By Debbie Schlussel

The FBI knew that Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, the American Muslim convert who tried to join ISIS, was an extremist bent on jihad against America. And, yet, the agency AND the Bush and Obama Justice Departments let Pugh remain as a U.S. airline mechanic and go to Iraq as a U.S. Army contractor, anyway.

There’s a reason other federal agents refer to the FBI as “Famous But Incompetent.” Because the agency often fits that description. And that’s especially the case with Pugh, who was indicted this week for trying to join ISIS, after he was stopped by Turkish authorities from crossing over into Iraq or Syria.

We learned, this week, that the FBI has known about Pugh since 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, when it received a tip about him and his support for Osama Bin Laden. At the time, Pugh said he supported the 9/11 attacks and Al-Qaeda’s bombing of two U.S. Embassies. And, also at that time, Pugh was a mechanic for American Airlines, with a badge allowing him special access all over the airport in which he worked and allowing him the ability to plant a bomb inside the mechanisms of a plane. But the FBI did nothing to remove him from that position (or to watch him each day as he worked on planes), putting countless Americans at risk. I guess it was no big deal that American Airlines already lost two planes on 9/11. They needed to lose more?

But that wasn’t all.

While the FBI knew since 2001 that Pugh supported jihad against America and Americans, the agency did NOTHING to stop the U.S. Army from hiring Pugh in 2009 as a contractor and sending him to IRAQ! Um, helloooooo . . . ?! Did the FBI not care that this Muslim was an open supporter of Al-Qaeda (which was strong in Iraq–and is NOW ISIS), and that as a mechanic contractor for the U.S. Army, he was in a position to harm U.S. Army vehicles and help Al-Qaeda in Iraq (again, that group is now ISIS)?

Mr. Pugh has been on federal authorities’ radar for more than a decade. According to a criminal complaint, he converted to Islam and became increasingly radical after moving to San Antonio in 1998.

In 2001, when he was working as a mechanic for American Airlines, the Federal Bureau of Investigation received a tip from a co-worker that Mr. Pugh sympathized with Osama bin Laden and felt that the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa were justified. A year later, an associate of Mr. Pugh told the FBI that Mr. Pugh expressed an interest in traveling to Chechnya to engage in jihad.

Mr. Pugh worked as a U.S. Air Force mechanic from 1986 until 1990 and was assigned to bases around the world, the Air Force said.

Before his arrest, he had been living overseas for about 18 months, including in Egypt and Jordan, according to the criminal complaint.

Court documents portray Mr. Pugh as someone who struggled to keep a steady job. During a five-month period in 2009 and 2010, Mr. Pugh was an Army contractor in Iraq. Earlier this year, he was fired from his job as an airplane mechanic in the Middle East.

During his detainment in Egypt, Mr. Pugh said he had traveled to Turkey in search of employment, and denied a desire to go to Syria, the criminal complaint stated. . . . As part of the investigation into Mr. Pugh, federal agents say they searched his laptop and found a map of Turkish-Syrian crossing points and about 180 jihadist propaganda videos, including ones where ISIS prisoners were being executed.

The laptop allegedly contained a letter stating, “I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States.” The letter was addressed to “My Misha,” who authorities believe to be Mr. Pugh’s wife in Egypt.

Mr. Pugh intentionally damaged and removed the memory chips from four thumb drives to prevent law enforcement from accessing the data, leading to the obstruction-of-justice charge, federal authorities said. Authorities also discovered a photo of a machine gun on his cellphone, according to the criminal complaint.

We’re lucky that–but for the grace of G-d–Pugh didn’t sabotage American Airlines planes or U.S. Army vehicles in Iraq. And it was just luck. Because he was in a position to harm a lot of Americans.

Clearly, the FBI had no problem making Americans in the sky and serving in Iraq sitting ducks in the shooting gallery of Tairod Pugh.

Remember, the ONLY reason that Tairod Pugh was stopped from joining ISIS is that Turkish authorities stopped him, not the FBI Somebody finally had the guts to stop him, and it was at the wrong moment, since he should have been allowed to go to ISIS and get snuffed out–the likely outcome. Now, you will have to pay to clothe, feed, and house him at the big house until he comes out again to resume his jihad on U.S. soil.

I feel so much safer with the FBI–Famous But Incompetent–in charge. Don’t you?

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By the way, like most Muslims, Mr. Pugh had a strong hatred for Jews and Israel. Check out what he shared on social media . . .