General

Foiled U.S. Capitol plot is further proof that wannabe terrorists are dim

FBI agents posing as al-Qaeda operatives just busted a man who was going to blow himself up on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., according to the Washington Post:

Amine el-Khalifi, 29, was picked up while carrying an inoperable MAC-10 automatic weapon and a fake suicide vest provided to him by undercover FBI agents.

The young Moroccan man reportedly entered the U.S. when he was 16, and overstayed his tourist visa by thirteen years, living as an illegal immigrant in northern Virginia. His arrest today was “the culmination of a lengthy and extensive operation,” says a statement released by Capitol Police.

The Wall Street Journal, however, reports that the FBI’s Washington field office said the suspect “never posed a danger to the public.” Perhaps that’s because, as far as terrorists go, el-Khalifi was not the sharpest tool in the shed. He fell for the exact same trick the FBI used two years ago on Farooque Ahmed, who happily went along with a mock plot to bomb the D.C. metro. Ahmed seemed enthusiastic about the idea, in fact, providing the undercover agents with video of northern Virginia subway stations, suggesting the use of rolling suitcases rather than backpacks to make sure the explosion would kill as many people as possible, and offering to donate money for al-Qaeda’s overseas operations.

Here’s hoping the bad guys never figure it out.

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