That Portland Terror Plot

Once again, the FBI encourages someone to commit a terrorist attack, sets him up with the weapon, and stops him just in time, thank goodness. Just as before, we are told over and over that the crime was in no real danger of being carried out, and yet we are supposed to thank the federal government for preempting that which they promise us never came close to happening. See Larisa Alexandrovna on this latest example of the FBI instigating a phony and contrived terror plot, stopped by the FBI. She writes:

Here is the problem I have with this whole thing. Would this teen have given up after no contact was made with the second Pakistani associate, or would he have continued on his path toward Jihad in Pakistan? Would he have even considered a domestic attack on his own? The FBI opened the door to the domestic attack. The FBI stoked his interest in committing a crime. That for me contaminates the case.

Alexandrovna points out that Mohamed Osman Mohamud could have easily been arrested on other occasions, and that if indeed he was a real threat, the FBI was playing with fire by egging him on. Had he actually carried out the attack, would not have the FBI been conspirators or accessories? It would seem so.