FBI Agent: Bureau "Ill-Equipped To Handle Terrorist Threat"

[babylonsister]

Agent says the FBI is not prepared

The bureau is 'ill-equipped to handle the terrorist threat we are facing,' he tells a House panel.
By Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 22, 2008


WASHINGTON -- Breaking ranks, a career FBI agent told members of Congress on Wednesday that the bureau lacked the experience and sophistication to deal with Middle Eastern terrorists and prevent another catastrophic attack.

Agent Bassem Youssef said that counter-terrorism agents and managers at FBI headquarters often lack basic knowledge about Middle Eastern culture, language and terrorists' ideology. Compounding matters, he said, is the fact that the FBI has continued to name supervisors to anti-terrorism positions who have little or no experience outside traditional law enforcement.

The result, he said, is that agents are wasting resources chasing leads that more sophisticated observers would quickly dispense with. The time and energy expended on marginal cases has diverted resources from investigating more substantial threats, Youssef said.

"The FBI counter-terrorism division is ill-equipped to handle the terrorist threat we are facing," he told a House Judiciary Committee subcommittee considering legal protections for government whistle-blowers working at national security agencies such as the FBI.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fbi22-2008may22,0,3582712.story?track=rss