Undercover Agents or Entrapment Agents?

There are two separate trials happening, one in Victoria B.C. and one in Toronto, Ontario. Other than the fact that both trails are about people planning on use bombs to kill, maim or otherwise disrupt the lives of Canadians they would appear to have little to connect them. Except for one other thing.....

The young couple from BC were drug addicts, living a marginal lifestyle, had few if any resources or supports and the male at least appears to have a mild developmental disability. Did they attempt to build a pressure cooker bomb? Probably yes. Were they self converts to radical Islam? It seems likely. Did they parrot all of the phrases of such converts? Again it seems that they did.

The two men on trial in Toronto appear to have been perhaps more intellectually competent and clearer as to the rational for their actions. Their plans were not any more practical or in fact achievable. One of individual had been to Iran. The suggestions is that he met someone there and perhaps even got some minimal training (which if true leaves one to think that if that is the level of training available - we don't need to worry). While they had numerous plans including creating a volcano in Yellowstone Park, cutting the VIA rail tracks with military grade lasers and poisoning soldiers none of the plans came close to fruition and in fact the pair could not agree on what to do or even about security.

The one thing that ties trial of these two "terrorist cells" together is the fact that they both had an uncover agent working with them, supporting them and assisting them in their conversations and planning. For the VIA Rail bombers - the FBI undercover agent met them because he arranged to sit beside them on a airplane. He nurtured the relationship between himself and the two men.  He was there when they talked about all of their absurd, wildly impractical ideas. As of yet, less is known about the role of the undercover agent in the Victoria trial but certainly the word " entrapment" has been used by the young couple's lawyer (CBC).

It seems to me that given the thousands of dollars spent during the undercover phase of both of these investigations, the hundreds of thousands of dollars that will be spent during the trials, appeals etc. and the cost of incarceration for the four individuals when they are convicted (federal male prisoner (2004/5): $87,665 per prisoner/per year & federal female prisoner (2004/5): $150,000-$250,000 per prisoner/per year (prison justice.ca), there has to be a better use of that money.

What would have happened if, instead of an undercover agent intentionally engaging with these fledgling terrorist groups and assisting them however marginally with their plans, if someone had made contact with them and re-directed them? What would have happened if a hundred thousand dollars had been used to assist the couple in Victoria to find alternatives to their addiction/life style or support needs? What would have happened if that money had been used to hire a one-on-one worker for eighteen months? Would it have changed their lives? Would a new vision of what could be possible for them reduced their potential frustration and resultant pseudo-militarism? The answer is of course, no one knows. Because no one tried it.

It is perhaps less clear how a proactive social agent could have engaged with the two men on trial in Toronto. But it is clear that given their lack of direction, there were significant holes in their thinking. A skilled support person could have easily provided alternatives to help the men become engaged in a positive way in their community. Why for example were they not introduced to a skilled Muslim negotiator who could gently and subtly discuss another way of interpreting the Koran?

Of course people argue that there are insufficient funds to do that kind of intervention. That is not true. We have the money - it just depends upon how we decide to spend it. We can either spend our tax dollars on helping people find solutions to their anger or frustrations.  Or we can spend our on ensuring that people who are struggling and who may be leaning towards deviancy, are pushed even further along that path.

We need to decide.