[An edited copy of "Who Let the Terrorists Succeed?"
http://www.msnbc.com/news/758330.asp]
The now-famous memo Minneapolis agent Coleen Rowley sent to Robert Mueller, director
of the FBI, now widely known as the Federal Bureau of Incompetence. The May 21, 2002
memo, obtained by Time, is one scary document. It suggests [SURPRISE!] that we have a
bunch of time-servers protecting our security, which no one is in charge of anything.
If any of this changed after September 11, Rowley, a highly regarded veteran of the
bureau, does not say so.
Without mentioning names, Rowley basically fingers a mid-level FBI supervisory
agent in the Hoover Building (in Washington) named Dave Frasca, who was supposed to be
running the task force on religious fanatics. After the Minneapolis office took
flight-student and hijacker-wannabe Zacarias Moussaoui into custody and obtained
intelligence from the French indicating that he had terrorist ties, alert Minnesota
agents didnt just passively push the case up the chain of command. They became, in
Rowleys words, desperate to search his computer laptop. So desperate that they
risked the wrath of higher ups by committing a real pre-9-11 no-no: contacting the CIA.
Headquarters personnel didnt just deny the request to probe Moussaoui
further. Even though they were privy to many more sources of intelligence information
than field agents, as Rowley plaintively put it, they continued to, almost
inexplicably, throw up roadblocks and undermine Minneapolis by-now desperate attempts
to obtain a search warrant.
Because Frascas not commenting publicly, we havent heard the other side of
the story. But as anyone who has ever worked in an office knows, HQ always has its own
take on events, and sometimes its even right. In this case a federal judge in
Washington, Royce C. Lambreth, grew annoyed at the poor documentation involved in
requests from federal prosecutors for search warrants and wiretaps. One prosecutor so
angered Lambreth that he was actually barred from seeking any more approvals from
judges, a move that sent a chilling career message down through the ranks of the
Justice Department. So Frasca, knowing which way the wind was blowing in Washington,
wasnt just going to rubber stamp the Minneapolis request.
[Does this mean the complaints by civil libertarians that FESA were being heard?]
Moreover, the very fact that HQ is, in Rowleys words, privy to many more
sources of intelligence is actually a hindrance, not necessarily a sign of
negligence. The more intelligence chaff that comes in, the harder it is to find the
wheat. Frasca should have the chance to explain that, and Judge Lambreth should
explain why he thought the warrant process was being abused.
But Rowleys certainly correct when she tells Mueller that the problem with
chalking this all up to the 20/20 hindsight is perfect problem is that this is not
a case of everyone in the FBI failing to appreciate the potential consequences. It is
obvious that the agents in Minneapolis who were closest to the action and in the best
position to gauge the situation locally did fully appreciate the terrorist risk/danger
posed by Moussaoui.
Doesnt that sound familiar in your company? The branch offices never think
headquarters knows whats really going on, while the home office VPs think the branch
guys are a bunch of whiners without the chops to make it in the big time at HQ.
But in this evergreen of bureaucratic in-fighting, one of HQs best arguments
is usually that unlike the branch offices, it sees the big picture. This time, as
Rowley notes, Frasca and company not only failed to see the big picture, they worked
actively to keep others from trying to see it. Thats quite an indictment.
And thats only part of her bombshell. Rowley, who is, fortunately for her,
close to retirement, also goes after Mueller himself. I have deep concerns that a
delicate and subtle shading/skewering of facts by you and others at the highest levels
of the FBI has occurred and is occurring. She argues that Muellers reorganization,
which would further empower the FBIs Washington headquarters, is exactly the wrong
approach to preventing terrorism.
As if to confirm Rowleys harsh judgment, Mueller last week classified her
memo, though we learned after it was leaked that there is nothing even vaguely
compromising about FBI sources and methods contained in it. He classified it for the
same reason Bush and Cheney dont want an independent commission to investigate what
happened: Its embarrassing.
Now its up to the rest of us to decide.
[Unfortunately its not. If it were the problem would have been addresses decades ago.]
Is embarrassment a proper standard for classifying documents and sweeping poor
performance under the carpet? Or is it perhaps more patrioticand better for
preventing a future attack to get to the bottom of what happened in order to make the
necessary bureaucratic changes?
This is a deep question for American democracy. The issue is not
accountability versus security; its accountability versus embarrassment and political
discomfort.
[The problem is that individuals are prevented from pursuing criminal prosecutions.]
[That's why its so important that insiders have a practical means (e.g., John Young's
site) to leak mis-classified data.]
Mueller argues that the reform of the FBI is already underway, and need not be
disrupted by a lot of finger-pointing. Let him do it in private, the administration
asks. Let the company handle its own affairs. But that assumes a universe where Mr.
Mooney doesnt need Lucys suggestions, and Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin
should just shut up. It assumes a world where Dilbert has no cause for complaint.
That wasnt life before September 11, or after. Bureaucracies ossify. Office
politics grows more bitter with time. Sometimes the only answer is the kind of
wholesale reorganization we dont seem to be getting so far.
[The kind or "re-organization" we need is way beyond anything the mainstream media,
not to mention D.C., could even understand. There is no reason to believe that our
fearless leaders will be anymore successful in catching these new villains than they
have the drug kingpins and narco-terrorists. The impact of these failures will,
however, be immeasurably higher.]
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