| Experts question intelligence agencies' abilities to thwart attacks |
| BY CHRIS MONDICS |
| Knight Ridder Newspapers |
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Nearly four years after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings, American intelligence agencies still are struggling to improve their ability to detect potential threats, experts testified Monday before a panel seeking to focus attention on gaps in the nation's terror defenses. Former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and John Gannon, a former senior official of the CIA, said the capacity of the FBI and the CIA to anticipate terrorist attacks remains hampered by a shortage of analysts and by obstacles to sharing information. "There is a lot being done but that doesn't answer the question that concerns me most: Will it last?" Gannon said. Monday's hearing was organized by former members of the Sept. 11 Commission, which disbanded last year after it completed a highly critical 567-page report on the failures of the Bush and Clinton administrations to react to signals that the al-Qaida terror network was preparing an attack on American soil. Members of the commission, which was chaired by former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, have said they intend to try to keep the public spotlight on the issue to improve chances that all their recommendations will be enacted. They've established the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, funded through private grants, to follow-up on their work. Last year, President Bush signed legislation enacting one of the commission's top proposals, establishment of a national intelligence director to coordinate intelligence gathering across the federal government. But other recommendations, including a proposal to intensify congressional oversight of intelligence gathering, have languished. Gannon said the FBI still was having difficulty switching from its traditional focus on solving crimes to employing the analytical techniques needed to thwart a terror attack. Although the FBI is the nation's lead domestic intelligence agency, Gannon said anyone other than a traditional crime fighting FBI agent is treated within the agency like "office furniture." Stephen Kodak, a FBI spokesman, said Monday that the bureau was addressing the problem by hiring more staff to enhance its analytical capabilities. The bureau's terrorist-fighting operations also are struggling to come back from the cancellation earlier this year of a $170 million program to upgrade its computer systems. The Virtual Case File system, which was supposed to permit FBI agents to access case files from the field, was cancelled because bureau officials concluded it was out of date - even before it had been put into use. FBI director Robert S. Mueller III testified before Congress earlier this year that the problems stemmed in part from a poorly drawn contract and from the bureau's failure to grasp the complexity of the project. "With respect to the Virtual Case File project, there is no getting away from the conclusion that it is an unmitigated failure," said Thornburgh, who in addition to serving as attorney general had also been governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 through 1987. Kean and other members of the 9/11 commission worried last summer as they issued their final report that flaws in the nation's terror defenses were so complex and numerous that sustaining interest would be difficult. Toward that end, former commission members have scheduled eight hearings focusing on intelligence, foreign policy and the potential use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by terrorist groups. Former commission member Jamie Gorelick, who chaired Monday's hearing, made clear the panel also would focus on the role of Congress. "It is the unanimous view of the former commissioners that the most glaring failure is the adoption of congressional reforms," Gorelick said. "Without reform of the oversight functions, without a more streamlined appropriations process you are not going to achieve half of the changes that are needed." The Sept. 11 Commission said in its final report that the failure of intelligence agencies to share information had slowed the government's ability to fend off terrorist attacks. Thornburgh said Monday that some progress had been made in getting the agencies to work together, but that problems persisted in part because there is very little specific guidance for agents and their supervisors on what kinds of information should be shared. |
| Source Link: http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/11829922.htm |
Thanks for the post nw. I glad some progress is being made to get the agencies to work together, but, could they speed up the process just a bit?