May 11, 2003
Moving the bar
Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |Senate Bill S. 1025 Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Reported in Senate) expands "intelligence gathering and supports construction of a terrorist 'watch list.' See Select Intelligence Committee Press Release - May 1, 2003.
To quote from the press release:
"In its provisions, the bill addresses policy and resource constraints that limit information sharing and intelligence analysis. The need to improve government information sharing was one of the principal findings of the Joint Inquiry into the events leading up to the terrorist attacks of September 11th. It also lays the basis for more fundamental reforms by requiring the Executive Branch to review and report to Congress on issues such as the need to revise Executive Orders and security policies consistent with improved information sharing in the computer age. Other provisions assist the Director of Central Intelligence by providing additional management flexibility for personnel and construction issues and by eliminating a number of recurring and burdensome Congressionally directed reports."
Quote Continued: "Specifically, the bill provides the funding necessary to establish a single government-wide terrorist watch list. It also provides increased funding to standardize databases to facilitate access to information."
There are a number of problems (or potential problems if you are an optimist) with this bill.
First is the decreasing oversight provided by Congress of "intelligence community" activities. We wouldn't want them "burdened" by reporting to Congress.
Second is the "terrorist watch list" issue given the broad interpretation of "terrorist" under existing law which essentially amounts to: "you are a terrorist if we say you are." Of courrse, the creation of this "watch list" requires more "fusion" of information [In order to achieve all source fusion of data, the bill requires the Director of Central Intelligence to conduct a pilot program to determine the feasibility and advisability of permitting intelligence analysts access to raw intelligence from the databases of other elements of the community."] I hate to say it, but this ounds like TIA (Total Information Awareness) all over again to me.
Of course the appropriation also includes the tidy sum of $8 million to "establish an ROTC like program to encourage college students to pursue careers as intelligence analysts". Wonder what they'll call the ROTC like program - FRISC perhaps (Future Reserve Intelligence and Security Corps). Hey maybe I should go work in Washington.
Some of the issues around this appropriation are also discussed at the World Socialist Web Site in an article by Patrick Martin (5/5/03) Bush administration expands the infrastructure of a police state.