"I think it's a very low ROI approach for the FBI"

Wrong. Creating these instances is extremely, hugely profitable in the form of increased funding for anti-terrorism.

I see what you are saying on the rest, and thats the response I would expect from an intelligent person that is uneducated on the subject. The fact is that they are not getting jihadists the means and then grabbing them, they are preying on poor people and promising them money through corrupt informants who usually participate in the plot up until the last minute and then get off scot-free. A good primer book on the subject, along with some of the lectures from the author:

https://www.amazon.com/Terror-Factory-Inside-Manufactured-Te...

I started my military career in anti-terrorism, back before they had to change the very definition because they realized it applied to them quite often. You want to know the terrorists I'm the most afraid of, and I think America should be? The ones in suits and ties, on Wall Street and in DC. I'm not afraid of men in thwabs doing dastardly things, and even if they did, it's such an outlier and small scope/scale it's a drop in terror bucket compared the financial terrorists.

>thwarted bomb attack

Except there was no bomb, and there was never going to be any attack. It was another FBI manufactured threat. Usually its FBI undercover agents providing all the incentives(kill those people, they are bad mmkay), plans (do it there) and means (here, have this rifle and two crates of c4). This was different in only one detail - FBI agent was on the other side of the equation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/terrorist-p...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Terror-Factory-Manufactured-Terror...

Apparently its all well and good when FBI manufactures terrorists, but internet troll? burn the witch!!1

Easier to be a hero if you're an American citizen but the FBI and NSA has a history of extorting people with tenuous citizenship:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Terror-Factory-Manufactured-Terror...