia-type group and a major but unidentified Islamic terrorist organization, who were considering joining forces. A tape recording of the meeting appeared to lend credence to the report, one official said.

Law enforcement officials have become increasingly concerned that militant domestic groups could seek to collaborate with foreign-based terrorist groups like Al Qaeda because of a shared hatred of the American government. This has become a particular concern in prisons.

Some law enforcement officials remain somewhat skeptical of Mr. German's claims. But several prominent senators who have been privately briefed on the case in recent weeks said they were troubled by what they learned.

"Retaliating against F.B.I. agents and employees who point out problems or raise concerns seems to be becoming the rule, not the exception," said Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. He noted that Robert S. Mueller III, acting director of the bureau, "has said many times that whistle-blower retaliation is unacceptable, yet it looks like some F.B.I. bureaucrats haven't gotten the message."

This is the same Sen. Grassley who was quoted a few weeks back in that story about cases in Iowa being filed as "terrorism" related that included a ring that shoplifted baby formula. He came very close to calling "bullshit" on the Justice Department then. Let's see if this case drives him all the way off the reservation.

UPDATE The ever essential Orcinus has more.—Lambert