http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=11234 Hill Panels Discuss FBI Changes for Better Intelligence Gathering By Brian Duggan (AXcess News) Washington - Two congressional committees scrutinized the FBI Thursday, asking how it has changed since Sept. 11 and whether law enforcement and domestic intelligence-gathering duties should be in separate agencies. FBI Director Robert Mueller defended the law enforcement agency to a House appropriations subcommittee, telling the chairman, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., the media has ignored improvements in its national security operations. "The job is not finished," he said, noting that the FBI's primary focus changed after the Sept. 11 attacks to expanding its domestic intelligence capabilities. But Wolf said the bureau has a history of secrecy and needs to disclose more information. "That's why the bureau needs to tear down the curtains," Wolf said, noting the Bush administration's tendency to keep mum. "Being secretive isn't the best idea in the world." The chairman also recommended that the FBI begin a pilot program to hire recent college graduates as agents. But Mueller said he wants only agents with real-world experience. The average age of new employees at the bureau is 30, and applicants must be at least 23. The hearing focused on the bureau's National Security Branch, a domestic intelligence unit established last year. Richard Thornburgh, chair of the FBI Transformation Panel and a former U.S. attorney general, told the subcommittee the agency has "overcome many obstacles" since he was appointed to the position four years ago. "You can't change an organization of this size and this history and this tradition overnight," he said. According to the FBI Web site, the number of intelligence analysts working for the bureau has doubled to more than 2,100 since the Sept. 11 attacks. Asked about creating new domestic intelligence agency to replace the FBI's intelligence efforts, Thornburgh called it a "silver bullet." "I think it's a quick fix that wouldn't fix the problem," he said. But at a Senate appropriations subcommittee earlier in the day, two legal experts and a former British counterterrorism official recommended a new domestic intelligence agency be created without law enforcement capabilities. U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner told Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., the committee chair, that catching terrorists is difficult for the FBI because its agents must obtain warrants from special courts - slowing the process. "It isn't designed to monitor people who are terrorists," he said, adding that the FBI should become more like Scotland Yard, Britain's domestic law-enforcement agency, and a new agency should be created to deal with domestic intelligence. Posner said he wouldn't want an agency with constitutional immunity, but a one that would be nimble enough to obtain and dissect information quickly. He said the FBI would react too quickly to potential threats, citing the seven "homegrown terrorists" who were arrested in Miami in June. "Don't arrest those jokers in Miami," he said. "Use them, play with them. Maybe we can learn more about international terrorism." John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said the FBI focuses too much on catching criminals and not on preventing crime. He called for a "proactive" approach to domestic intelligence similar to MI5, the British domestic intelligence agency that has no law enforcement power. Tom Parker, a former British counterterrorism official, agreed. "Arguably, this allows those tasked with counterterrorism to focus on gathering intelligence, engage in long-term monitoring and investigation and develop expertise on the enemy that may go beyond what is possible in a domestic law enforcement system," Parker said in a written statement. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., warned the committee that adopting domestic spying techniques similar to Britain's would eventually lead to an erosion of civil liberties. "The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away," he said, quoting 18th century British statesman Edmund Burke. The American Civil Liberties Union also warning that adopting British counterterrorism strategies could endanger civil liberties. "British authorities have the power to detain individual without charge for up to 30 days," it said in a statement, "a power that flies in the face of our Constitution." Parker said there are many protections for civil liberties for terrorism suspects in Britain, including a human rights court chaired by European judges who oversee counterterrorism practices in Britain. Source: Scripps Howard Foundation
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