The U.S. House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence yesterday began a joint investigation into the U.S. response to terrorism (see GSN, June 3).  Instead of limiting themselves solely to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as expected, they are extending the investigation back to 1986, the New York Times reported.

The congressional panel’s inquiry is set to begin with an examination of the Reagan administration, under which the CIA created a counterterrorism center, the joint committees said.  The inquiry will then focus on a series of attacks against the United States, beginning with the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 and including the bombings of two U.S. Embassies in East Africa and the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, according to the Times.

“The committee plans to look at how each of those investigations were handled, how the intelligence that came from those investigations were shared between agencies and whether lessons from those events were learned and applied as we moved forward,” said Paul Anderson, spokesman for Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham (D-Fla.).

The decision to extend the investigation to 1986 was part of a compromise stemming from debates weeks ago over how extensive the investigation should be, a member of the joint panel said.

“Democrats were trying to stop going back too far into what President [Bill] Clinton did or did not do, or his functionaries,” said the member of the joint panel.  “The Republicans tried to stop [President George W.] Bush and his functionaries from having to take any bullets for what they did in the run-up to Sept. 11” (Johnston/Van Natta, New York Times, June 5).

In its opening session yesterday, the joint panel worked on procedures to govern its investigation, according to the Washington Post.

“We have now, I think, laid the foundation,” Graham said, adding that the joint panel marks the first time in 200 years that two congressional committees have joined together to conduct an investigation.

The panel set ground rules and heard from staff members that had begun examining documents from U.S. intelligence agencies, the Post reported.  Under the ground rules, the House and Senate will alternate chairing the panel, with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss (R-Fla.) holding control this week.  The panel’s sessions are closed to the public (Washington Post, June 5).

Goss said he was pleased with the results and tone of the panel’s first session.

“I think people on the committee really are taken by the seriousness of it,” he said.  “We had very good member participation.  The mood was very positive and refreshing, especially in comparison to the finger-pointing that is going on in other circles” (Johnston/Van Natta, New York Times).

Anthrax Attacks Also Included

The inquiry is also set to encompass the still-unsolved anthrax attacks that occurred last fall shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the Los Angeles Times (see GSN, May 21).  One legislator on the panel insisted it be included, a congressional source said.

“That broadens the scope,” the source said.  “The only real debate was over anthrax and (the members) had to figure out a way to accommodate that.”

To include the anthrax attacks, the panel’s investigation covers terrorist threats involving weapons of mass destruction, according to a seven-point plan developed by the panel (see GSN, June 4).  The FBI’s “Amerithrax” investigation into who is responsible are relevant to the panel’s inquiry, said Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

“I don’t think we should close our eyes to anything,” Shelby said.  “As surely as night follows day, we’ll be hit with biological and chemical weapons” (Lichtblau/Anderson, Los Angeles Times, June 5).

Communication Breakdown ...

Meanwhile, Bush said yesterday that there was a breakdown in communications between the two main U.S. agencies responsible for counterterrorism operations, (see GSN, May 31).

“In terms of whether or not the FBI and CIA were communicating properly, I think it’s clear that they weren’t,” Bush said during a tour of the National Security Agency, which monitors overseas communications.

Bush also said yesterday that there is demonstrated rivalry between the FBI and CIA, but he downplayed its significance.

“In terms of the gossip and the finger-pointing, Level 3 staffers trying to protect, you know — trying to protect their hide, I don’t think that’s of concern,” he said.  “That’s just typical Washington, D.C.”

The Sept. 11 attacks, however, could not have been stopped, Bush said.

“I’ve seen no evidence today that said this country could have prevented the attack,” he said.

… But No Commission Needed, Bush Says

Bush said there is no need to create an independent commission — for which some Democrats have called — to examine the U.S. response and investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks.  He recommended limiting the scope of the investigation.

“I want a committee to investigate, not multiple committees to investigate, because I don’t want to tie up our team when we’re trying to fight this war on terror,” Bush said.  “What I am concerned about is tying up valuable assets and time and possibly jeopardizing sources of intelligence.”

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said that an “overwhelming majority” of Democrats support an independent commission.  Recent information about evidence and clues missed by the FBI and CIA before the Sept. 11 attacks strengthen the rationale for its creation, he said.

Extra Attention

During a closed staff meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, FBI officials said that soon after the Sept. 11 attacks the bureau began an internal investigation into whether FBI headquarters had mishandled the 2001 Phoenix memorandum, Congressional aides and other officials said.

The memo, prepared by Phoenix FBI agent Kenneth Williams and addressed to David Frasca, chief of the FBI’s radical fundamentalist unit, said that al-Qaeda operatives might be training at U.S. flight schools, according to the New York Times.

Frasca, however, said the first time he saw the Phoenix memo was when an investigator from the Justice Department’s inspector general’s office showed him a copy.  Pre-Sept. 11 FBI procedures had directed some communications to subordinates, Frasca said.  He said he did not know, however, why he had never seen a memo addressed to him, the Times reported (Johnston/Van Natta, New York Times).

Also yesterday, the chairman of a House Appropriations Committee subcommittee responsible for the FBI’s budget requested an independent review of the bureau’s recently announced reorganization plan and said he would not approve the reallocation of $200 million within the FBI until he believed the plan “made sense” (see GSN, May 30).

House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.) requested that the General Accounting Office and the nonprofit National Academy of Public Administration review the FBI reorganization plan.  A probable June 14 hearing on the issue will include testimony from the two evaluators, FBI Director Robert Mueller and other witnesses, according to Wolf.

“I want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to get the best minds to look at this and to work with the FBI to make sure this works,” Wolf said.

One of the main concerns is whether the FBI’s reorganization plan, which calls for moving more than 1,400 personnel members to counterterrorism activities, would create gaps in other bureau responsibilities, Wolf said.  Congress wants to be sure that state and local law enforcement, as well as other federal law-enforcement agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, can handle the extra burden, sources said.

The FBI announced the plan May 29.  Congress has 15 days from that date to either accept the reallocation of funding needed to carry out the plan or to suggest changes (Washington Post II, June 5).

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