FC: "New Democrats" want domestic U.S. counter intelligence agency

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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THE NEW DEM DAILY, 09-OCT-02
Political commentary & analysis from the DLC
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[ New Democrats Online: http://www.ndol.org ]

Edwards Calls for New Domestic Counter-Intelligence Agency

Most of the Washingtonians who watched or listened to the
President's speech on Iraq Monday night probably had some
difficulty focusing on the threat to our security posed by
Saddam Hussein when there was a much more immediate threat
stalking local citizens at random with a high-powered rifle.
No, there's not any evidence at present that the bizarre
shootings are linked to any politically motivated terrorist
activity, but the fear that currently grips this region is
a reminder that security begins at home.

It's appropriate, then, that on the same day as the
President's address on the overseas threat from Baghdad,
Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) made a speech that reminded
Americans of the need for an effective homeland security
apparatus to protect us from terrorist threats, whatever
their genesis, here at home.

In particular, Edwards called for the creation of a new
domestic counter-intelligence agency, similar to Britain's
MI5, that would take over intelligence gathering about
terrorist threats here at home from the FBI.  DLC President
Bruce Reed and Senior Policy Advisor Jose Cerda proposed
this idea in the July-August 2002 issue of Blueprint
magazine, dubbing the new agency "3D," for Domestic
Defense Division.

Edwards covered a lot of ground in his remarks to the
Center for Strategic and International Studies, smartly
criticizing the Administration's "preemption" doctrine;
supporting military action if necessary to disarm Saddam
Hussein; and calling on the President and Congress to get
much more serious about proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction in places other than Iraq.

But he also addressed the failure of both the
Administration and Congress to deal with the country's
dysfunctional intelligence-gathering capacity.  "A lot of
good people have put a lot of time into the Department of
Homeland Security [legislation].  I believe it is valuable
and ought to pass.  But the most urgent priority for our
domestic defense today is not moving boxes on an
organizational chart.  Our most urgent priority is
stopping the enemy in our midst: identifying the terrorist
cells within the United States, penetrating them, using
them to gain more information about the larger network,
and stopping them before they harm us."

In Edwards view, the FBI is incapable of competently
meeting this challenge.  "Why has the FBI failed?  In
large part because the FBI is a law enforcement agency,
and it simply doesn't have the right skills, strengths,
or staff to be a successful intelligence agency....
Instead of attempting to turn the FBI into something it
is not, I believe we should establish a new agency that
is focused on gathering intelligence about terrorist
threat here at home."

Edwards, a frequent critic of the Justice Department's
civil liberties record since 9/11, also suggested that a
new domestic counter-intelligence agency would be more
likely than the FBI to avoid abuses.  "With the right
safeguards, a new agency can do a better job tracking
terrorists and a better job protecting our freedoms....
[T]here is no need to abandon our traditions in order to
protect our national security."

Moreover, there's no need to make the attention we pay to
Saddam Hussein detract from the equally critical attention
we pay to homeland security.  The President said on Monday
night that Americans "refuse to live in fear."  If that's
true, then we should demand security at home as well as
abroad.




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