Amid C.I.A. Shake-Up, Questions About F.B.I.

The New York Observer ^ | November 24, 2004 | Gwen Kinkead

[thegreatbeast]

Four months after the 9/11 commission’s report on intelligence failures leading up to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, a shakeup at the Central Intelligence Agency is underway. Resignations are piling up throughout the intelligence community—but not at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which had its own counterterrorism mishaps before Sept. 11, according to the commission report.

The C.I.A. dismantles threats overseas; the F.B.I. works inside the U.S. That rough division of labor places the responsibility for keeping the 19 hijackers from boarding planes on Sept. 11 squarely in the F.B.I.’s hands.

[thegreatbeast]

Been wondering when the other shoe is going to drop. Remaking the FBI is every bit important as remaking the CIA. It can't happen fast enough.
Are our pols afraid of what FBI files might say? I would find that hard to believe but...

[zzen01]

Shake 'em BOTH up!

[Michael.SF.]

It can't happen fast enough

It should have happened 9/12 (or very soon thereafter.

Bush stuck with George Tenant way, way too long.

[FairfaxVA]

I concur...Tenet was bad news.

[EagleUSA]

What goes around, comes around. This is the result of the languid politicians in Washington, NOT DOING THEIR JOB, NOT WATCHING THE STOVE POTS...but sadly 3000 Americans had to die in a direct attack on the United States, to get those bozos back to work.

Maybe, just maybe, over the next 4 years, they will do a little work for the American people, instead of worrying about how to win votes from illegal aliens...

[rocksblues]

This is the result of the languid politicians in Washington,

You couldn't possibly be stating that JFnK blew off a security advisory about Logan airport could you? /sarcasm

[thegreatbeast]

You've got that right. All the congressional committees with oversight deserve everything that the agencies get.

[Tacis]

Name one thing the FBI has done right since it helped murder all those Christian children at Waco! Sure, they captured the evil Richard Jewell, but from the lab failures to the bombing in Oklahoma City, what have they done right. Name ONE victory that they are actually responsible for.

I believe Reno and Freer politicized the FBI so badly that, coupled with their ponderous ineptitude, the whole organization needs to be eliminated and a lean and mean one built in its place. Unlikely though because there are so many ex-FBIers in the rest of government.

[goldstategop]

We need to spin off domestic counter-intelligence to a new agency similar to Britain's MI-6. The FBI has it hands full dealing with domestic crime. It cannot be the lead agency in protecting the interior of this country in an Age Of Terror. We're not talking about foreign espionage.

[marsh-mellow]

According to police officers I know (and I realize that there has historically been tension between the two groups), a restructuring is in order.

[Fedora]

I'm told a big problem in the Bureau--since even before Clinton but aggravated by Clinton--is PC hiring/promotion policy influencing personnel decisions.