FBI vs. CIA - super hyper turbo edition
Richard Ben-Veniste must think we (the public) are a bunch of chumps. On Fox News Sunday in his interview with Chris Wallace he states that “…the FBI and CIA did not talk to each other, everyone knew that…” and “…the question was whether you could make them [talk to each other], and the only way to make them do that was through leadership at the top…”.
Those of us, however, that remember history know that it is, in fact, the Congress that made certain that this very communication could not happen. After Viet Nam, the CIA and FBI found themselves subject to greater congressional scrutiny, and also subject to inter-agency rivalries and “turf wars”. The idea, of course, being that the CIA was not to spy inside the US borders, and the FBI was not to deal with things outside same. Of course, when the two collided, the two agencies were restricted in what they could share with each other, lest some imaginary border be crossed.
This is why the PATRIOT act (I despise reverse acronyms, by the way) had explicit language allowing the FBI and CIA to share information when it regards international terrorists in the U.S.
So, Mr. Ben-Veniste, who’s fault is it really that the FBI and CIA couldn’t, as you say, connect the dots? I say to you that it is the Congress, and specifically the post-Viet Nam Democrats and their irrational fear of “The Man” that led directly to a crippled intelligence service.