By Declan McCullagh, 19 April 2004 08:40
NEWS Experts are disputing Attorney General John Ashcroft's claims that a decade of deficient information technology funding hampered the FBI's intelligence gathering prior to the 11 September attacks of 2001.
In a high-profile appearance last Tuesday before the commission charged with investigating the deadly assaults, Ashcroft warned that through the 1990s, "the FBI's information infrastructure had been starved, and by 11 September, it collapsed from budgetary neglect".
The analysis drew a sceptical response from government watchdogs, who painted it as a typical bureaucratic reflex: Blame the budget rather than management.
Ashcroft's comments come, as President Bush is seeking an FBI funding increase of about $500m, or 11.4 per cent, for next year - part of a request for $22.1bn in total Department of Justice funding.
Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, noted that the crucial question is not a matter of how much agencies spend but how well they spend it. "I don't think I've seen a computer system yet in the federal government that has come in under budget and worked as advertised," Schatz said. "It's certainly rare."
Most criticisms of the FBI's performance have suggested that the bureau was unwilling or unable to share information with other government agencies and ignored a July 2001 memo from a Phoenix agent that warned that Osama bin Laden might be using flight schools to train terrorists - factors also cited by the attorney general.
But in his testimony, Ashcroft offered the inadequate-budget explanation. True or not, the claim could put new pressure on Congress to earmark more funds for the agency's neglected computer systems in today's charged political climate.
In the weeks after 11 September Ashcroft repeatedly said the FBI's primitive computers must be upgraded to at least the level of those used by local police departments. But Ashcroft's testimony appears to be the first time the Bush administration has pointed to "budgetary neglect" of technology and a lack of cash from Congress as a reason the FBI failed to thwart the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Comments
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1. R D
True or not -- people should stop pointing the finger at their own people, and start, perhaps, blaming Osama Binladen for the attacks!
Instead of moaning about the past, simply learn from your mistakes, and move on!
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With respects to victims of terrorism.
2. salvsen, k r
Perhaps people should stop blaming Osama Bin Laden and look at why they are the target of such attacks. Considering Bin Laden was trained and armed by the FBI in the first place.
The FBI obviously have too much time on their grossly budgeted hands to consider domestic issues.