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| Current Topic: Surveillance |
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'Why Spy?' | John Perry Barlow in Forbes ASAP |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
10:59 pm EDT, Sep 29, 2002 |
For more than a year now, there has been a deluge of stories and op-ed pieces about the failure of the American intelligence community to detect or prevent the September 11, 2001, massacre. Nearly all of these accounts have expressed astonishment at the apparent incompetence of America's watchdogs. I'm astonished that anyone's astonished. rant. 'Why Spy?' | John Perry Barlow in Forbes ASAP |
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A High School Where the Sensorship Is Pervasive |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
9:43 pm EDT, Sep 9, 2002 |
Cameras track pupils at West Hills High. Campus' cameras see pupils' every move. Most shrug it off, but privacy advocates don't. ... West Hills High sits on the cutting edge of the emerging surveillance society. ... Demand for [surveillance] products will grow, as people are tracked ... even [at] places such as the Third Street Promenade shopping district in Santa Monica. ACLU: "Once privacy is gone, you can't get it back." ... "It's been so incremental, we almost didn't notice [the surveillance]." A High School Where the Sensorship Is Pervasive |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
6:47 am EDT, Jun 14, 2002 |
President Bush and Congress had better get the intelligence side of the equation right. ... Unfortunately, some circulating proposals would further fragment control ... A clearinghouse makes sense ... The government needs an all-source assessment center ... Some in Congress favor a much more ambitious plan to give the new domestic security department operational control over CIA and FBI officers ... That is an invitation to anarchy in the nation's spy activities. ... Adding yet another spymaster will only make matters worse. The fundamental problem with American intelligence operations is that the CIA, the FBI and their fellow intelligence agencies haven't consistently produced hard information about terror plots. A new department isn't going to solve that problem. Today's New York Times editorial. The Intelligence Puzzle |
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Unintended Tasks Face New Security Agency |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
9:33 am EDT, Jun 10, 2002 |
To hear President Bush tell it, the new Department of Homeland Security will improve government's "focus and effectiveness," but the confusion attending many aspects of his proposal suggests that government may be headed for a prolonged period of bureaucratic chaos before things are sorted out. [Many] changes do not appear to have been carefully thought out, critics say. They say virtually all of the changes risk serious unintended and probably unwelcome consequences, and could provoke ill will between Homeland Security and existing departments. US Customs, on splitting up the service: "Things are so intertwined -- the trade portion, the investigative portion, the intelligence. If you tried to separate out a function, the way we work, it would be essentially like trying to separate Siamese twins." On reworking the CDC: "In some, cases you're splitting persons." On the fine line between plain-old-crime and terrorism: "It's as if you set up two fire departments in the same town and assigned one to handle arson and another fires caused by accidents." Unintended Tasks Face New Security Agency |
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Panel Questions New Agency's Powers |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
9:20 am EDT, Jun 10, 2002 |
President Bush's plan to create a Department of Homeland Security doesn't go far enough to prevent the kind of intelligence lapses that took place before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. His proposal doesn't give the head of the new department control ... Richard Shelby: "It doesn't address ... the intelligence problems that we have." Bob Graham: the FBI and CIA "don't talk very well to each other". Joe Lieberman: "What most infuriates and aggravates us ... is the absolute failure of the intelligence community to share information with the law enforcement community and vice versa." Graham and Lieberman seem to be missing something fundamental; if you give "intel" to the cops, then the suspect walks. End of story. Besides, I don't think anyone plans to arrest, convict, and incarcerate (for life!) every agent of al Qaeda. However, the reverse path (giving intel analysts access to federal wiretaps, collected evidence, etc. ... perhaps even suspects) is helpful and should be in place. Panel Questions New Agency's Powers |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
5:53 pm EDT, Jun 8, 2002 |
Ms. Rowley's testimony that the bureau's culture was hostile to computers because many agents could not type or did not like computers only added to the sense that Congress is engaged in a long overdue housecleaning. Feel safe yet? I have to wonder whether or not they like books. Reaction, Then Action |
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The Hard Work of Transforming the FBI |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
10:41 am EDT, Jun 2, 2002 |
The sweeping changes announced by the FBI director, Robert Mueller, last week constitute one of the most far-reaching organizational transformations in the long history of the bureau, which began in 1908. Unfortunately, creating new units, hiring new people and announcing a new focus on fighting terrorism are destined to fail unless Mr. Mueller can also transform the insular culture of the agency. A former Inspector General of the Justice Department speaks out on transformation. Basically, the FBI is broken ... a failing industrial age behemoth in its twilight at the dawn of the information age. The Hard Work of Transforming the FBI |
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Wary of Risk, Slow to Adapt, FBI Stumbles in Terror War |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
10:00 am EDT, Jun 2, 2002 |
Mr. Mueller is now trying to force the FBI to shed its traditional case-oriented approach to its job. In its place, he hopes to build what amounts to a new agency, a Federal Bureau of Prevention whose central mission is to collect, analyze and act on information that will help prevent attacks. But it is uncertain whether Mr. Mueller, or anyone, can reorganize an institution whose agents have been trained to solve crimes. ... "Problems have become legendary ... Hopefully it will change, but the agents around the country are demoralized. It could take years to fix." ... "The FBI is the greatest in the world at investigating a crime after it happened, but it is not equipped to prevent crimes." Wary of Risk, Slow to Adapt, FBI Stumbles in Terror War |
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Lost in Translation at the FBI |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
11:37 am EDT, Jun 1, 2002 |
In announcing his restructuring of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, its director, stressed the importance of upgrading the FBI's intelligence capabilities by recruiting "the right people with the right experience." If my own experience with the agency is any guide, that should include an urgent recruiting drive for people with the right Arabic language skills. No need to worry that the FBI you've come to know and love will disappear overnight. Apparently the FBI believes they can "prevent" terrorism just by reading the newspaper. It will take years of bureaucracy to implement meaningful changes. Unfortunately, we can't afford to wait that long to achieve even limited improvements. What will happen? People are apparently quite insistent on remaking the FBI in a new image. Will they be content to wait the years it will take for that image to come into focus? Lost in Translation at the FBI |
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