FAS | Intelligence | News | 2002 ||||

September 2002 Intelligence News

• 9/11 inquiry's success surprises skeptics, by Mary Jacoby, St. Petersburg Times, September 29. "Despite an array of obstacles, the joint House-Senate inquiry into pre-Sept. 11 intelligence failures is having significantly more effect than anticipated."
• Senate Seeks Terror Database, by Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press, September 27. "The Senate wants to create a national database of known and suspected terrorists in an attempt to fix some of the communications problems that became evident after the Sept. 11 attacks."
• Shelby changes mind, now backs independent 9/11 probe, by Sean Reilly, Mobile Register, September 25. "When Alabama Republican made his move, other senators fell in line to vote for panel, observer says."
• AG Ashcroft and OHS Director Ridge Announce Lowering of Threat Level, Justice Dept press release, September 24. "Based on a review of intelligence and an assessment of threats by the intelligence community,... the Attorney General ... has made the decision to return the threat level to an elevated risk of terrorist attack, or 'yellow' level."
• Attorney General Addresses Threat Level Questions, press conference excerpts, September 24. "We believe that the threat level should be at what's called the 'elevated' level."
• 9-11 pushed Graham into security spotlight, by Tamara Lytle, Orlando Sentinel, September 23. "As chairman of the usually obscure Senate Intelligence Committee, Bob Graham became a key leader in the nation's war on terror with the daunting task of finding out why U.S. spy agencies didn't see the attacks coming."
• Attorney General Announces New Guidelines on Info Sharing Between Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies, press release, September 23.
• Secretary Rumsfeld on Legislative Priorities for Fiscal Year 2004, September 17. "Every week it seems, a senior official in this Department tells me we are constrained in our ability to do something by an obsolete legal provision."
• CIA Statement on Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11, press release, September 19. "There appears to be some misunderstanding about the nature and extent of CIA's efforts directed against terrorism in general, and Usama bin Laden and the Al-Qaida organization in particular, during the period prior to September 11, 2001."
• Secret NRO Recons Eye Iraqi Threats, by Craig Covault, Aviation Week and Space Technology, September 16. "As urgency mounts for better intelligence on Iraq to guide U.S. diplomatic and military policy, six secret National Reconnaissance Office high-resolution imaging satellites are maintaining an almost hourly watch on specific Iraqi facilities."
• The War on Terror on Earth, in Orbit and in the Future, by Leonard David, Space.com, September 11. "In the aftermath of September 11, U.S. officials are in the midst of a major reappraisal of how space can help thwart future attacks at home, as well as fight the enemy on distant battlefields."
• Attorney General John Ashcroft Threat Level Press Conference, September 10. "The United States government has concluded, based on analysis and specific intelligence of possible attacks on U.S. interests overseas, to call government, law enforcement and citizens both at home and overseas to a heightened state of alert."
• How Safe Are We?: Competing Visions, by Thomas Frank, Newsday, September 8. "The White House and Congress are moving to create a new agency that would oversee intelligence by analyzing terrorism-related reports from any agency that produces one."
• Former CIA Official Sentenced on Charges of Theft of Government Property, Justice Department press release, September 6.
• Secret Satellite Photos to be Unveiled, by Leonard David, Space.com, September 6. "Later this month, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency is set to declassify Keyhole imagery from the KH-7 and KH-9 satellites, two highly hush-hush intelligence-gathering spacecraft of Cold War vintage."