Good Morning Charles,
Viewed "The Truman Show" years ago. It's directed by Peter Weir, the Australian one of my favorites. As far as the connection between that film's story and Mohamud, I don't really see one. Mohamud wasn't in a gigantic bubble studio and had not a few chances to change his mind and split. FBI Director, Mueller is no Ed Harris. Mohamud had no remorse for his actions. This is particularly scary. Mohamud grew up in Corvallis. These guys really despise the West. I have no empathy for him whatsoever. I did for Truman, Jim Carrey's character.

As far as the allegations of the FBI's setup being entrapment, it's a fine line to be sure but I side with the Bureau on this one. Maintaining security & freedom equally is an extraordinarily difficult task. Thankfully nothing happened in Portland.

You're right, but it's still tacky to romanticize a terrorist. If he was an actual freedom fighter? Sure, maybe. But this dickhead was trying to blow up CHILDREN at a CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING.

"To Catch A Terrorist" could be the next big thing. Entrap these guys, film the entire thing, and then have Chris Hansen enter the room at the moment the fake cell phone detonator has been used.

I'm with Joe - the guy's a fucking terrorist already. He's no better than the assholes who blew up the planes. Save your philosophical musings for Amanda Knox.

I don't see much truth in the statement "the world that was constructed for him by the FBI". The only fabrication involved was of a dummy bomb to fool a would-be terrorist, who was otherwise completely in control of his own choices and actions at all times, and free to abandon HIS plans at any time. Indeed, the FBI tried to guide the terrorist out of going through with HIS murderous plan, by suggesting other courses of action, and it was the terrorist who made the choices that led to him attempting to detonate what he thought was an explosive device capable of killing and injuring thousands of innocent people, with the intent of killing and injuring those people. Comparing this situation to the situation in "The Truman Show" is, at best, just plain wrong.
I await, without much hope, your reappearance in the real world, Mr Mudede.

Charles likes to think he's an intense intellectual, peering through the veil of mortal stupidity that blinds all the mere troglodytes that surround him. But what does he use as a means of communicating his mind-bending observations of awe-inspiring insight? A Jim Carrey movie from the 1990s. A fucking genius I tell you.

@7 Perhaps we're too unevolved to see the sublime existential angst shared by Jim Carrey's character and a terrorist.

Anyone with two "Mohamud"'s in their name ought to be on the FBI's short list.

if only he'd found Zerzan's anarchist kids instead of Islam.

Most of you have missed the point entirely. It is pretty clear that the FBI manipulated him and orchestrated the fake attack. I see no evidence that he would have or even COULD have carried out such an act without the Feds involvement.
Second, US bombs and bullets cause "children to die in flames and explosions" every day in Muslim countries. THAT is what makes someone angry enough to fantasize about doing such a thing in the US. The best and simplest way of ending terrorism is to just STOP instigating warfare.
WAR IS TERRORISM. Too few Americans (or others) have gotten this through their skull yet. Folks in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other places are all to aware of that.
Putting your trust in the FBI is dangerous. I hope you never have to find out the hard way.

Well, somebody's missing the point . . . but it ain't me. (BTW, the feds will be showing up at your door in about five minutes. Put your pants on.)

@11
Did you read the article from the Oregonian? I don't think you did... You'd know that the FBI only got involved when this terrorist couldn't get into contact with a 2nd associate.

It even says in the article that Mohamed had been wanting to perform some sort of jihad since he was 15.

@12: Say it directly. Who is this "somebody" and what is the point?

And your joke about the Feds showing up at my door for thinking freely enough to question their methods is funny stuff.

@13: Yes I read it, along with many other articles about this. Wanting and doing are very different things, and he only tried to DO when instigated, coordinated, and organized by the Feds. Also, we are taking the FBI at their word on much of the so-called facts. Take a cursory glance at the history of the Feds and tell me honestly that you trust them.
This kid had some wild fantasies, as I think many of us did at 15-19. The only difference is that he was clearly manipulated.

Further reading on the matter:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_…

http://counterpunch.org/roberts11302010.…

The news here is revealing what appears to be a very troubled young man. The news states that his father turned him into Homeland Security and the FBI. It is being reported that he has a history of unrest and activism that begins in his early teen years, and that had drawn the attention of the FBI on earlier occasions. It is being reported that in June of 2010, that he allegedly tried to board an airliner to Kodiak, Alaska, and he was intercepted by security agents. That led to an interview with FBI agents, where he declared that he had earlier wanted to go to Yemen, but had not been able to obtain a visa. Supposedly there are posting that cites his pen name, "Ibn al-Mubarak", and claims that he wrote several articles for a publication called "Jihad Recollections," calling on people to get in shape for violent Jihad. There are reports that he described himself to his Westview High School classmates as a terrorist who hated Americans and whose Physics project detailed how a rocket-propelled grenade worked.

http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/local/sto…
http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Mohamud-wa…

I get the feeling, and it is just my own feelings, that he was incredibly unhappy/conflicted young man and that he was vulnerable to manipulation. People close to him reported him, with concerns that he was being manipulated by extremists, which very likely means that he was vulnerable to the FBI agents as well.

@15

What I'm hearing from your argument is that this kid would probably have never ever gotten the idea, means, or will to carry out some terrorist plot without FBI intervention.

You make it sound like the FBI had reached out to him and 'clearly manipulated' him into detonating a fake bomb.

What if he had actually gotten in touch with the 2nd associate? What if he had actually received training and materials needed to carry out a bombing from known al-Qaeda affiliates?

I'm all for skepticism to keep perspectives in focus, but I think you're missing the forest for the trees on this one.

And it's our foreign policy which has gotten us in this situation with extremists, not just war. It's how we go over there making empty promises to rebuild the country as soon as we help them get the Soviets out. It's about how we exercise control over these countries by placing individuals we control into power (and then lose control of them). It's about how we only engage in global conflicts when our own interests will be served.