U.S. President George W. Bush’s proposed Terrorist Threat Integration Center could refashion the U.S. response to terrorist threats but may also be a snub to the FBI, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Jan. 29).

“It's clearly a rebuke to the FBI and their lack of progress in transforming themselves,” a counterterrorism official told the Post.

The center, which will be headed by George Tenet, who is both director of central intelligence and director of the CIA, will analyze intelligence from the CIA, FBI and Defense and Homeland Security departments.  Center officials will produce the “daily threat matrix” that forms the background for many White House national security decisions, according to the Post.

Meanwhile, lawmakers and government watchdogs criticized the plan for falling short in protecting the country or blurring the distinction between foreign and domestic intelligence work, the Post reported.

While supporting the idea of such a center, House of Representatives Intelligence Committee member Jane Harman (D-Calif.) said there are “a lot of unanswered questions about how this new center would interact with ongoing analytic efforts of the CIA, FBI and Department of Homeland Security” (Eggen/Mintz, Washington Post, Jan. 30).

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

HOME  |  CONTACT US  |  GET INVOLVED  |  SITE MAP

Back to top