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Freeh At Last [EMAIL PROTECTED] Former F.B.I. Director Faults Lawmakers on Terror Fight October 9, 2002 By DAVID JOHNSTON WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 - Former Director Louis J. Freeh of the F.B.I., who has been blamed by some in Congress as failing to grasp the threat of terrorism in the 1990's, faulted lawmakers today for failing to approve bigger budgets that he said were vital to the F.B.I.'s antiterror effort. In testimony before the joint Congressional committee investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Freeh said he fought throughout his eight-year tenure to make terrorism a high priority, but was hobbled by lack of money and legal restraints that hampered the bureau in penetrating terror networks. In his first public defense of his tenure, Mr. Freeh politely but emphatically swept aside widespread complaints that during his tenure the Federal Bureau of Investigation refused to cooperate with other agencies and failed to prepare for a terrorist attack in the United States. He said he was not aware of any evidence that the agency could have prevented the Sept. 11 attacks, although he acknowledged, "That is not to say that things could not have been done better or that more resources or authorities would not have helped." Mr. Freeh, who stepped down in June 2001, rejected criticism by the joint committee's staff that the bureau focused more on prosecuting a few cases than on preventing attacks and that it was slow to address the threat of a domestic attack. Former Clinton administration officials have also been critical of Mr. Freeh. They have said that his personal animosity toward President Bill Clinton and his fixation on a few cases, like the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia in 1996, blinded him to larger terrorism issues and thwarted efforts by Mr. Clinton's national security aides to obtain information about the growing threat from Al Qaeda. Mr. Freeh responded today to a committee report that concluded that the F.B.I. had badly stumbled in its efforts to deter domestic terrorism. Eleanor Hill, the committee's staff director, read from the report at the hearing that the F.B.I. "did not fully learn the lessons of past attacks," like the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. "The F.B.I. responded unevenly at home, with only some field offices devoting significant resources to Islamic extremists," Ms. Hill read. "An overall risk assessment was not prepared, and much of the F.B.I.'s counterterrorism effort was concentrated abroad. This situation reflected a huge gap in the U.S. government's counterterrorism structure, a lack of focus on how an international terrorist group might target the United States itself." Mr. Freeh disputed that finding, saying that successful investigations of terrorism had prevented other attacks. "I take exception to the finding that we were not sufficiently paying attention to terrorism at home," he said. In one instance, the F.B.I.'s investigation of the 1993 trade center bombing led the bureau to break up a terrorist plot to blow up 11 American airliners over the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Freeh said. "In my experience," he said, "the identification, pursuit and arrest of terrorists are the primary means of preventing terrorism." Mary Jo White, the former United States attorney in New York, also testified today. Although she built a reputation as an aggressive prosecutor who led the government's efforts to bring terrorists to trial, Ms. White said today that prosecutions could not be the government's sole strategy for dealing with terrorism. "Criminal prosecutions are plainly not a sufficient response to international terrorism," she said. "For that we plainly need more comprehensive measures and, most especially, a strong and continuing military response." Mr. Freeh, who seemed to be trying to turn Congressional criticism back on the lawmakers, asserted that spending on the F.B.I. during the 1990's was "insufficient to maintain the critical growth and priority of the F.BI.'s counterterrorism program." In total, he said, the number of F.B.I. agents assigned to terrorism doubled to 1,300 in 1999 from 600 in 1993. "While at first blush that may sound like a lot," Mr. Freeh said, "the F.B.I. had requested significantly more counterterrorism resources during this period." In 2000, for example, he said the F.B.I. requested 864 additional employees for counterterrorism at a cost of $380.8 million, but received only 5 people and $7.4 million. "To win a war, it takes soldiers," Mr. Freeh said, urging lawmakers to increase the bureau's budget. He said too much had been expected from the bureau. "It should be obvious, for instance, that the F.B.I. with about 3.5 percent of the country's counterterrorism budget and the C.I.A. with their share comprise but pieces of a mosaic of a total government commitment to the war on terrorism," he said. Mr. Freeh, who as director often asserted the bureau's capability to combat crimes of all kinds, today acknowledged some inadequacy by the bureau. "Al Qaeda-type organizations, state sponsors of terrorism like Iran and the threats they pose to America are beyond the competence of the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. to address," he said. Mr. Freeh offered no apologies or admissions of mistakes today. He praised the performance of F.B.I. agents and took credit for organizational changes that he said had strengthened the bureau's counterterrorism capability. During his tenure, the F.B.I. doubled the number of overseas offices to 44, some of them in countries whose cooperation on terrorism is essential. In 1999 Mr. Freeh created a separate division for terrorism, splitting it off from a unit that also had jurisdiction over espionage cases. In addition, Mr. Freeh met with many foreign leaders about law enforcement issues on trips that annoyed Justice Department and White House officials who often complained about his independence. "I met with dozens of presidents, prime ministers, kings, emirs, law enforcement, intelligence and security chiefs around the world," he said. "The primary reason for these contacts was to pursue and enhance the F.B.I.'s counterterrorism program by forging an international network of cooperation." Over all, Mr. Freeh's appearance before the committee was polite, without the fiery attacks on the F.B.I. that have erupted in other committee hearings in recent months in which lawmakers have battered the bureau and its top officials as incompetent in missing warning signals of the Sept. 11 hijackings. Few lawmakers questioned Mr. Freeh aggressively about F.B.I. lapses. In one exchange, Representative Ray LaHood, Republican of Illinois, asked Mr. Freeh, "Was the F.B.I. on war footing with Al Qaeda prior to Sept. 11, 2001?" Mr. Freeh replied: "Absolutely. In 1999, not only had we indicted Osama bin Laden twice, he was on our Top 10 list. Al Qaeda was the No. 1 priority." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/09/politics/09INTE.html?ex=1035191338&ei=1&en=bff8304a446b44e3 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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