The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON – A U.S. intelligence bureaucracy dramatically reshaped after the Sept. 11 attacks is hampered by overlapping missions, a confusing chain of command and sometimes inadequate resources, intelligence experts say.

Since Sept. 11, Washington has created the Homeland Security Department, Terrorist Screening Center, National Counterterrorism Center and appointed a national intelligence director.

But clear priorities and responsibilities remain undefined and some agencies are fighting for turf, the experts said Monday during a panel discussion convened by the Sept. 11 commission.

“There is no clear strategic vision for how all of this is supposed to work,” said John Gannon, a former high-ranking CIA official, noting that it remains ambiguous whether the FBI or Homeland Security Department has primary responsibility for domestic threat analysis.

The problems are particularly acute at the FBI, which is struggling to develop a robust intelligence collection and analysis program and has been plagued by high turnover in its upper ranks, former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh said.

The FBI, which recently shelved a troubled $170 million software upgrade, remains years away from developing an effective computerized case management program that allows agents to search across the bureau’s investigative files.

Thornburgh, who chairs a National Academy of Public Administration review of the FBI, called the Virtual Case File program “an unmitigated failure.”

The bureau also faces a “significant” challenge in sharing intelligence with local law enforcement, Thornburgh said.

The FBI’s culture still has not adapted fully to the new counterterrorism imperatives and hasn’t given intelligence analysts their due, Gannon said. “Within FBI, if you are not an agent, you are furniture,” he said.

FBI Assistant Director Cassandra Chandler rejected the criticism, saying Director Robert Mueller has led an “unprecedented transformation” of the bureau.

“By building our intelligence capabilities, improving our technology, and working together, we have and will continue to develop the capabilities we need to succeed against all threats,” she said.

The commission, which was instrumental in spurring intelligence reforms, will issue a report card next month assessing how well its recommendations have been implemented. Though the panel’s charter has expired, its members are working to keep intelligence reform in the public eye.

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