http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/09/AR2005080901 368.html Armed With Half a Credential By Al Kamen Wednesday, August 10, 2005; Page A15
There's increasing chatter that the FBI is getting ready to name the head of its new super-spy agency, the National Security Service. The NSS, which combines the FBI's counterterrorism shop, the criminal investigations folks and the intelligence directorate, is part of the latest big reorganization at the FBI with the goal of improving its ability to deal with the post-Sept. 11, 2001, world of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism. And so who's most prominently mentioned for the job? Naturally it would be Gary M. Bald , now executive assistant director for counterterrorism and a man who has testified that he knows precious little about Islam or the Middle East and does not think it is important to know such things. In his recent testimony in a job discrimination lawsuit, Bald said he got his terrorism training on the job when he went to the FBI headquarters two years ago, according to transcripts obtained by the Associated Press. When asked whether he had much knowledge of Middle East culture and history, he said: "I wish that I had it. It would be nice." FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and other top folks said it is leadership skill, not subject matter knowledge, that's important. Mueller defended the selection of Bald as counterterrorism chief because he had run the Baltimore field office, which had a terrorism program, and had run the Washington sniper shootings investigation. (They've stopped looking for that white van.) "Running the office gave him some exposure to terrorism," Mueller testified in the lawsuit, according to the AP. "Yes, I think absolutely it would give, contribute to his ability to handle counterterroism." Apparently he was not joking. National Director of Intelligence John D. Negroponte has sign-off authority over the appointment. Well, it won't matter much who gets the job. Most of these folks are said to spend the better part of the day in meetings, jousting over the budget and trying to figure out how to stick it to the CIA. Next, the Terrorism Counter-Calendar Speaking of feeling safe, there is a calendar/weekly planner floating around in counterterrorism circles that has to be the coolest -- or scariest -- calendar around. It's a 5-by-9-inch spiral called "Counterterrorism 2005." (Okay, it took a while to get.) Days of the week are on right-hand pages along with terrorist incidents that occurred on those dates. Today, in 1987, for example, "17 November detonates bomb near a bus with US airmen [in Greece]; 10 injured." Yesterday, in 2002, a "grenade blast kills four and injures 25 at a Christian missionary hospital in Islamabad." The left-hand page has terrorism facts -- lists and descriptions of deadly chemical and biological agents, maps, summaries of terrorist groups and terrorists of the month -- plus wanted posters of some very nasty-looking guys. The first is a man listed as Usama bin Ladin , who is "believed to be in Afghanistan. He is left-handed and walks with a cane. CAUTION -- Should be considered armed and dangerous." Then there's September's Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan , wanted for the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa and other attacks. He "sometimes wears a light beard or mustache and has in the past managed a trucking business in Kenya." Or, for June, Faker Ben Abdelazziz Boussora . Boussora, a Canadian thought to be involved in possible activities in this country, "has predominately protruding ears and is believed to have a serious pituitary gland illness." The calendar does not say who published it. (Try the National Counterterrorism Center.) It's not classified, an intelligence source said, but "it's an internal tool for the counterterrorism community." Maybe someone could flip one over to Bald to bring him up to speed. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12h9ni1hr/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123680615/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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