Boston bombing: FBI backlash 'risks turning US into surveillance state'

[alp227]

US intelligence veterans are warning that mounting criticism of the FBI for not preventing the Boston bombing risks encouraging infringements of civil liberties, such as routine surveillance of mosques and blanket use of security cameras.

Investigators are under pressure to explain how a tip-off from Russian officials in 2011 did not lead to closer scrutiny of bomb suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, which might have stopped last week's attack.

White House officials say they are re-examining the first FBI investigation, although they insist it went through Tsarnaev's background thoroughly at the time and found no threat of violence.

...

Philip Mudd, a former FBI senior intelligence adviser, said there was a risk of a backlash turning the US into a "surveillance state".

"During daily threat briefings, we would look at homegrowns all the time," he told the Guardian. "The question is: what kind of screening do you want in place to get an American into that lense? Before you want to swing that pendulum too far: be careful."

"If you want to guarantee we find those folks – and by the way, the FBI wouldn't, anyway – there is only so much you can do in a open society to penetrate a closed circle," he added during a debate at the Brookings Institution.

full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/23/boston-bombing-fbi-backlash-surveillance

[Warpy]

1. That's what we need to guard against, even more

than we need to guard against terrorists.

There will always be angry people with imaginary grievances against humanity. The FBI has actually done a pretty good job of finding a lot of them. A few of the smarter, cagier ones will always get through.

It's a fine line to walk, whether we want to risk making this the kind of country no sane person would want to live in versus accepting the very small risk that someday, some nutcase out there could injure or kill us.

Even if the scaredy cats got their wish and turned the US into a regimented police state, they would never stop them all.

[Bjorn Against]

2. In fact too much surveillance would make us less safe

Even in police states law enforcement only has so many resources, focus all the resources on watching innocent Americans and you have less resources to deal with real crime.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. Not to hold Mr Mudd to some crazy standard, but the older bomber was not an American

and he did travel to hot spots for long periods and return after having been pointed out by the Russians. So his agency did not need to 'get an American into that lens' to catch these guys. His agency merely needed to be competent.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Cameras and microphones are coming to your TV set soon.

The POLICE STATE is here. Welcome to 1984.