9/11 probe panel considers 2 new intelligence
agencies
By LAURENCE ARNOLD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The independent commission studying the 9/11 terror
attacks is considering recommending changes in U.S. intelligence that would go
well beyond actions of the Bush administration, including creation of a domestic
spy agency modeled after Britain’s MI5.
James B. Steinberg, deputy national security adviser in the Clinton
administration, said he advocates the creation of two new entities: an
independent director of national intelligence and a domestic security service
like the MI5.
Steinberg is expected to testify today at a public hearing for the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Other experts at the
hearing will include James R. Schlesinger and John M. Deutch, both former
directors of central intelligence, chief of the CIA and all other U.S.
intelligence operations.
In an interview on the eve of his testimony, Steinberg said U.S.
counterterror efforts remain hampered by decades-old walls separating the work
of the FBI, which operates domestically and traditionally has focused on
catching people who break laws, and the CIA, which works abroad and focuses on
learning secrets.
‘‘The beauty of the MI5 model is it breaks down both those walls,’’ said
Steinberg, director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution.
MI5 describes itself as Britain’s defensive security intelligence agency. It
cannot detain or arrest its targets but seeks to ‘‘to gain the advantage over
(them) by covertly obtaining information about them, which we can use to counter
their activities.’’
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge visited MI5 headquarters during a trip
to Britain last year. He later said he doubted the Bush administration would
create a similar domestic intelligence agency, because MI5’s powers would be
unacceptable under the U.S. Constitution.
FBI Director Robert Mueller also opposes the idea of an American MI5, saying
such a proposal is based on ‘‘a faulty understanding of counterterrorism that
sees a dichotomy between ‘intelligence operations’ and ‘law enforcement
operations.’’’
The 10-member, bipartisan commission has until May 27 to submit a report that
also will deal with law enforcement, diplomacy, immigration, commercial aviation
and the flow of assets to terror organizations.
Commission chairman Thomas H. Kean said the panel is considering several
ideas to make U.S. intelligence more effective, ‘‘including the question of
whether the United States should establish a Director of National
Intelligence.’’
Vice chairman Lee H. Hamilton said the commission also hopes to learn how the
government prepares warnings about attacks.
A joint House-Senate inquiry after the 9/11 attacks concluded that serious
failings by U.S. intelligence leaders left the country vulnerable. Successive
leaders, including Deutch and others, did not work hard enough ‘‘to overcome the
institutional and cultural obstacles to interagency cooperation and coordination
that bedeviled counterterrorism efforts before the attacks,’’ the report said.
The Bush administration has acted to strengthen intelligence gathering and
sharing since the 2001 attacks. It created a Terrorist Threat Integration Center
to bring together information gathered by the CIA, FBI and other agencies. The
center reports to the CIA director but is not part of the agency.
Also, the FBI, under new powers granted by the USA Patriot Act, ‘‘is now
dedicated to preventing future attacks’’ instead of just investigating past
crimes, President Bush said in a September speech at the FBI Academy.
Still, some critics say a fundamental overhaul is needed.
In a report last year, a task force of intelligence experts, academics and
technology executives assembled by the Markle Foundation faulted the Bush
administration’s homeland security plans for giving the FBI too much
responsibility for analyzing terror threats. Philip Zelikow, who served as
executive director of the Markle task force, is now executive director of the
9/11 commission.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has proposed legislation that would split
the current position of director of central intelligence into two jobs: a CIA
director and a national intelligence director.
The new position of national intelligence director, appointed by the
president and confirmed by the Senate to a 10-year term, would oversee all
intelligence agencies, establishing priorities for collection, monitoring
cooperation and coordinating distribution. The duty of the CIA director would be
limited to running that one agency.
ON THE NET:
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States: http://www.9-11commission.gov
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
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