I've read your posts on this subject, and completely aside from any discussion about your position on the pre-9/11 intelligence and the use of same.
From my pov as a retired LEO, your idea of what constitutes probable cause for arrest isn't based in reality, at least as it relates to pre-9/11 sop.
Basically, from federal LE agencies on down, unless there was an existing arrest warrant or a criminal offense was committed in an officer's presence you couldn't effect an arrest.
In cases where probable cause was questionable, including possible terrorist activity, you weren't going to get a warrant signed. Observation and intelligence gathering? even electronic surveillance warrants could be problematic without rock solid facts that someone felt strongly enough to take to a judge.
In my little corner of the universe (firearms forensics etc.) I can't tell you how many cases over the years I passed along to ATF involving violations of the National Firearms Act or the Gun Control Act of 1968.
They never took action in one single instance - cases where our agency had federal felony violation firearms in custody, they had no interest. If a local agency developed intell. of specific activities that agency honchos had an immediate interest in (Drugs, counterfeiting, certain activities by certain gangs) they might jump in if the planets were aligned, but like a DEA guy told me "You bring in a heroin trafficking case involving the Mexicans when the boss is looking at meth from the OMG's, (outlaw motorcycle gangs) you get in at the end of the line."
I'm not going to argue your talking points.
The only thing I'll say is that your perception of the ease of arresting individuals based on what your asserting isn't based in reality.
I posted what the head of the FAA stated in public testimony. And I have a hard time believing that if the FAA and the airlines thought certain individuals were a threat to commercial aircraft, that they would not have taken action to first block these people from getting on any commercial aircraft and then to have them arrested.
The horror story of all horror stories is that all of the FBI criminal investigations of al Qaeda terrorists found inside of the US were blocked or shut down by one single FBI unit, the FBI ITOS unit, after this unit and in fact many units and almost all of the managers at FBI HQ's had been given the EC by FBI Agent Dina Corsi detailing the many threats to the US that were coming in to the US in the spring and summer of 2001, from bin Laden and Kattahb.
After almost all of the mangers at FBI HQ's had been warned of a spectacular al Qaeda terrorist attack aimed at the US, they shut down all FBI criminal investigations of al Qaeda terrorists found inside of the US and even blocked the intelligence investigation of FBI Agent Robert Fuller.
These actions have never been explained in any way. We even now know that CIA officer Tom Wilshere, not only was directing FBI Agent Dina Corsi and her manager Rod Middleton as they shut down FBI Agent Steve Bongardt's criminal investigation of al Qaeda terrorists Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, but was keeping a close eye on the Moussaoui criminal investigation of FBI Agent Harry Samit, and even knew it was going no where due to FBI HQ's.
Why would people who clearly knew about this horrific al Qaeda terrorist attack that was just about to take place inside of the US that would cause mass US casualties, shut down the only criminal investigations of al Qaeda terrorists found inside of the US when they clearly knew that this would allow these attacks to take place?
The CIA and FBI have never answered this horrific question! Almost 3000 people paid with their lives for these actions at the FBI HQ's and the CIA!
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