A Safer America: An 18-year-old and a bomb

There have been a number of these cases over the last few years.  Cases where the FBI foils a terror attack and saves America.  But a lot of these cases also seem a bit odd.  In this one, an 18-year-old kid tried to set off a car bomb in Chicago.  But he got the fake bomb FROM the FBI.  AFTER the FBI contacted him and helped stir him up.  Which begs the question: Would this kid have ever actually done anything WITHOUT FBI help?  Or would he be just another impotent wacko spouting off on the Internet?  Is the FBI actually helping stop terror attacks, or is it creating stoppable terror attacks to prove its worth?