FBI's backlog is overstated
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-10-05-oppose_x.htm
During the past three years, the FBI has substantially improved its ability to analyze foreign-language terrorist intercepts. Americans are safer as a result, and we continue to strengthen our capabilities every day.
Reports that the FBI has 123,000 hours of counterterrorism audio recordings waiting for review are not accurate. In the highest-priority counterterrorism investigations, there is no backlog, and all intercepts are reviewed within 24 hours. While we do have a backlog in certain lower-priority counterterrorism matters, that backlog is only 2,800 hours — less than 1% of the total number of hours of audio collected in the FBI's counterterrorism investigations.
In arriving at the 123,000-hour figure, the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General looked at the gross number of audio hours collected by the FBI in counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations in certain languages and subtracted the gross number of audio hours reviewed during the period from Oct. 1, 2001, through Jan. 1, 2004. The numbers did not distinguish between terrorism and other investigations, so the resulting statistics include cases that have nothing to do with terrorism.
Today, new technologies and management improvements are helping us prioritize assignments and track our response time. We have also instituted strict quality controls.
Most important, we have hired more than 700 linguists since Sept. 11, 2001, and we will continue to hire qualified linguists to meet future needs. Like all intelligence organizations, we have difficulty finding speakers of lesser-used languages.
To overcome these difficulties, we have a dynamic recruiting campaign to identify, attract and hire qualified linguists. We offer hiring bonuses, training, a clear path to promotion and a chance to work closely with investigators and analysts as part of the FBI's Directorate of Intelligence. And FBI linguists can work in any of our field offices across the country so they don't have to relocate to serve their country in the war on terrorism.
American Arabs concerned over FBI's 'October Plan'
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=9015
BEIRUT: The Arab American Institute has expressed concern over recent reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have already or soon will be enacting an aggressive new initiative, the so-called "October Plan."
According to news reports, the initiative will include "aggressive - even obvious - surveillance" of individuals "suspected of being terrorist sympathizers, but who have not committed a crime," said a statement released Tuesday by the AAI. Furthermore, "other 'persons of interest,' including their family members, may also be brought in for questioning," and "mosques will be revisited and members asked whether they've observed any suspicious behavior."
Additional reports suggest that the DHS component of this initiative will include a massive immigration sweep in major metropolitan areas with the purpose of detaining those who are "out of status." DHS's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will concentrate its efforts on individuals who had to report as part of the Student Visitor Information System (SEVIS), the National Security Entry/Exit Registration System (NSEERS), and the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program (U.S. VISIT). It should be noted that NSEERS, or Special Registration, required citizens from 24 Arab and Muslim countries and North Korea to register with immigration authorities. The national origin based program was suspended by DHS in December 2003.
"We oppose ICE's use of selective enforcement at this time. While doing little to prevent terrorism, these tactics will further alienate Arab and Muslim Americans, the very people with whom law enforcement needs to build trust," said James Zogby, President of the AAI. "We are also concerned, given the pre-election nature of this initiative, that these tactics may have a chilling effect on the participation of some segments of the Arab American and American Muslim communities in the coming election," he added.