I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE THINK BUSH IS DOING A GREAT JOB MAKING US SAFER

Former Sept. 11 Commission 'Taken Aback' by Personnel, Technology Problems
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff WriterTuesday, June 7, 2005; Page A04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/06/AR2005060600964.html?referrer=email


The FBI has stumbled badly in its attempts to remake itself since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and is plagued by high turnover, poor training and its continued inability to build a modern computer system, according to a panel convened yesterday by the members of the commission that investigated the terror strikes.
John Gannon, a former veteran CIA official, said the FBI "has not made an adequate investment" in creating a cadre of experienced intelligence analysts with status equal to FBI special agents.
"If you are not an agent, you are furniture," Gannon said, echoing the findings of one recent report that found FBI analysts handling the phones and other menial tasks. "As long as that ethos is there . . . you will continue to have this problem."
Former attorney general Richard Thornburgh, who also appeared at the hearing and led an outside investigation of the FBI's counterterrorism efforts, said the bureau's "shortcoming in this area is notorious and well known." He also said the FBI's inability to implement a new computerized system for managing cases was "an unmitigated failure."