Steven Kurtz Case

To me this case was all about the goverenment and the FBI trying to use their power to manufacture a case against terrorism. I don't think their gripe with Steven Kurtz had to do with the reasearch he was doing with GMO's so much as it did with them trying to catch another terrorist. As Mr. Kurtz said the fact that he was white maybe presented itself as a way for the FBI to show they weren't only going after middle eastern people. Also, if they were able to bring down Kurtz, it would help to spread fear that anyone can be a terrorist which could give rise to even more increased government power. If not for Kurtz having the means to fight these charges it is very likely that the goverenmnet would have been able to bully him around and find him guilty of these charges. In doing so the government would be able to have another case to support the need for their increase in power they recieved with the Patriot act. It is also likely that if if the goverment was able to show that anyone can be a threat, than citizens would continue to lose privacy rights. I basically feel that the FBI viewed the Kurtz case as an oppurtunity to further their agenda on fighting terrorism. The government wants to be able to invade the privacy of anyone in the name of fighting terrorism, and the more cases they can come up with the more likely they will be able to do so.