Agent: FBI Can't Protect United States From Terror

Note: The article below really understates the problems...read Triple Cross by Peter Lance. My notes from the book: Book is RE: Ali Mohamed, Ramzi Yousef, others. US knew of 9/11 plot by 1995 via Yousefs laptop captured by phillipines govt. PDB's prior to 9/11 also shows they knew (not exact day). some of perps (the 20 hijackers, and other planners) were in custody multiple times. All released. Mohamed's Commanding Officer at Ft Bragg re: Afghan trip. Release of AliM per hapless FBI agent in CA from Canadian prison. the CA agent was AliM handler and was embrioled in 6 year triple homicide w/ personal links? tie to OKC (terry Nichols-Phill.). tie to TWA 800. 1994 wet test on PAL434. NYC Fire dept accountant secured all blueprints for key NYC buildings including WTC, this was known prior to 9/11. fbi and govt lies to preserve Scarpa investigation and charges against many mafioso. at what point does it cross to criminal negligence or worse? the number of warnings by low and mid level agents numbered hundreds. "wall memo" created after many of these warnings as a convenient hindsight excuse. very key agents, etc. who stopped imp warnings from being heard at imp junctures were promoted with bonus and/or increased salary after 9/11 commission's stonewalling was success. over 1/2 of 9/11 commission from staff of govt agencies being investigated (wolf/hen house). data mine project(Able Danger) prior to 9/11 in 2000 ylds 2.5 TB of data including a link chart with nearly all known conspirators, yet no action even then. on 9/11 there were at least 3 mock war exercises ongoing that day. at least one involved fighters and another involved SATS. including long island planes scrambled instead of OH. Systemic problem to FBI/CIA or worse? admission in private by key FBI figure to author: we are good at criminal, but terrible in defending against terrorism, predictive analysis.



By JUSTIN ROOD and VIC WALTER
May 21, 2008

The FBI is unable to protect the United States from another major attack by al Qaeda or other Middle Eastern extremists, an FBI counterterrorism official says.

FBI whistle-blower Bassem Youssef, right, addresses the American Library Association meeting in Philadelphia on Jan. 12, 2008. Youssef, a decorated FBI supervisor who was born in Egypt and speaks fluent Arabic, said that jealousy, discrimination and flawed directives hinder the agency's attempts to fight terrorism.
One key problem: In the FBI section dedicated to tracking international terrorists like al Qaeda, close to four out of every 10 supervisory positions are vacant, according to prepared testimony from Bassem Youssef, unit chief for the bureau's Communications Analysis Unit.

As a result, the FBI has recruited managers who have "no experience in counterterrorism and who did not even want to work in these positions," Youssef alleges in material prepared in advance of a congressional hearing this afternoon.

An FBI spokesman Wednesday morning declined to answer questions about Youssef's prepared testimony, noting the bureau was preparing a statement to respond to issues expected to be raised at the hearing.

The bureau's well-publicized troubles hiring and promoting talented foreign language speakers has also crippled its counterterrorism efforts, Youssef warned. FBI managers "rely exclusively on translation services" to understand communications from Middle Eastern terrorist operations, and FBI personnel "continue to make major mistakes" because they lack expertise in Arabic, he said.

As one consequence of these shortcomings, the bureau has "irresponsibl[y]" misidentified threats, Youssef said, adding that he was prepared to testify on the topic.

As another, Youssef said, it has come to depend too heavily on technological solutions, including aggressive electronic surveillance, which has "the potential of undermining American civil liberties."

The bureau said in January it had 46 agents and 285 language analysts who speak at least conversational Arabic.

"We have enough language qualified personnel to do our job, but that doesn't mean we don't want more, and we are continuing our recruiting efforts in this area," spokesman Richard Kolko said then.

Youssef, the FBI's highest-ranking Arab-American agent, is suing the bureau for discrimination, claiming he was passed over for promotions despite his successes and awards, including infiltrating a radical Islamic group whose leader masterminded the 1993 World Trace Center bombing. The FBI has denied his allegations.