Does the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s alleged weaknesses in gathering, sharing and acting on information about terrorist suspects in the United States require the creation of a new domestic intelligence agency based on the British model?
That question, which has circulated in the nation’s capital since the Sept. 11 attacks revealed serious flaws in the FBI’s intelligence capabilities, arose again Thursday during National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice’s testimony before the blue-ribbon panel investigating the terrorist attacks. Fred Fielding, a commission member and a lawyer in two Republican administrations, asked Rice to provide at a later date her analysis of whether such a new domestic intelligence agency is needed. Based on comments by some of the panel’s members, it’s widely thought that one of their final recommendations will be to establish such an agency. Full Story
