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"Our intelligence people have become too concerned with individual
rights ..." (!)
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http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Dec-10-Mon-2001/news/17598914.html
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Monday, December 10, 2001
Experts: Intelligence work forever changed
Sept. 11 called 'total failure' of nation's law enforcement
By GLENN PUIT
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A little more than a week ago, one of the nation's top officials from the
Central Intelligence Agency sat in the Marie Callender's restaurant at
Decatur Boulevard and Flamingo Road.
The man, in suit and tie, is the CIA's Los Angeles station chief.
Accompanying him were two other suit-clad agents.
And in front of the CIA officers was a room packed with their
intelligence-gathering colleagues.
What were they all doing here? Was it to discuss the war in Afghanistan? To
protect us from domestic terrorism? To sample the razzleberry pie?
Not quite. The three were here to make a speech to a local group of
intelligence officers.
The Review-Journal, although invited to the event, in the end was not
allowed to sit in on the speech. This was, after all, the CIA.
But recently, four of the men who were in the closed meeting spoke with the
Review-Journal about what they foresee will be the forever changed role of
intelligence gathering given the events of Sept. 11.
They are all members of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Intelligence
and Counterintelligence Association, an organization of intelligence
officers from the military, law enforcement and security communities who now
are trying to educate the public on the vital role intelligence gathering
plays.
The four Southern Nevada residents -- Paddy Ryan, Jim Murphy, Gregg
Schiffbauer and H.G. Gibson -- are long-retired intelligence officers who
once gathered information about national security for the federal
government. To this day, they will not discuss much of the specifics of what
they did.
Gibson said he is an ex-Marine and pilot who flew spy missions for the
government. The retired airlines pilot gathered intelligence for the State
Department.
Murphy was a naval aviator and reservist who helped gather intelligence on
Soviet ships and submarines in the Atlantic Ocean during the Cold War.
Schiffbauer, another reservist, said he gathered government intelligence in
the late 1960s, while Ryan gathered international intelligence for the State
Department. Ryan is also the former director of international relations for
the Port of New Orleans.
"I feel what happened on September 11 was a total failure all the way around
the law enforcement and intelligence communities," Ryan said, adding that he
feels political correctness has gotten in the way of securing crucial
information.
"Our intelligence people have become too concerned with individual rights,"
he said.
The four said the U.S. intelligence community has relied too heavily on
technology and that there is a need to go back to the old-fashioned way of
spying and gathering intelligence, which means using human sources and
engaging in undercover operations.
"It's not necessarily a science," Schiffbauer said. "It's a process of
listening to people."
Murphy said there already are indications that organizations such as the CIA
and the National Security Agency are working hard to communicate better with
the Justice Department, FBI and other domestic law enforcement agencies.
"In the past, every (agency) has wanted to be the hero," Murphy said. "There
has been no communication."
Each of the men has spent a great deal of time abroad and agreed that there
is a stunning amount of ignorance on the part of Americans when it comes to
understanding cultures other than their own. U.S. citizens need to do a much
better job of educating themselves as to how they are viewed globally, they
said.
"The reality is, most people in the world do not like us," Gibson said.
The actions of Americans when they are overseas is one reason for that,
Murphy said. Most people, when they travel outside of the country, are
simply not sensitive enough to the complexities of foreign cultures.
Ryan said U.S. foreign policy is also partly to blame for the anger, as it
has been aimed largely at satisfying the country's short-term needs, often
through the financing of foreign governments. The four provided numerous
examples of this approach in the past, including the financing of
governments in Saudi Arabia and aid given to Saddam Hussein in Iraq during
that nation's war with Iran.
Instead, America needs to take an approach of doing what is best for the
people of a particular nation instead of doing what is best for those in
power, Ryan said.
"If you are going to do something for another nation, be consistent and
don't just do it for their government," Gibson said. "Do it for the
interests of the people."
Ryan said such hatred of Americans helps fuel extremist actions against the
United States. This is where the intelligence community is highly valuable.
Simply put, it is the job of the CIA and other intelligence services, both
domestic and abroad, to detect such attacks.
Murphy said the U.S. needs to focus much of its intelligence gathering
within its own borders if it is going to prevent another Sept. 11. He said
America also could learn a lesson from other countries that have long kept
their borders and access to their nations under strict control.
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