Day by day, we learn more about a forest of red flags that alerted federal law enforcement agencies to scrutinize New York bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami.
Among those forehead-slapping clues: Rahami allegedly assembled his bomb-making materials in plain sight--"ordering components on eBay, having them delivered to a New Jersey business where he worked, and even testing some of the material in his family's backyard," the Wall Street Journal reports. There's a cellphone video of a blast in that backyard, two days before investigators say Rahami put a series of bombs in New York and New Jersey.
It's frustrating that none of these blindingly obvious clues helped the feds avert the recent bombings in New York and New Jersey. The only lucky break in this case is that no one was killed.
Cases like these are particularly unsettling to Americans because suspects are going about their terrorist planning chores out in the open.
They travel to Syria or other terrorist hotspots to pursue jihad. They extol Islamic State on the Internet, pledging allegiance to a savage cause that preys on the weak and innocent. They alarm friends and family with increasingly radical words and deeds.
And in many cases these suspects come up on the radar of federal authorities. In 2014 Rahami was flagged for federal scrutiny when he returned from a nearly year-long trip to Pakistan, the New York Times reports. Federal agents examined his travel history and Rahami's father's concerns over his son's increasingly violent behavior.
But federal authorities apparently believed the case merited no deeper scrutiny. The feds can't surveil everyone who may pose a threat. And they can't stop every attack. But that's not a white flag.
In Monday night's presidential debate, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be asked about the Rahami case and other terrorist attacks in Europe. We hope to hear more from the candidates about what the U.S. can do to fortify its defenses and help its allies abroad.
This fight doesn't end when President Barack Obama leaves office in January. It will be President Clinton's fight. Or President Trump's. Our next president's most urgent and difficult task will be to build America's arsenal of weapons to deal with an elusive enemy that often hides in plain sight.
Editorial on 09/25/2016