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Posted on 10/08/2002 3:43:34 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Disastrous former Clinton FBI Director Louis Freeh denied today before a congressional panel that the bureau was lax in fighting terrorism before the Sept. 11 attacks.
He told the House and Senate intelligence committees that he had seen no evidence that the FBI and intelligence agencies could have prevented 9/11.
Freeh, who quit in June 2001 after eight years as director, denied the well-documented fact that the FBI and CIA failed to cooperate in fighting terrorism.
"Analyzing intelligence information can be like trying to take a sip of water coming out of a fire hydrant," he complained. "The reality is that these unquestionably important bits have been plucked from a sea of thousands and thousands of such bits at the time.
"The FBI was focused on preventing domestic and foreign terrorist attacks, and I take exception to the finding that we were not sufficiently paying attention to terrorism at home," he huffed.
'Beyond the Competence'
"Al-Qaeda type organizations, state sponsors of terrorism like Iran and the threats they pose to America are beyond the competence of the FBI and the CIA to address," he said.
The FBI didn't have enough people or money to fight terrorism, he insisted. "To win a war, it takes soldiers."
Less Access Than Car Dealers
He cited laws handcuffing the FBI's ability to stop terrorists. "Many of those restrictions were changed after the attacks," the Associated Press reported.
"I repeatedly testified before Congress that FBI agents were statutorily barred from obtaining portions of credit reports on certain national security subjects which used car dealers could order and read," Freeh said.
No Lessons Learned From '93 WTC Bombing
However, Eleanor Hill, staff director of the joint congressional investigation, noted that intelligence agencies "did not fully learn the lessons of past attacks," dating back to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Although the FBI focused more on terrorism starting in the 1990s, it did not make the changes necessary to adequately fight terrorism in the United States, she charged.
"On Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda was able to exploit the gaps in the U.S. counterterrorism structure to carry out its devastating attacks," she said.
'Evasion of Responsibility'
Also today, Judicial Watch predicted that Freeh's attempt to duck responsibility would fail.
"This evasion of responsibility may work with Congress, but it has not thus far worked with the courts," said the organization, which investigates and prosecutes government corruption.
Notra Trulock, the former head of intelligence for the Energy Department, alleges that his First Amendment rights were violated by Freeh and other FBI officials when, after Trulock wrote an article critical of the FBI, they ordered agents to seize his personal computer files. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld key aspects of Trulock's claim against Freeh, who has appealed to the Supreme Court. JW is representing Trulock.
"Whether it be the Ruby Ridge cover-up, the FBI files scandal, or his vendetta against Notra Trulock, Louis Freeh has acted as if he were immune from the law. And now he seeks to avoid responsibility for any failures of the FBI in preventing the Sept. 11 attacks, despite his heading the FBI for nearly seven years in the run-up to the attacks," stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
"If anyone wonders what Louis Freeh was doing while terrorists were planning their attack on America, see our case for Notra Trulock. Freeh has played both Republicans and Democrats like fiddles over the years. We are confident that the Supreme Court will not be played, nor, in the end, will a jury."
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Although the FBI focused more on terrorism starting in the 1990s, it did not make the changes necessary to adequately fight terrorism in the United States, she charged.
ping
Freeh refused comment when asked to respond.
Makes sense to me. How'd you like to be the head of the FBI under Clinton?
If you can't think of enough questions, I'm sure we FReepers will gladly provide some!
TXnMA (No Longer!!!)
Simply telling the truth seems to be 'Beyond the Competence' of much of the Freeh FBI...
TXnMA (No Longer!!!)
I'd like to know why Freeh left two years before his term was up; and for his children doesn't count.
Handcuffing the FBI's ability...Louie sure knows how to turn a phrase... too bad Vicky Weaver & her son Sammy and the kids at Mt. Carmel werent saved by those same handcuffs.
I would hope that they have learned not to build a bomb for terrorists and then let them go detonate it. That was sort of counterproductive, I think, but what do I know? If they didn't learn not to help terrorists commit an act of terror so that they could bust them, then there's no hope for such a gang of ninnies.
So I guess we're supposed to just give up because fighting them is just beyond us. Also, it wasn't his job to win a war with soldiers. It WAS his job to expose the threat and the criminals.
He had a virtual army in NC for well over a year to search for what'shisname Rudolph for the abortion center bombing. Yeah, Rudolph needed to be caught and tried, but that clearly isn't what they were doing there because Rudolph had very obviously either died or moved on. Yet Freeh wasted resources there and ignored real threats to the country and the citizenry.
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