SINthysist
Rural Racist Homophobe
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- Nov 29, 2001
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Charles R. Smith
Thursday, June 6, 2002
Agencies Engage in Finger Pointing and Blame Each Others
The fallout from the September 11 attack on America has finally settled over Washington. The FBI, CIA and NSA are now suffering under the microscope of 20/20 hindsight. Like the proverbial three monkeys – blind, deaf and dumb – the agencies are passing the buck and pointing fingers at each other.
In July 2001, I wrote that the FBI needed to be reformed. (See FBI Story: Inside Look at Agency in Need of Reform.) My editorial then followed news that the agency was missing a large number of its own weapons. I still maintain that during the Clinton years the FBI transformed itself from a federal law enforcement agency into a political joke.
FBI Director Louis Freeh oversaw the longest run of FBI public disasters in its entire history. Ruby Ridge, Oklahoma City, the 500 missing FBI files, a parade of Chinese agents inside the Clinton White House, and the muffed Wen Ho Lee prosecution are only a few of the known "Freeh-stone" follies.
If any one person is responsible for September 11, it is Louis Freeh. Freeh named his best friend, Robert Hanssen, as counter-intelligence director in New York City. The same Robert Hanssen later confessed that he was a spy for Russia.
Today we discover that the FBI under Louis Freeh decided not to tap the computer of an alleged September 11 terrorist because of a sudden pang of political correctness. Yet the very same Freeh FBI successfully used national technical means to tap the computer of a man accused of running an illegal sports gambling operation in New Jersey.
This single event is a demonstration of how the FBI under Freeh was prioritized. Clearly, the possibility that thousands of U.S. citizens could die in a terrorist attack was not nearly as important to the FBI as an illegal gambling operation. The irony here is that apparently the financial crime ranks of such import to qualify the use of secret high-tech methods while a possible terrorist attack does not.
Blame the Bush administration? Why not. After all, it was the Freeh FBI and the Janet Reno Department of Justice that invoked national security during the prosecution of the gambling case while fumbling the investigation into Osama bin Laden.
CIA Director Must Resign
Following the September 11 attack on America, I wrote that the CIA needed to be reformed. (See The Failure of U.S. Intelligence and the Road Ahead for America.) I asked then, and still ask now, why has not CIA Director George Tenet tendered his resignation, as Adm. Kimmel did after Pearl Harbor?
Osama bin Laden is a CIA creation. He was trained by the CIA to fight in the Afghan war against the Soviet Union. The CIA followed Osama bin Laden's operatives prior to the September 11 attacks. Yet the super-spy agency did nothing as the terrorists returned to the U.S., because it required that they communicate with the FBI.
Clearly, the CIA director would rather talk with Yasser Arafat than pick up the phone and call someone – anyone – at the FBI.
Please understand that CIA Director George Tenet is not a product of the intelligence community. He has never run a spy operation, nor is he schooled in the science of espionage like FBI turncoat Robert Hanssen.
George Tenet is a product of the Clinton White House national security staff. Documents obtained from the Clinton National Security Council clearly show that George Tenet spent more time working with U.S. business interests trying to export advanced technology to China than he did on real national security.
The Tenet CIA failed to detect the attack on the USS Cole and did not anticipate the ferocious suicide attacks against Israel in the West Bank. The Tenet CIA missed the signs that China would confront the U.S. over surveillance flights and continues to turn a blind eye to Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
Tenet's job at the CIA is maintained because of his close friendships with dozens of senators and representatives. The September 11 attack is a clear demonstration that Tenet's efforts as the head of the CIA have not been successful.
NSA Deaf to New Threats
The CIA relies on the National Security Agency – the NSA – to defend America. The NSA is charged with the job of monitoring global communications and passing any useful intercepts along to the other arms of the U.S. government. The NSA also has a bigger budget than the CIA.
However, the NSA has also been growing deaf over the past few years due mainly to exports of advanced U.S. communications technology. Ironically, the exports of advanced U.S. technology can be traced back to George Tenet's reign inside the Clinton White House, on the national security staff.
The NSA suffers from a form of intelligence constipation and overload at the same time. The NSA may have intercepted Osama bin Laden's communications but, like the CIA, the super-secret agency failed to pass the information along to the FBI. The NSA has not been able to locate Osama bin Laden despite its multibillion-dollar ring of satellites and the vaunted Echelon network.
The NSA has failed to defend America in past years. The NSA missed the Pakistani nuclear tests in 1998. The NSA did detect recent Iranian missile tests but failed to pass the information along in time for the Air Force to position a surveillance airplane to monitor the missile tests. The director of the NSA should admit to the American public that his super-secret agency is a waste of good money.
The Bush administration should take positive steps before invoking draconian laws and releasing overzealous agents to waste time investigating razor-thin allegations of criminal activity.
First and foremost, CIA Director George Tenet needs to submit his resignation. Louis Freeh and Janet Reno should stand before Congress and explain why they failed to stop Osama bin Laden during their term of service.
The failure of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement is a story of blind, deaf and dumb. The CIA is blind, the NSA is deaf and the FBI is dumb. Each agency should take its share of responsibility for missing the successful attack on American soil. All three agencies sorely need to be reformed from the ground up.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/6/5/160707.shtml
Thursday, June 6, 2002
Agencies Engage in Finger Pointing and Blame Each Others
The fallout from the September 11 attack on America has finally settled over Washington. The FBI, CIA and NSA are now suffering under the microscope of 20/20 hindsight. Like the proverbial three monkeys – blind, deaf and dumb – the agencies are passing the buck and pointing fingers at each other.
In July 2001, I wrote that the FBI needed to be reformed. (See FBI Story: Inside Look at Agency in Need of Reform.) My editorial then followed news that the agency was missing a large number of its own weapons. I still maintain that during the Clinton years the FBI transformed itself from a federal law enforcement agency into a political joke.
FBI Director Louis Freeh oversaw the longest run of FBI public disasters in its entire history. Ruby Ridge, Oklahoma City, the 500 missing FBI files, a parade of Chinese agents inside the Clinton White House, and the muffed Wen Ho Lee prosecution are only a few of the known "Freeh-stone" follies.
If any one person is responsible for September 11, it is Louis Freeh. Freeh named his best friend, Robert Hanssen, as counter-intelligence director in New York City. The same Robert Hanssen later confessed that he was a spy for Russia.
Today we discover that the FBI under Louis Freeh decided not to tap the computer of an alleged September 11 terrorist because of a sudden pang of political correctness. Yet the very same Freeh FBI successfully used national technical means to tap the computer of a man accused of running an illegal sports gambling operation in New Jersey.
This single event is a demonstration of how the FBI under Freeh was prioritized. Clearly, the possibility that thousands of U.S. citizens could die in a terrorist attack was not nearly as important to the FBI as an illegal gambling operation. The irony here is that apparently the financial crime ranks of such import to qualify the use of secret high-tech methods while a possible terrorist attack does not.
Blame the Bush administration? Why not. After all, it was the Freeh FBI and the Janet Reno Department of Justice that invoked national security during the prosecution of the gambling case while fumbling the investigation into Osama bin Laden.
CIA Director Must Resign
Following the September 11 attack on America, I wrote that the CIA needed to be reformed. (See The Failure of U.S. Intelligence and the Road Ahead for America.) I asked then, and still ask now, why has not CIA Director George Tenet tendered his resignation, as Adm. Kimmel did after Pearl Harbor?
Osama bin Laden is a CIA creation. He was trained by the CIA to fight in the Afghan war against the Soviet Union. The CIA followed Osama bin Laden's operatives prior to the September 11 attacks. Yet the super-spy agency did nothing as the terrorists returned to the U.S., because it required that they communicate with the FBI.
Clearly, the CIA director would rather talk with Yasser Arafat than pick up the phone and call someone – anyone – at the FBI.
Please understand that CIA Director George Tenet is not a product of the intelligence community. He has never run a spy operation, nor is he schooled in the science of espionage like FBI turncoat Robert Hanssen.
George Tenet is a product of the Clinton White House national security staff. Documents obtained from the Clinton National Security Council clearly show that George Tenet spent more time working with U.S. business interests trying to export advanced technology to China than he did on real national security.
The Tenet CIA failed to detect the attack on the USS Cole and did not anticipate the ferocious suicide attacks against Israel in the West Bank. The Tenet CIA missed the signs that China would confront the U.S. over surveillance flights and continues to turn a blind eye to Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
Tenet's job at the CIA is maintained because of his close friendships with dozens of senators and representatives. The September 11 attack is a clear demonstration that Tenet's efforts as the head of the CIA have not been successful.
NSA Deaf to New Threats
The CIA relies on the National Security Agency – the NSA – to defend America. The NSA is charged with the job of monitoring global communications and passing any useful intercepts along to the other arms of the U.S. government. The NSA also has a bigger budget than the CIA.
However, the NSA has also been growing deaf over the past few years due mainly to exports of advanced U.S. communications technology. Ironically, the exports of advanced U.S. technology can be traced back to George Tenet's reign inside the Clinton White House, on the national security staff.
The NSA suffers from a form of intelligence constipation and overload at the same time. The NSA may have intercepted Osama bin Laden's communications but, like the CIA, the super-secret agency failed to pass the information along to the FBI. The NSA has not been able to locate Osama bin Laden despite its multibillion-dollar ring of satellites and the vaunted Echelon network.
The NSA has failed to defend America in past years. The NSA missed the Pakistani nuclear tests in 1998. The NSA did detect recent Iranian missile tests but failed to pass the information along in time for the Air Force to position a surveillance airplane to monitor the missile tests. The director of the NSA should admit to the American public that his super-secret agency is a waste of good money.
The Bush administration should take positive steps before invoking draconian laws and releasing overzealous agents to waste time investigating razor-thin allegations of criminal activity.
First and foremost, CIA Director George Tenet needs to submit his resignation. Louis Freeh and Janet Reno should stand before Congress and explain why they failed to stop Osama bin Laden during their term of service.
The failure of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement is a story of blind, deaf and dumb. The CIA is blind, the NSA is deaf and the FBI is dumb. Each agency should take its share of responsibility for missing the successful attack on American soil. All three agencies sorely need to be reformed from the ground up.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/6/5/160707.shtml
