IP: Ex-FBI officials critical of Ashcroft's anti-terror efforts

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24919-2001Nov27.html

Ex-FBI Officials Criticize Tactics On Terrorism
Detention of Suspects Not Effective, They Say
By Jim McGee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 28, 2001; Page A01
Until Sept. 11, the FBI employed a distinctive strategy for fighting 
terrorists: By using informants and wiretaps, the bureau monitored 
suspected cells -- sometimes for years -- before making any arrests. The 
theory was that only such long-term investigations reveal useful 
information about potential plots.
Since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, that strategy has 
undergone a wholesale revision. Under the new approach, the FBI will focus 
chiefly on preventing terrorist acts by rounding up suspects early on, 
before they get a chance to act.
The aggressive FBI dragnet -- championed by Attorney General John D. 
Ashcroft -- has provoked much commentary and criticism for its impact on 
civil liberties. Now, in a series of on-the-record interviews, eight former 
high-ranking FBI officials have offered the first substantive critique of 
the Ashcroft program, questioning whether the new approach will have the 
desired effect.
The executives, including a former FBI director, said the Ashcroft plan 
will inevitably force the bureau to close terrorism investigations 
prematurely, before agents can identify all members of a terrorist cell. 
They said the Justice Department is resurrecting tactics the government 
rejected in the late 1970s because they did not prevent terrorism and led 
to abuses of civil liberties.
"It is amazing to me that Ashcroft is essentially trying to dismantle the 
bureau," said Oliver "Buck" Revell, a former FBI executive assistant 
director who was the primary architect of the FBI anti-terrorism strategy 
during the 1980s. "They don't know their history," he said, "and they are 
not listening to people who do."
Former FBI director William H. Webster said Ashcroft's policy of preemptive 
arrests and detentions "carries a lot of risk with it. You may interrupt 
something, but you may not be able to bring it down. You may not be able to 
stop what is going on."
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