Investigative Service put together a tip sheet for the FBI on how to run sources inside extremist organizations — even though it didn’t appear to have a lot of experience actually recruiting terrorist sources. An ideal source, it noted, was the same for counterterrorists as for terrorists: someone disciplined, capable of keeping secrets, and highly motivated. Based on its interviews with Guantanamo detainees, NCIS found additional patterns within terrorist organizations: often, they’re people with low self-esteem who turn to religious extremism after experiencing a crisis. That makes them ripe for savvy agents to exploit.

The best snitches, NCIS argued, have some kind of anxiety about their identities. Western converts to Islam fit the bill, as do Muslims living in or educated in western countries. That’s true not just because “there have been a number of successful operations using converts of Western ethnicity” — demonstrating their value to terror groups — but because they’ll feel like they’ve got the most to prove.

But that also means they’ll feel apprehensive about putting their fellow extremists in the crosshairs of law enforcement. Not to worry, NCIS instructs: “That ambivalence is often best managed by developing a strong relationship with the source by activating his core motivation to ’stop the killing’ and bring peace to the world, including the Muslim world.” More irony: terrorist groups like al-Qaeda recruit their own adherents by stressing the dignity and peace that the Muslim world will enjoy after they kill enough westerners to lay the Americans low.

Once recruited, a snitch can be expected to repeatedly freak out. “For the source to be successful, he will be making commitments to the target group as he becomes a more trusted brother.  The source will feel the pull of the fundamental human need to be valued and validated.” A good agent has to talk his source through the guilt of betrayal: let him know “that there is an open line of communication with the Special Agent to discuss this issue.” It doesn’t make any sense to pretend that the source isn’t snitching.

It may seem obvious, but well adjusted people don’t join terrorist groups. It’s the “anxious,” those with a “need for belonging/affiliation,” those with a “relatively low… level of assertiveness,” with low-self esteem who see themselves as “disorganized and undisciplined… incapable, lackadaisical, and unreliable.” They join terror groups to belong, and suspect they’re not doing the right thing — thereby opening up the door to betraying the organization.

Except that there’s a big absence in the NCIS guidelines: they don’t cite examples of successful terror-cell penetrations. The field guidelines are drawn from NCIS’ interrogations at Guantanamo Bay. Detainees could be more or less compliant than free members of terror cells — they could either be hardened terrorists or people desperate to get their freedom back, or both — but they’re not the same thing. The document has an appendix filled with case studies. But they’re all case studies of al-Qaeda’s successful recruitment.

Then there’s the pop sociology. The document doesn’t take the most nuanced view of Islamic cultures. “Embedded within the Arabic culture is a normative acceptance of conspiracy theories.” Um, OK. “Persons from Middle Eastern and Arabic cultures often prioritize their social image and the harmony of relationships over directness or sincerity.” Whoever wrote that must never have attended a Christmastime family gathering. The purpose of all of this is to orient the Special Agent in a cultural context, since “without knowing the history embedded in the adversary and source’s mindset, it becomes more difficult to interpret and manage his behavior, motivation, and intentions during the operation.” Uh-oh.

The FBI and the rest of the counterterrorism community haven’t had much trouble finding would-be terrorists inside the United States. It rolled up Najibullah Zazi before Zazi could attack the New York City subway. “Jihad Jane” boasted on the internet about wanting to kill a Swedish cartoonist who drew the Prophet Muhammed as a dog, making her an easy target. And just last month, it arrested Mohamed Osman Mohamud before he could bomb an Oregon Christmas tree lighting. The FBI’s recently faced accusations of entrapping would-be terrorists by encouraging them to go through on their bomb-filled fantasies — which, at the very least, is another way of recognizing that it’s gotten rather good at finding Americans on the verge of extremism.

Photo: U.S. Army

See Also:

• Harman Blows Another $22 Million on Terror Panel
• Failed Times Square Bomber Made a ‘Martyrdom’ Tape
• Student, Online Terrorist Flunkie Arrested in Virginia

Authors: Spencer Ackerman

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