No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

FBI Competancy Questioned

When the FBI was alerted by a wiretap in 1991 that Katrina Leung was passing classified information to the Chinese Communists, they instructed her handler, James Smith, to have her take a polygraph. She refused. Smith told his superiors that she had taken it, and that she had passed. She continued to be considered a reliable informant for the next decade.

The Christian Science Monitor suggests that beyond simply an intelligence failure, this leads to the question of whether the FBI is even able to do what is up to handling its job in the war against terrorism.

Smith is the third FBI counterintelligence agent since 1984 to be charged with crimes related to spying. The recent case of Robert Hanssen, who spied for the Soviet Union and Russia, also brought about needed internal reforms.

But a more systemic issue looms, and that's the larger problem with the FBI's culture. When serious mistakes occur - whether it's the mishandling of the Waco incident; the shootings at Ruby Ridge, Idaho; the cozy relationship between the Boston FBI office and local mob informants; bad testimony from the FBI lab; or espionage cases - senior officials rarely seem to pay a price. That record has some questioning whether the Bureau is up to the task in the war on terrorism.

The FBI is well known to be very effective at managing its press relations. They do not have as good a reputation for managing counterintelligence. It is really time for Congress to hold hearings and see what reforms can be applied.

I have a modest proposal.

They might consider not promoting anyone into FBI management positions in Washington except from other agencies for the next five or so years, and removing 90%of the top two levels of management there immediately, retaining only a few for institutional memory. The problem is the FBI culture. Bringing in managers from the Secret Service, ATF, DEA, and other law enforcement agencies (perhaps not limited to federal agencies) to replace the current managers would be a powerful step in bringing the agency into the current century. Field FBI agents who want to go into the Washington office should be given a two-year assignment outside the FBI first.

Just a thought.
posted by Richard at 11:40 PM