Jeff White
October 14, 2003, 03:09 PM
Sept. 11 Panel Weighs MI5-Like Agency
Tue Oct 14, 6:49 AM ET
By LAURENCE ARNOLD, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Advocates of major changes to the U.S. intelligence establishment are making their case to the independent commission studying the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
James B. Steinberg, deputy national security adviser in the Clinton administration, said Monday that he supports making two new entities: an independent director of national intelligence and a domestic security service modeled after Britain's MI5.
In an interview, Steinberg said U.S. counterterror efforts remain hampered by decades-old walls separating by law the work of the FBI and CIA. The FBI operates domestically and traditionally focuses on catching people who break laws, while the CIA works abroad and focuses on learning secrets.
"The beauty of the MI5 model is it breaks down both those walls," said Steinberg, director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution.
Steinberg is scheduled to testify Tuesday at a hearing for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Other witnesses will include James R. Schlesinger and John M. Deutch, who, as former directors of central intelligence, led the CIA and all other U.S. intelligence operations.
The 10-member, bipartisan commission is considering changes to recommend in U.S. intelligence that would go well beyond actions by the Bush administration. The commission has until May 27 to submit a report dealing with law enforcement, diplomacy, immigration, commercial aviation and the flow of assets to terror organizations.
Talk of changing the U.S. intelligence agencies stems from concerns that they do not work closely together. A joint House-Senate inquiry after the Sept. 11 attacks concluded that serious failings by U.S. intelligence leaders left the country vulnerable.
Commission chairman Thomas H. Kean said the panel has several ideas to make U.S. intelligence more effective, "including the question of whether the United States should establish a Director of National Intelligence."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., proposed legislation to split the duties of the current director of central intelligence into two jobs: a CIA director and a national intelligence director.
The national intelligence director, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to a 10-year term, would oversee all intelligence agencies, setting priorities for collecting information and monitoring cooperation. The duty of the CIA director would be limited to running that one agency.
The idea of a new U.S. domestic security agency gained some momentum last year when Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge visited MI5 headquarters in Britain. But Ridge said he doubted the Bush administration would create a similar agency, because MI5's powers would be unacceptable under the U.S. Constitution.
FBI Director Robert Mueller also opposes the idea of an American M15, saying that it is based on "a faulty understanding of counterterrorism that sees a dichotomy between `intelligence operations' and `law enforcement operations.'"
MI5 describes itself as Britain's defensive security intelligence agency. It cannot detain or arrest its targets but seeks to "to gain the advantage over (them) by covertly obtaining information about them" for countering their activities.
The Bush administration has worked to improve intelligence gathering and sharing since the Sept. 11 attacks. It created a Terrorist Threat Integration Center to bring together information gathered by the CIA, FBI and other agencies. The center reports to the CIA director but is not part of the agency.
Also, President Bush recently said the FBI, under new powers granted by the USA Patriot Act, "is now dedicated to preventing future attacks" instead of just investigating past crimes.
___
Tue Oct 14, 6:49 AM ET
By LAURENCE ARNOLD, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Advocates of major changes to the U.S. intelligence establishment are making their case to the independent commission studying the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
James B. Steinberg, deputy national security adviser in the Clinton administration, said Monday that he supports making two new entities: an independent director of national intelligence and a domestic security service modeled after Britain's MI5.
In an interview, Steinberg said U.S. counterterror efforts remain hampered by decades-old walls separating by law the work of the FBI and CIA. The FBI operates domestically and traditionally focuses on catching people who break laws, while the CIA works abroad and focuses on learning secrets.
"The beauty of the MI5 model is it breaks down both those walls," said Steinberg, director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution.
Steinberg is scheduled to testify Tuesday at a hearing for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Other witnesses will include James R. Schlesinger and John M. Deutch, who, as former directors of central intelligence, led the CIA and all other U.S. intelligence operations.
The 10-member, bipartisan commission is considering changes to recommend in U.S. intelligence that would go well beyond actions by the Bush administration. The commission has until May 27 to submit a report dealing with law enforcement, diplomacy, immigration, commercial aviation and the flow of assets to terror organizations.
Talk of changing the U.S. intelligence agencies stems from concerns that they do not work closely together. A joint House-Senate inquiry after the Sept. 11 attacks concluded that serious failings by U.S. intelligence leaders left the country vulnerable.
Commission chairman Thomas H. Kean said the panel has several ideas to make U.S. intelligence more effective, "including the question of whether the United States should establish a Director of National Intelligence."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., proposed legislation to split the duties of the current director of central intelligence into two jobs: a CIA director and a national intelligence director.
The national intelligence director, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to a 10-year term, would oversee all intelligence agencies, setting priorities for collecting information and monitoring cooperation. The duty of the CIA director would be limited to running that one agency.
The idea of a new U.S. domestic security agency gained some momentum last year when Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge visited MI5 headquarters in Britain. But Ridge said he doubted the Bush administration would create a similar agency, because MI5's powers would be unacceptable under the U.S. Constitution.
FBI Director Robert Mueller also opposes the idea of an American M15, saying that it is based on "a faulty understanding of counterterrorism that sees a dichotomy between `intelligence operations' and `law enforcement operations.'"
MI5 describes itself as Britain's defensive security intelligence agency. It cannot detain or arrest its targets but seeks to "to gain the advantage over (them) by covertly obtaining information about them" for countering their activities.
The Bush administration has worked to improve intelligence gathering and sharing since the Sept. 11 attacks. It created a Terrorist Threat Integration Center to bring together information gathered by the CIA, FBI and other agencies. The center reports to the CIA director but is not part of the agency.
Also, President Bush recently said the FBI, under new powers granted by the USA Patriot Act, "is now dedicated to preventing future attacks" instead of just investigating past crimes.
___