Is FBI catching — or creating — terrorists?
Re: “Feds: Man tries to blow up military recruiting center,” Dec. 9
Antonio Martinez’s alleged attempt to blow up a military recruiting center in Catonsville means homegrown terror is on the rise, according to most accounts. But would Martinez, who knew nothing about making bombs and apparently failed in his search for accomplices, have acted on his grand fantasies if he had been left to himself?
Since jihad was his main obsession, it could be argued that hardened terrorists would have eventually found Martinez and he would have cultivated the skills needed to massacre many folks. But more and more, people are liable to get arrested after being lured into criminal setups by law enforcement.
Since the current president’s supporters hated Bush’s Patriot Act, is the FBI arresting potential terrorists in Obama’s America, or is it creating them? Adroit and patient terrorists who are actually capable of carrying out their demonic plots know how to make bombs and do not discuss their plans on Facebook or accept accomplices out of the blue.
The FBI seems to be nabbing the bumblers of “al Qaeda Light” in the remote possibility that their desires turn into plots.
Usha Nellore
Bel Air, Md.
Instead of audit, just kill Dulles Rail project
Re: “Virginia congressman Wolf calls for audit of Dulles Rail project,” Dec. 8
To keep the ill-advised Dulles Airport Metro extension from becoming a complete Big Dig-like debacle, regional leaders need to do what my governor, Chris Christie, did with a proposed rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan that was over budget: kill it.
Kill it now, and kill it hard. It’s never going to get any better, and there’s no reason to spend good money after bad. Besides diverting resources that should be going toward fixing the existing decrepit Metro system, this Silver Line extension would dump hordes of air travelers, rolling luggage in tow, onto the already overtaxed Orange Line where wait times, broken-down trains and packed cars are already the norm.
The house is crumbling. Now is the time to shore up the foundation, not add a new addition.
John Woodmaska
Kearny, N.J.
Vouchers do not improve education
Re: “Vouchers have worked wherever they’ve been tested,” from readers, Dec. 8
Mathew Cashen overlooks the fact that studies of the public voucher plans in D.C., Milwaukee and Cleveland have shown that they do not improve education.
Tens of millions of U.S. voters have resoundingly rejected vouchers in more than 25 statewide referenda because they violate federal and state constitutional provisions separating religion and government.
Edd Doerr,
President, Americans for Religious Liberty
