9/11 commission: Chapter 3.1

Chapter three details what our intelligence structure looked like. It gives an interesting background as to the leadership structure and culture within the FBI and CIA.
Chapter 3.1 covers the "new threat" of terrorism, citing the first attack in 1993 as a turning point in terror threats against the United States. It details how every single one of the terrorists responsible for the 1993 bombing were caught and prosecuted. Noting that only one of them was able to leave the country, but was caught two years later. Eventhough this seems like a good thing to most readers, the report has a somewhat partisan tone to it here. Noting that we took a "law enforcement" approach to terrorism and making that sound like a bad thing. I thought that was the whole point after all, to capture the terrorists and bring them to justice? And is this method preventive, you may ask? Well, there is mention of an FBI informant who learned of bomb plots in New York that summer on major landmarks. The FBI used this information, swooped in and arrested the whole lot and there were no attacks that summer.
Another alarming thing is that the report seems to criticize the government for not alerting the public that things will get worse and we're not equipped to handle them. Why would the government ever do that? What would it accomplish other than creating fear and possible pandemonium? How much good has come from the ridiculous national security colour chart? By telling the American public, somewhere, sometime, someone might be trying to kill you, but we have no more information.

An unfortunate consequence of this superb investigative and prosecutorial effort was that it created an impression that the law enforcement system was well-equipped to cope with terrorism. Neither President Clinton, his principal advisers, the congress, nor the news media felt prompted, until later to press the question of whether the procedures that put the Blind Sheikh and Ramzi Yousef behind bars would really protect Americans against the new virus of which these individuals were just the first symptoms.
-9/11 Commission Report pg 72

It seems a little convenient now to say that these apprehended terrorists were just the first symptoms of a new virus, did we know that in 1993? Also, it fully discounts the legal system as a means to justice for terrorists because it says "The law enforcement process is concerned with proving the guilt of persons apprehended and charged." As if we should consider everyone guilty before proven innocent, that's just not the country we live in.

posted by Sarai @ 1:43 PM