Global terrorism, understaffing and the FBI

Dini Djalal, Editor, 'Aksara', Jakarta

Paul McCabe has been an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, or FBI, for 16 years, working first as an undercover agent, and then as both a special agent and the media coordinator of the Joint-Terrorism Task Force, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Task Force, established in 1999, coordinates the findings of the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Secret Service. The FBI has seven types of squads, investigating everything from public corruption to kidnappings, but its counter-terrorism squad is now top priority.

He spoke in St Paul, Minessota to this writer, who is in the United States for on a four-month journalism fellowship from the World Press Institute.

The Minneapolis office, which serves three states, saw little fanfare until earlier this year, when a letter written by agent Colleen Rowley was leaked to the press. The statement, part of a Congressional hearing, said that information from the Minneapolis bureau about suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui was not dealt with swiftly by FBI headquarters in Washington DC. Rowley unwillingly became a controversial figure, and McCabe spent the following weeks hounded by calls from the media.

As the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks nears, the FBI is under greater pressure and scrutiny to protect the United States from a repeat attack. A reorganization of the force, particularly its cooperation -- or lack of -- with the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, is in the works. There is also more intense information-sharing with intelligence agencies in vital partners such as Russia, Pakistan, and the Philipines; the FBI has offices in 53 countries (the closest office to Indonesia is in Singapore).

The following are excerpts from the conversation: Question: Why is the Task Force based in Minnesota? Answer: We had the first Weapons of Mass Destruction case in Minnesota, in the mid 1990s. The case involved an anti-government group, and they had stock of ricin, a very potent biological weapon. The group had gotten it off the internet.

They were not a very well-organized group, but if you look at Timothy McVeigh (the culprit of the Oklahoma bombings), the loners and the loosely-knit groups are harder to gather intelligence on. This was the first case under the Weapons of Mass Destruction law, and they were all convicted.

A lot of people think that Minnesota is insulated from the problems of the world. But we had a lot of Somali organizations that were shut down, and they were related to some terrorist organizations. Is power within the FBI shifting back to Washington?

It's a back and forth thing. When I first joined, special agents had a lot of authority. Then it shifted back to centralized control. Now it's shifting back authority to special agents in charge, but it also wants to make sure that the information gathered can be funneled at the main office. Is the FBI improving its technology?

Our computers are archaic! I was excited when we got Windows 95 but everybody had gotten Windows 2000! Every three years, our computers become paperweights on our desks.

But we are currently upgrading our technology to a system called Trilogy. It's a huge improvement. Sixteen years ago, we weren't even using computers. Do you have a central database?

For security reasons, we're still not connected that way. And once again, it still costs a lot of money. Are the criticisms about the FBI's intelligence gathering ability valid?

We were great at gathering intelligence, but we don't have enough analysts to process it all. For example, the recruitment of 900 more officers -- that's probably just going to replace the 900 who are leaving the force.

But we are more focused in our recruiting; we are pushing for engineers, scientists, computer scientists. For us to keep our technology ahead of the bad guys is a challenge in itself. So you have to look for those people who have these (technical) skills but want to be agents. And it's a massive pay cut! Usually those who join say, they've always wanted to be an FBI agent and that the money is not a factor.

We're also hiring 1,000 professional support employees, including lab analysts. And we are trying to push for better wages so that we get more qualified people.

Are the two agencies, the FBI and the CIA, not sharing information?

To some extent that maybe true, but that's on a division to division basis. The roles of the CIA and the FBI are quite different, and a lot of times we have no idea (what intelligence work) the others are doing. These are very secret, national- security type issues. Leaks can be very damaging.

If the CIA brings information, we have to look at the information and see whether we can follow it up under available statutes. Often we don't prosecute and instead continue the operation so we don't lose that intelligence source.

We may also have information that we don't share with the CIA. Now we are sharing more information, but that means more potential for more leaks. It's always a hard decision, but the main objective is stopping terrorism. How does the FBI operate in foreign countries?

We are (in foreign countries) at the welcome mat of those countries. We have no jurisdiction; it's strictly a liaison effort. We are there only as long as the countries want to keep us there. Are the FBI doing more wiretaps of computers?

We can wiretap a computer as we can a telephone, but there are very strict guidelines. We have to go through a lot of procedures, such as get an affidavit. We have to go before a judge who has to sign off that there is probable cause (for this method of investigation). A lot of the time this time line can be damaging.

But basically, we don't even have enough manpower to track down what the criminals are doing, we're so understaffed. So we can't tap every phone call and computer. Who does the FBI answer to?

There are a number of congressional panels that we report to, because in the past, there have been abuses (by the FBI). We get routine polygraphs and background checks. I like it, because if theres a bad FBI agent out there, I want him out. What happened in the Colleen Rowley case?

I can't get into a lot of detail on that because it is under congressional inquiry. Some agents were disappointed because they thought that she went to the press -- she did not. It was leaked, and she was shocked when the whole letter was released. It was part of congressional inquiry; she had no idea that it would turn into this. It wasn't something that was meant to go public. She's a very loyal FBI agent and she is very loyal still. You'll read that Colleen's story is responsible for the FBI reorganization. This is not true. The reorganization has been in the works for several months. Was the investigation into the anthrax cases a failure?

It's still an ongoing investigation. This is a big, open, free country, and some investigations are very, very difficult. One thing we don't do is give up. I wouldn't call it a failure yet. We wish it could be solved, but when you look at the number of mail in this country, it's a very difficult thing. It doesn't happen overnight. What are the FBI's focus of investigations now?

We are very concerned about biological weapons, and nuclear weapons. We know that there is a black market on weapons from the former Soviet Union; that's why we work closely with intelligence in these countries. What about investigations of activities on the internet?

Two months ago, as an FBI agent, I could not go on the internet to look at the websites of hate groups, when all other Americans could. When people say we have incredible powers, that is just not true. If I did, I could be charged. Because of the freedom of speech in this country, it's a touchy line. For us to get involved, there almost has to be a specific threat, before we have federal criminal authority. It's a fine line when freedom of speech crosses into a hate crime.

Also, in the past, people were very suspicious of Big Brother Watching, because there have been abuses. But hopefully it's a new FBI and there will not be any of these problems. How do you deal with questions from the media?

It's ongoing investigation and I can't talk to them about it. But it is a tightrope I walk. Many nights I walk home thinking I will be fired one day for saying too much. What did you feel on Sept. 11th?

I was in my office, and I looked up and saw the size of the hole, and knew that it was not a small plane. Then when we saw the other plane hit, we knew immediately that it was not a coincidence. We immediately made a decision to set up our command post, and had that set up within an hour; we set it up before headquarters told us to.

Then we relayed information to headquarters about the intelligence we had -- the calls and the tips started coming in immediately. It was a sick feeling because we knew that as the FBI, our task is to protect the country. We felt somewhat responsible.

The author also writes for the Hong Kong-based weekly newsmagazine The Far Eastern Economic Review .