Peggy Noonan: Weenies or Moles?

Opinion Journal ^ | 05/31/2002 | Peggy Noonan

[Pokey78]

It was a catastrophic systems failure, a catastrophic top-to-bottom failure of the systems on which we rely for safety and peace. Another way to say it: The people of the West were, the past 10 years or so, on an extended pleasure cruise, sailing blithely on smooth waters .

[Pokey78]

Ping for the PNPL.

[Sabertooth]

You know when the FBI finally OK'd a search? On Sept. 11--after the attacks. And the bureau gave its approval based on the same evidence it had rejected in August, excluding the information from French intelligence.

Even then, it wasn't without a fight. Ms. Rowley writes that FBI supervisory agent in Washington who had been making the decisions on Minneapolis's requests seemed to have been "consistently, almost deliberately thwarting the Minneapolis FBI agents' efforts." On Sept. 11, just minutes after the attacks began, the supervisory agent in Washington headquarters phoned Minneapolis, and Ms. Rowley took the call. In that call, she says, he "was still attempting to block the search of Moussaoui's computer."

Ms. Rowley recounts the conversation this way: "I said something to the effect that, in light of what had just happened in New York, it would have to be the 'hugest coincidence' at this point if Moussaoui was not involved with the terrorists. The [supervisory agent] stated something to the effect that I had used the right term, 'coincidence' and that this was probably all just a coincidence and we were to do nothing in Minneapolis until we got their [FBIheadquarters'] permission." He added, she says, that he didn't want Minneapolis to "screw up" investigations "elsewhere in the country."

Well, it's a good thing we set up those military tribunals to deal with terrorist infiltrators like Moussaoui.

We've gotten tougher and smarter, and we'll get what we need from him now.

Right?

[Sabertooth]

Thanks Pokey!

(((ping))))

[WFTR]

Ms. Rowley destroyed her own credibility with the reference to Waco and Ruby Ridge in her letter. She blamed the failure pursue this lead on the repercussions of investigations of FBI mistakes in those two cases. In effect, she was saying that if we insist on accountability for FBI mistakes and misdeeds, then the FBI can't be blamed when it doesn't properly investigate a lead. Her frustration with the failure to approve the warrant is justified, but her reasoning is deeply disturbing.

I find it interesting that they don't say whether there was any information on the computer that would have made a difference. While smart people can be blind about many things, I suspect that the terrorists had instructed Moussaoui not to keep any incriminating information on his computer. They must have known that he was in custody, and even if they had a spy at headquarters, they couldn't know whether the computer had been searched. If they suspected that their plans were known to the police, they probably would have postponed the attack. They would have accomplished nothing if the planes had been full of federal agents.

WFTR
Dear FBI: Here's a Clue
Bill

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the ping.

Peggy is excellent as always!

Ms. Rowley asserts that a terrible problem within the FBI in Washington, a problem that likely affected the handling of this case, is "careerism."

Anyone that has been a part of large organizations has seen this problem.
It isn't unique to the FBI !

[Museum Twenty]

Thanks for the ping!

I must confess that I have not paid much attention to the stories about intelligence failure; I have been believing that the noise in the pipeline would have made it too difficult to link threads together.

In addition, sloth and inertia are commonplace forces in most organizations, and large bureaucracies tend to favor those who do not "rock the boat."

My suspicion has been that the combination of pipeline noise, sloth, and inertia prevented proactive action.

But, if Ms. Noonan takes the idea of intentional malice seriously, I must question my assumptions, and catch up on my reading!

By the way, have the backgrounds of those who dragged their feet and/or obstructed the investigation been made public?

Peggy calls for the major players in journalism to root out a story if there is one to be found; I wish I could have faith in that scenario.

Journalistic investigations are much preferred to the alternative: A round of Congressional investigations.

Congressional investigations, with their inevitable showboating and absurd accusations, are a most unpleasant prospect - and will drag many dedicated public servants through the mud.

Thanks, Peggy, for this kick in the nether regions - I hope and pray there is nothing to these suspicions of malevolence.

However, I deeply fear your words may simply be the first step in knocking the scales from my eyes!

[isthisnickcool]

Hmm. This Noonan piece brought five words to mind. Her writing reminded me of another event, that included professionals. Gov't paid professionals. And they screwed up. And people died. And maybe that should not have happened as we look back over our shoulders. Or maybe it was going to happend no matter what. Because even the smartest people make mistakes. They always have and they always will. Those five words are:

Challenger, go for throttle up....

[Amelia]

Anyone who read a Tom Clancy novel knew what was possible...

One of my first thoughts on Sept. 11th was "Just like a Tom Clancy book!"

[mrustow]

Peggy Bump!

[Lancey Howard]

Wow.
Peggy Noonan nails it exactly.

[Snow Bunny]

Hi Pokey, thank you for the ping.

[RJCogburn]

Ms. Rowley destroyed her own credibility

Congratulations! You win the award for the most disingenuous post I have read this morning.

This is not about Rowley and not about whatever the bad guy had on his computer. It is about the FBI and the institutional failures within.

"I'd dispute the claim...muddy the waters".....Texas Ranger Leboeuf in True Grit

[Museum Twenty]

bump

[ValerieUSA]

Excellent commentary once again by Peggy Noonan.
I, too, suspected that bin Laden has his own men working deep inside the FBI, but I also think he has people in Congress.

[AndyJackson]

I just want to know. Now that Peggy Noonan is attacking the FBI is it ok if we do so too? Or has Peggy gone over to the dark side as well? That's it. Peggy has been shown pictures by the Dems and is now doing what they tell her to do to embarass Bush and his team. Its those FBI files that Clinton has [/sarcasm]

Since when did the FBI become OUR ox that cannot be gored at any cost. Since the election? But why? A bureaucracy overseen by a group of incompetent careerist political cronies (democratic although it doesn't really matter if they are Republican does it?) does not become a competent organization simply because Bush was elected President without a major housecleaning. That the incompetents get promoted - as Peggy tells us - tells us more than we wanted to know about Mueller - namely that he has no different filters for who should be moved up the chain then the last guy who had the job.

The FBI is not my ox, and Peggy can savage them all that she wants. I for one am left asking the question whether Mueller is the right man for this job at this time. I don't want to see spin in his defense from the same crowd of careerist spin doctors at the top who are there in any federal bureaucracy. To prove that he is different from the others he must act. I want to read from Peggy that this incompetent twit - I mean the one who blocked Crowley's investigation is in charge of an FBI paperclip warehouse in Pt Barrow. I don't mean in 6 months. I mean now, today. There is no baby that he needs to be afraid is going to get thrown out - the incompetents around him would have made sure that any competent person got sent to Coventry long long ago.

[PJ-Comix]

One of my first thoughts on Sept. 11th was "Just like a Tom Clancy book!"

I think I'll see that flick today. Unfortunately, the producers messed up big time by changing the terrorists from Arabs to rightwingers. It would have been more real if they had left it as Clancy wrote it.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

She has joined the ranks of those women--these days, as others have noted, they are always women--who blow the whistle on sick and shameful actions within powerful organizations.

Excellent article. The frustration this woman felt must have been overwhelming.

[Miss Marple]

Did I eveer say the FBI should not be investigated? I don't think so. What I do NOT want is the weasels in Congress using the investigation to score points and destroy whatever effectiveness might be left.

And depending on exactly what happened with that memo, and depending on the entire memo's contents, the interfering party should be fired or placed in a room where he does menial filing.

I think it well to be cautious, though, because I also think there may be more than a few moles, some working for bin Laden, and probably some for the Chinese. Plus you also could have free-lancers.

At any rate, the FBI overhaul is needed and I welcome it.

By the way, TWA 800 is on the radar screen again...the Green Beret expert on Fox and Friends this morning said flat out that it was brought down by a missile, and the panel said after he left that he didn't say things like that lightly.

That should open a nice can of worms.