[avital2]

oh, come on. the Bush administration, with a shortened transition, short on confirmed staff into the summer of 2001, was supposed to reform/reformat the FBI, get the FBI and CIA to talk to each other, make our aiports safe, hire Arabic translators, get CIA agents on the ground in the Middle East, take out UBL's outposts in Afghanistan, make the borders safe-- all in a few months after a foreign policy hand off from the Clinton admin which barely mentioned Al Qaeda, a Clinton admin that told us through Al Gore that our aiports were safe, a Clinton admin that had taken care of UBL with its pathetic missile attacks, and a directive that didn't allow the FBI and CIA to speak to one another. oh, yes, and the Bush admin had to overturn that policy of Maddy Albright to let the CIA start hanging out with disreputable types again. Phew! sounds reasonable --NOT!!

[okie01]

"the Bush administration, with a shortened transition, short on confirmed staff into the summer of 2001, was supposed to reform/reformat the FBI, get the FBI and CIA to talk to each other..."

What gets lost in all this hoopla is that, in most respects, the FBI and CIA couldn't talk to each other on the subject of terrorism.

Because the Clinton-Reno Justice Dept had investigated and prosecuted terrorists as criminals, rather than enemy combatants, grand jury testimony was the primary source of evidence. By law, evidence collected by the prosecution in a grand jury remains confidential and cannot be shared with other agencies -- even if it has implications for national security.

One of the primary functions of the Patriot Act is to allow sharing of grand jury evidence -- if it has implications for national security.

In just about respect imaginable, the Clinton-Reno strategy for "fighting terrorism" was self-defeating.