Trevor Aaronson: How this FBI strategy is actually creating US-based terrorists

Translator: Sune Vilsted Østergaard Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

The FBI is responsible for more terrorism plots

FBI er ansvarlige for flere terror-komplotter

in the United States

i Amerika

than any other organization.

end nogen andre organisationer.

More than al Qaeda,

Flere end al-Qaeda,

more than al Shabaab,

flere end al-Shabaab,

more than the Islamic State,

flere end Islamisk stat.

more than all of them combined.

Flere end alle dem sammenlagt.

This isn't likely how you think about the FBI.

Det er næppe sådan, du ser på FBI.

You probably think of FBI agents gunning down bad guys like John Dillinger,

Du tænker sikkert på FBI agenter, der skyder skurke som John Dillinger

or arresting corrupt politicians.

eller arrestere korrupte politikere.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks,

Efter 9/11 terror angrebene

the FBI became less concerned

blev FBI mindre bekymret

with gangsters and crooked elected officials.

med gangstere og korrupte embedsmænd.

The new target became terrorists,

Det nye mål blev terrorister

and the pursuit of terrorists has consumed the FBI.

og jagten på terrorister har overtaget FBI.

Every year, the Bureau spends 3.3 billion dollars

Hvert år bruger bureauet 3,3 milliarder dollars

on domestic counterterrorism activities.

på indenrigs terrorbekæmpelse aktiviteter.

Compare than to just 2.6 billion dollars combined for organized crime,

Sammenlignet med 2,6 milliarder dollars for organiseret kriminalitet,

financial fraud, public corruption

økonomisk bedrageri, offentlig korruption

and all other types of traditional criminal activity.

og alle andre former for traditionel kriminalitet.

I've spent years pouring through the case files

Jeg har brugt årevis på, at gennemgå sagerne

of terrorism prosecutions in the United States,

af terror retsforfølgelser i Amerika

and I've come to the conclusion that the FBI

og konkluderet at FBI

is much better at creating terrorists than it is at catching terrorists.

er meget bedre til at skabe terrorister, end til at fange dem.

In the 14 years since 9/11,

I de 14 år siden 9/11,

you can count about six real terrorist attacks in the United States.

kan man finde omkring seks rigtige terrorangreb i Amerika.

These include the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013,

Det inkluderer terrorangrebet i Boston i 2013

as well as failed attacks,

såvel som fejlede angreb,

such as the time when a man named Faisal Shahzad

som da en mand ved navn Faisal Shahzadn

tried to deliver a car bomb to Times Square.

prøvede at aflevere en bilbombe til Times Square

In those same 14 years,

I de samme 14 år,

the Bureau, however, has bragged

har bureauet pralet med

about how it's foiled dozens of terrorism plots.

hvordan det har forhindret adskillige terrorkomplotter.

In all, the FBI has arrested more than 175 people

I alt har FBI arresteret mere end 175 personer

in aggressive, undercover conterterrorism stings.

i aggressive, undercover terrorbekæmpelse operationer

These operations, which are usually led by an informant,

Disse operationer, der som reelt er ledet af en meddeler,

provide the means and opportunity,

giver midlerne og muligheden,

and sometimes even the idea,

og nogle gange selv idéen,

for mentally ill and economically desperate people

for psykiske syge og økonomisk desperate mennesker

to become what we now term terrorists.

til at blive hvad vi nu kalder terrorister.

After 9/11, the FBI was given an edict:

Efter 9/11 blev FBI givet en bekendtgørelse:

never again.

Aldrig mere.

Never another attack on American soil.

Aldrig mere et angreb på amerikansk grund.

FBI agents were told to find terrorists before they struck.

FBI agenter fik besked på, at finde terrorister før de slå til

To do this, agents recruited a network of more than 15,000 informants nationwide,

Dertil rekrutterede agenter et netværk af mere end 15,000 meddelere nationalt,

all looking for anyone who might be dangerous.

der alle ledte efter nogen, der kunne være farlige

An informant can earn 100,000 dollars or more

En meddeler kan tjene 100,000 dollars eller mere

for every terrorism case they bring to the FBI.

for hver terrorsag de bringer til FBI

That's right, the FBI is paying mostly criminals and con men

FBI betaler hovedsaligt kriminelle og fupmagere

six figures to spy on communities in the United States,

6-cifret beløb for at spionere på befolkningssamfund i Amerika,

but mostly Muslim American communities.

men for det meste amerikansk-muslimske samfund.

These informants nab people like Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif

De meddelere snupper folk som Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif

and Walli Mujahidh.

og Walli Mujahidh.

Both are mentally ill.

Begge er psykisk syge.

Abdul-Latif had a history of huffing gasoline and attempting suicide.

Abdul-Latif har har sniffet benzin og prøvet på at begå selvmord.

Mujahidh had schizoaffective disorder,

Mujahidh har haft en skizoaffektiv lidelse,

he had trouble distinguishing between reality and fantasy.

han havde svært ved at skelne mellem virkelighed og fantasi.

In 2012, the FBI arrested these two men

I 2012 arresterede FBI de to mænd

for conspiring to attack a military recruiting station outside Seattle

for at konspirere til at angribe en militær rekrutteringsbase udenfor Seattle,

with weapons provided, of course, by the FBI.

med våben forsynet af FBI, selvfølgelig.

The FBI's informant was Robert Childs,

FBIs meddeler var Robert Child,

a convicted rapist and child molester

en dømt voldtægtsforbryder og børnemisbruger,

who was paid 90,000 dollars for his work on the case.

som blev betalt 90,000 dollars for hans arbejde på sagen.

This isn't an outlier.

Det er ikke et engangstilfælde.

In 2009, an FBI informant who had fled Pakistan on murder charges

En FBI meddeler, som havde flygtet fra Pakistan tiltalt for mord i 2009,

led four men in a plot to bomb synagogues in the Bronx.

ledte fire mænd i et komplot til, at bombe synagogerne i Bronx.

The lead defendant was James Cromitie,

Den anklagede var James Cromitie,

a broke Walmart employee with a history of mental problems.

en fattig Walmart medarbejder med en historie af psykiske problemer.

And the informant had offered him 250,000 dollars

Og meddeleren havde tilbudt ham 250,000 dollars,

if he participated in that plot.

hvis han deltog i komplottet.

There are many more examples.

Der er mange andre eksempler.

Today, The Intercept published my new story

I dag, offentliggjorde The Intercept, min nye historie

about a counterterrorism sting in Tampa involving Sami Osmakac,

om en terrorbekæmpelse operation i Tampa, involverende Sami Osmakac,

a young man who was living near Tampa, Florida.

en ung mand som levede nær Tampa, Florida.

Osmakac also had schizoaffective disorder.

Osmakac havde også en skizoaffektiv lidelse.

He too was broke,

Han havde heller ingen penge,

and he had no connections to international terrorist groups.

og han ingen forbindelser til internationale terrororganisationer.

Nonetheless,

Alligevel,

an FBI informant gave him a job, handed him money,

en FBI meddeler gav ham et job, gav ham penge,

introduced him to an undercover agent posing as a terrorist,

introducerede ham til en undercover agent der udgav sig for en terrorist,

and lured him in a plot to bomb an Irish bar.

og lokkede ham ind i et komplot, til at bombe en irsk bar.

But here's what's interesting:

Men her er det interessante:

The lead undercover agent --

Den ledende undercover agent --

you can see him in this picture with his face blurred --

du kan se ham her i billedet med hans ansigt sløret --

would go back to the Tampa field office with his recording equipment on.

tog tilbage til feltkontoret i Tampa med hans optageudstyr på.

Behind closed doors,

Bag lukkede døre,

FBI agents admitted that what they were doing was farcical.

indrømmede FBI agenter, at hvad de lavede var en farce.

A federal judge doesn't want you to hear about these conversations.

En føderal dommer vil ikke have, at du hører om de samtaler.

He sealed the transcripts and placed them under a protective order

Han forseglede transskriptionerne og lagde dem under beskyttelse

in an attempt to prevent someone like me from doing something like this.

i forsøg på at stoppe nogen som mig, i at gøre noget som det her.

Behind closed doors, the lead agent,

Bag lukkede døre beskrev den ledende agent,

the squad supervisor,

den tilsynsførende,

described their would-be terrorist

deres vordende terrorister

as a "retarded fool who didn't have a pot to piss in."

som "ludfattige retarderede idioter."

They described his terrorist ambitions

De beskrev hans terrorist ambitioner

as wishy-washy and a pipe dream scenario.

som pis-pladder og ønsketænkning.

But that didn't stop the FBI.

Men det stoppede ikke FBI.

They provided Sami Osmakac everything he needed.

De forsynede Sami Osmakac med alt, hvad han havde brug for.

They gave him a car bomb, they gave him an AK-47,

De gav ham en bilbombe, de gav ham en AK-47,

they helped him make a so-called martyrdom video,

de hjalp ham med, at lave en såkaldt martyrvideo

and they even gave him money for a taxi cab

og de gav ham endda penge til en taxi,

so that he could get to where they wanted him to go.

så han kunne tage hen, hvor de ville have ham til.

As they were working the sting,

Mens de arbejdede på sagen,

the squad supervisor tells his agents he wanted a Hollywood ending.

fortæller den tilsynsførende sine agenter, at han ønsker en Hollywood slutning.

And he got a Hollywood ending.

Og han fik en Hollywood slutning.

When Sami Osmakac attempted to deliver what he thought

Da Sami Osmakac prøvede, at aflevere hvad han troede

was a car bomb,

var en bilbombe,

he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

blev han arresteret, dømt og straffet med 40 år i fængsel.

Sami Osmakac isn't alone.

Sami Osmakac er ikke den alene.

He's one of more than 175 so-called terrorists,

Han er én af mere end 175 såkaldte terrorister,

for whom the FBI has created Hollywood endings.

som FBI har skabt Hollywood slutninger for.

U.S. government officials call this the War on Terror.

Amerikanske myndigheder kalder det Krigen mod Terror.

It's really just theater,

Men det er virkeligt bare et teater,

a national security theater,

et nationalt sikkerhedsteater,

with mentally ill men like Sami Osmakac

med psykiske syge personer som Sami Osmakac

unwitting actors in a carefully choreographed production

Intetanende aktører i en forsigtig koreograferet produktion

brought to you by the FBI.

bragt til dig af FBI.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Klapsalve)

Tom Rielly: So, those are some pretty strong accusations,

Tom Rielly: Det er nogle seriøse anklager,

pretty strong charges.

meget seriøse beskyldninger.

How can you back this up?

Hvordan har du belæg for det her?

Trevor Aaronson: My research began in 2010

Trevor Aaronson: Min forskning begyndte i 2010

when I received a grant from the Investigative Reporting Program

da jeg modtog et stipendium fra Investigative Reporting Program

at U.C. Berkeley,

på U.C. Berkeley,

and a research assistant and I

og en forskningsassistent og jeg

put together a database of all terrorism prosecutions

sammensatte en database af alle terrorretsforfølgelser

at the time during the first decade after 9/11.

på tidspunktet af det første årti efter 9/11.

And we used the court file to find out whether

Og vi brugte rettens filer til, at finde ud af om

the defendants had any connections to international terrorist groups,

de tiltalte havde nogle forbindelser til internationale terrorist grupper,

whether an informant was used,

om en meddeler var brugt

and whether the informant played the role of an agent provocateur

og om meddeleren havde spillet rollen som en agent provocateur

by providing the means and opportunity.

ved at forsyne midlerne og muligheden.

And we submitted that to the FBI

Og vi indsendte det til FBI

and we asked them to respond to our database.

og vi bad dem om, at reagere på vores database.

If they believed there were any errors,

Hvis de mente, der var nogle fejl,

we asked them to tell us what they were and we'd go back and check

vi bad dem om, at fortælle os hvilke og vi ville tjekke op på det

and they never challenged any of our findings.

og de satte aldrig spørgsmål til vores resultater.

Later, I used that data in a magazine article

Senere brugte jeg dataene i en artikel

and later in my book,

og senere i min bog,

and on appearances on places like CBS and NPR,

og på optrædener hos CBS og NPR,

they were offered that opportunity again

de blev tilbudt muligheden igen

to say, "Trevor Aaronson's findings are wrong."

til at sige, "Trevor Aaronsons resultater er forkerte."

And they've never come forward and said,

Og de er aldrig kommet frem og sagt,

"These are the problems with those findings."

"Det her er problemerne med resultaterne."

So the data has since been used by groups like Human Rights Watch

Dataene er sidenhen blevet brugt af grupper som Human Rights Watch

on its recent report on these types of sting operations.

i deres seneste rapport om de former for undercover operationer

And so far, the FBI has never really responded

Indtil videre har FBI aldrig rigtigt reageret

to these charges that it's really not catching terrorists

til de beskyldninger, at de ikke fanger terrorister

so much as it's catching mentally ill people

i det omfang de fanger psykisk syge personer

that it can dress up as terrorists in these types of sting operations.

som de kan klæde ud som terrorister i undercover operationer.

TR: So The Intercept is that new investigative journalism website,

TR: The Intercept er den der nye undersøgende journalistik hjemmeside,

that's cofounded by Glenn Greenwald.

der er medstiftet af Gleen Greenwald.

Tell us about your article and why there.

Fortæl os om din artikel og hvorfor der.

TA: The Intercept seemed to be the most logical place for this

TA: The Intercept virkede som det mest logiske sted for det her

because my article is really leveraging the fact that

fordi min artikel virkelig løfter den kendsgerning at

a source had leaked to me transcripts of these

en kilde har lækket en transskription til mig af

private FBI conversations that a federal judge had sealed

private FBI samtaler, som en føderal dommer har forsejlet

based on the government's claim that their release

baseret på regeringens påstand, at deres offentliggørelse

would irreparably damage the U.S. government's

ville uoprettelig skade den amerikanske regerings

law enforcement strategy.

strategi til at håndhæve loven.

So a place like The Intercept was set up to protect journalists

The Intercept var lavet for, at beskytte journalister

and publish their work

og offentliggøre deres arbejde

when they're dealing with very sensitive matters like this.

når de har at gøre med sensitive områder som det her.

So my story in The Intercept, which was just published today,

Min historie i The Intercept, som var offentliggjort i dag

tells the story of how Sami Osmakac was set up in this FBI sting

fortæller historien om hvordan Sami Osmakac blev bondefanget af FBI

and goes into much greater detail.

og går i meget større detaljer.

In this talk, I could only highlight the things that they said,

I det her oplæg har jeg kun fremhævet de ting som de har sag

such as calling him a "retarded fool."

som det at kalde ham et "retarderet fjols."

But it was much more elaborate,

Men det var meget mere omstændigt,

they went to great lengths to put money in Sami Osmakac's hands,

de gik ikke af vejen for, at putte penge i Sami Osmakacs hænder

which he then used to purchase weapons from the undercover agent.

som han derefter brugte til, at købe våben fra undercover agenten.

When he went to trial,

Da han skulle for retten,

the central piece of evidence was that he paid for these weapons,

var det centrale stykke bevis, at han havde betalt for de våben

when in truth, these transcripts show how the FBI orchestrated

når transskriptionerne faktisk viser, hvordan FBI iscenesatte

someone who was essentially mentally ill and broke

nogen som var psykisk syg og fattig

to get money to then pay for weapons

til at få fat i penge for, at betale for våben

that they could then charge him in a conspiracy for.

så de kunne anklage ham for konspiration.

TR: One final question.

TR: Et sidste spørgsmål.

Less than 10 days ago,

Mindre end 10 dage siden,

the FBI arrested some potential ISIS suspects in Brooklyn,

arresterede FBI nogle mulige ISIS mistænkte i Brooklyn,

saying that they might be headed to Syria,

efter sigende, at de måske var på vej til Syrien,

and were those real, or examples of more of the same?

og var de virkelige eller flere eksempler af det samme?

TA: Well so far, we only know what's come out in the court file,

TA: For så vidt, ved vi kun, hvad der dukker op i rettens filer,

but they seem to suggest it's another example of the same.

men det ser ud til, at være et eksempel på det samme.

These types of sting operations have moved from flavor to flavor.

De her former for operationer har forandret sig undervejs

So initially it was al Qaeda plots,

Oprindeligt var det al Qaeda komplotter

and now the Islamic State is the current flavor.

og nu er det Islamisk stat.

What's worth noting about that case is that the three men that were charged

Hvad der er værd at notere om sagen, er, at de tre mænd som var tiltalt

only began the plot to go to Syria

kun planlagde at tage til Syrien

after the introduction of the FBI informant,

efter introduktionen af FBI meddeleren,

and in fact, the FBI informant had helped them with the travel documents

og faktisk havde FBI meddeleren hjulpet dem med rejse dokumenter

that they needed.

de skulle bruge.

In kind of a comical turn in that particular case,

Som et slags komisk tvist i den her sag,

one of the defendant's mother had found out

har en af de tiltaltes mødre fundet ud af,

that he was interested in going to Syria and had hid his passport.

at han var interesseret i, at tage til Syrien og skjulte hans pas.

So it's unclear that even if he had showed up at the airport,

Det er uklart om hvis han havde mødt op ved lufthavnen

that he ever could have gone anywhere.

havde været i stand til at rejse.

So yes, there are people who might be interested in joining the Islamic State

Så ja, der er nogen der måske er interesseret i at tilslutte sig Islamisk stat

in the United States,

i Amerika,

and those are people that the United States government should be looking at

og det er de mennesker som den amerikanske regering skulle kigge på

to see if they're interested in violence here.

for at se om de vil udøve vold her.

In this particular case, given the evidence that's so far come out,

I den har sag har beviserne såfremt

it suggests the FBI made it possible for these guys

tydet på at FBI gjorde det muligt for dem

to move along in a plan to go to Syria

at fremsætte en plan om, at tage til Syrien

when they were never close to that in the first place.

når de aldrig var tæt på det overhovedet.

TR: Thanks a lot, that's amazing. TA: Thank you.

TR: Mange tak, det er utroligt. TA: Tak.

(Applause)

(Klapsalve)