Pubdate: Sun, 20 Aug 2006
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2006 PG Publishing
Contact:  http://www.post-gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341
Author: Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
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FBI TAKES ON NEW ROLE IN WAR ON TERROR

HOUSTON -- Not so long ago, before the war on terror, Carlos Barron 
was a foot soldier in the war on drugs.

As an FBI narcotics investigator, he tracked Mexican drug lords who 
were importing cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. His sleuthing and 
testimony led to the conviction of a renowned kingpin who, after 
serving time, was found stuffed in the trunk of an SUV, shot 27 times 
in the head.

"It used to be immediate gratification," Mr. Barron says of the old 
days fighting drug trafficking. "We had a case, and we took it all 
the way. You put cuffs on him, and you put him in jail."

Today, the culprits he is pursuing are not so recognizable, and the 
rewards have never been more elusive. Mr. Barron now heads an FBI 
intelligence team that gathers evidence about suspected terrorist plots.

The mission, ultimately, is to make possible the sort of pre-emptive 
strike that British authorities pulled off last week in disrupting a 
plan to blow up U.S.-bound passenger jets. That plot, which officials 
have said was intended to match the enormity of the Sept. 11 attacks, 
was in its final stages of preparation.

But that dramatic denouement was in sharp contrast to the day-to-day 
business of terrorist-hunters like Mr. Barron. For every credible 
threat, there are thousands of leads that have to be evaluated. They 
often lead nowhere.

The FBI has been behind the eight ball since the Sept. 11 attacks. 
The debacle exposed widespread and long-standing deficiencies in the 
way the bureau operated. One claim was that the agency blew several 
opportunities to identify and possibly apprehend some of the 19 
hijackers. Among the troubles: a shoddy analytical program, problems 
sharing intelligence information, and inattention to counterterrorism 
in general.

In a way, the FBI had changed little since it was established the 
same year that Henry Ford introduced the Model T. Its mission was to 
investigate crimes that had already happened. Although it did not 
always get its man, it succeeded enough to be considered the premier 
law enforcement agency in the world, at least when it came to 
catching bank robbers, drug dealers, con artists and spies.

Now, under pressure from Congress and several bipartisan commissions, 
its business model is being turned upside down, with a focus on 
preventing crime rather than apprehending the criminals.

Mr. Barron's transitional experience is widely shared throughout the 
agency. More than 2,000 agents -- or 15 percent of the total work 
force -- have been switched from traditional crime-fighting jobs to 
terrorism-tracking positions over the last five years. Whole areas of 
enforcement -- including the pursuit of the sort of narcotics 
operatives that Mr. Barron handled in the 1990s -- have been largely 
abandoned or left to other agencies.

The FBI says things are going well. It cites the fact that there has 
not been another terrorist attack on U.S. soil in five years.

But many experts have doubts and question whether an agency so 
steeped in crime-fighting can make the switch to an intelligence 
operation. Some wonder whether the FBI would have had the same 
success as British authorities in preventing a major attack.

"Approaching five years after 9/11, we still do not have a domestic 
intelligence service that can collect effectively against the 
terrorist threat to the homeland or provide authoritative analysis of 
that threat," said John Gannon, a former career CIA officer, 
testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in May.

For now, the new FBI is pushing ahead with its Field Intelligence 
Groups -- or FIGs, as they are known in the bureau.

Dozens of the groups in field offices around the country were created 
to collect, analyze and disseminate information about possible 
terrorist activity. Instead of targeting specific cases, each group 
is supposed to cast a wide net for information, analyze it and share 
conclusions not only within the FBI but also with other agencies.

Hundreds of analysts have been hired to evaluate threats and other 
information. Unlike the agents, they do not carry guns, and they are 
likely to have advanced degrees in international relations or 
mathematics rather than law enforcement.

Although the FBI has had analysts, they were used mostly to help 
agents solve existing cases by performing relatively menial tasks 
such as conducting computer word-searches for names and addresses of 
suspects. Many were glorified clerks. Their job now is to anticipate 
threats and eventually drive what the agents do in the field.

Mr. Barron transferred from working in the narcotics department to 
terrorism after Sept. 11, 2001, to help trace phone numbers 
associated with the hijackers. He now runs one of the bureau's 
largest intelligence groups.

His team of about 160 people shows how the FBI has switched gears: A 
financial analyst who once helped chase bank bandits now works on 
terrorism financing. Arabic speakers were recently added to a corps 
of translators. Other analysts include a retired Navy intelligence officer.

A big part of what the office does is a monthly intelligence bulletin 
that sums up the latest threat information that has been picked up in 
the Houston region. The bulletin is distributed on-line to 700 state 
and local law enforcement agencies.

The latest bulletin, provided by the FBI, reveals that a man arrested 
during a bar fight in College Station, Texas, was found to have the 
word "JIHAD" on the screen of his cellphone. Two Mexican nationals, 
jailed in south Texas, were carrying large amounts of Iraqi currency.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman