On the FBI's reform plans

Give FBI a chance to reinvent itself, insist on balance of toughness, rights.

Here is an essential distinction to grasp in understanding the reforms of the FBI announced last week by the agency's director, Robert S. Mueller III and Attorney General John Ashcroft: For much of its history, the FBI has served as a law enforcement agency gathering evidence for prosecutions, not as an intelligence gathering organization focused on prevention.

Agents in Phoenix and Minneapolis had issued separate warnings about possible terrorist activities. In Phoenix, agents raised concerns about Middle Easterners attending American flight schools. In Minneapolis, agents kept trying to get higher-ups in Washington to let them more fully investigate Zacarias Moussaoui. Had they been given a green light to check out what he had on his lap top, for instance, perhaps they would have found evidence that could have prevented disaster.

A number of agents who have been dedicated to investigating drug dealing and white-collar corporate crime will be redirected to ferreting out terrorists. In all, a total of 518 of the bureau's 12,000 agents will be redeployed in this counterterrorism effort, bringing to almost 1,100 the agents with this task. Director Mueller wants to double that number over time. ...

The bureau's new top priority will be fighting terrorism. Number two will remain combating foreign spying. Mueller said the bureau will not ignore its other traditional crime-fighting responsibilities.

It's clear the FBI needed to redefine the way it goes about protecting Americans. And, Mueller deserves credit for acting quickly.

-- The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania