I received the below e-mail last night about the Fort Jackson investigation from a former FBI special agent who has worked on major terrorism cases. He makes some very interesting points:
Just an investigative note...
From all the reports, it appears that the men were overheard making serious comments about a plot to poison food on an army base (Ft Jackson). Then they were brought in for questioning. I just want to encourage you all to consider that this is the way many cases are being handled - instead of doing a more in depth investigation, the general failsafe is to go talk to the subjects, thus burning down all possible chances of uncovering any larger, more coordinated efforts.
Going to talk to the subject of this kind of a threat before doing significant investigation (phone/credit/travel records, public access information, trash pulls, etc) is counter-productive. It appears, based on the timeline, that a deep look at these guys was not taken.
Check back here for more updates in the coming days.