Panel Cites Systemic Intelligence Flaws

U.S. intelligence agencies didn't adequately use traditional spying networks or high technology to penetrate Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, a House panel said in a report Wednesday.

In its review of intelligence failures leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks, the House Intelligence subcommittee on Terrorism found a wide range of problems at the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency.

But it didn't recommend disciplinary actions against anyone. The panel's chairman, Saxby Chambliss, said even if the problems had been corrected long ago, he's not sure the attacks could have been stopped.

"Even knowing everything we know today, this was such a closely held, compartmentalized act of devastation that was carried by the terrorist community, that we don't know of any way it could have been prevented," Chambliss, R-Ga., said at a news conference.

The panel released a summary of a 140-page classified report it presented to the House leadership. Among its findings:

The CIA did not place enough emphasis on traditional human spying before Sept. 11 and didn't do enough to warn other agencies about terrorist suspects.

Under 1995 guidelines, the CIA was restricted in recruiting informants who may be involved in criminal activities.

The decentralized organization of the FBI hindered counterterrorism efforts and the bureau focused more on investigating crimes than preventing them.

The National Security Agency needs better technology for targeting terrorist organizations that increasingly rely on sophisticated communications.

"In the past NSA was a passive gatherer of information. It has to change — and the agency admits this — to an active hunter," said Rep. Jane Harman of California, the subcommittee's top Democrat.

The report also said all three agencies need to recruit more linguists capable of translating terrorists' communications.

The subcommittee also stressed that Congress shares the blame for not giving intelligence agencies enough resources to fight terrorism.

The report was requested by House Speaker Dennis Hastert shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. Subcommittee members say they believe it will be used as a building block for a larger inquiry by the House and Senate intelligence committees, which also are investigating the attacks.

Both the CIA and FBI have said they have made changes to address problems that have come to light since the attacks.

But Chambliss has complained that CIA officials have largely ignored a post-Sept. 11 law requiring them to eliminate the 1995 guidelines that make it difficult for field officers to recruit unsavory characters to infiltrate terrorist organizations.

Last October, the CIA agreed to alter its requirements, allowing after-the-fact notification of authorities after a spy is hired, but Chambliss insists the agency still hasn't eliminated the guidelines, as Congress ordered.

"As of today, those guidelines have not been rescinded," Chambliss said Tuesday. "That's one of the continuing parts of the problem and the puzzle at CIA."

CIA officials disputed the finding about recruitment of unsavory characters. The agency said it loosened and rearranged parts of the 1995 guidelines in October, allowing officers to recruit spies to infiltrate terrorist organizations and simply notify the head of the agency's clandestine services a few days later.

"CIA headquarters has never turned down a field request to recruit an asset in a terrorist organization," CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said. "The agency does not avoid contact with individuals, regardless of their past, who may have information about terrorist activities."

Under the 1995 rules, field officers had to get approval from headquarters — a process that could take several days or longer — before recruiting a known lawbreaker or civil rights violator.

Potential agents with access to someone like bin Laden would be unlikely to have a clean background, critics of the guidelines say.