At a Glance pg. 174
Revising Draft-
Reading the paper a loud helps tremendously finding typos and missing words that I unknowingly skipped when I was reading . I looked over the Peer Review Questions and it appears that I have minimal corrections with grammar and in content. A few suggestions were made and I intend to consider them. After review by my partners and Amy, I am going to work on my verb choose better using passive and active voice, a better explaination at the end of paragraphs that connect the importance of the section in my own interpretation, better trasitions that help keep the structure of the section and paragraphs, and I am going to insert a timeline to help as visual aid to help the reader understand the time progression of the section of history. Lastly, I will try to cut it down to make it shorter or more consice if possible.
Multimedia Assignment
This assignment will be very time and work intensive because includes different forms of media to support observations.
Ideas: I was thinking about reviewing a book vs. a movie. Maybe using quotes from the book, clips from the movies, and music combining them into a video. The purpose would be to support a thesis about the subject matter. Such as, the theme of the difference between media. Which is more effective and a better way to get across the importance of an issue a book or a movie.
In addition we could show how media has influenced us today and will continue to do so in the future. We can show how it has shaped our identity, society, and culture positively and negatively.
Technology: ads, photos, websites, videos, clips, and blogs. I would like some exposure doing mp3 because I have not learned how to do so.
Questions: I am not sure what our overall theme should be. Do you all have any suggestions that we can connect all the media to support it?
Would we try to persuade the audience of the effectiveness ? Or do we try to inform the audience of the importance of the subject? And/or both?
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Outline
Dana Hamilton
Topic- The FBI battle against terrorism
Question- Is the FBI organization and culture capable to adapt to new national security threats?
Hooker/ Introduction- Each detail of the FBI seal has special meaning and symbolic.
A. The background of blue represents justice, the thirteen stars exemplify the original 13 colonies to demonstrate unity, and the laurel leaf represents academic honors, distinction, and fame. The 46 leaves in the two branches were for the 46 states in the union in 1908, the year of founding of the FBI. The red parallel stripes stands for courage, valor, and strength. On the other hand the white parallel stripes stand for cleanliness, light, truth, and peace. “Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity” (Seal) is the motto and inspiration of the FBI. (Seal)
1. *“The most important symbolization; however, is the peaked beveled edge surrounding the Seal which symbolizes the challenges facing the FBI and the ruggedness of the agency”(Seal)
Transition- Of all the important virtues represented by the seal, none is currently more needed than the FBI’s commitment to meet challenges head in and most importantly, the challenge of meeting the new demands posed by the threat of terrorism. In this paper, I will discuss:
Main Points: (1) The question is raised by the critics and 911 commission if the FBI is capable to change and adapt in order to effectively meet the new national security threats. (2)How the FBI has consistently demonstrated its capacity to meet the challenges of new national security threats throughout its history. (3) Next, the paper will examine the FBI’s fundamental change in policies, tactics, and even structure in order to address the threat and to answer its many critics. (4) Lastly, Review of major changes and reflects on whether the organization has met the challenge of change and reinventing itself.
I. The Critics/ 911 Commission
Transition: “As its agents sift through ruble and interview countless people about the attacks of September 11, the FBI is in its element. Its traditions, rules, and organizational structure generally make it very adept at crime-solving—but very poor at terrorism prevention” (Frater 1)
A. Not everyone believes the FBI is up to the task: the critics and the 911 commission findings- Major problems:
B. According to most authoritative review of the FBI performance the 9/11 Commission report has several key findings(4)
1. The FBI did not have capability to link the collective knowledge of agents in the field to national priorities, and other domestic agencies, deferred to the FBI
2. The intelligence community (including the FBI) struggled through the 1990s up until 9/11 to find out about transnational terrorism. The combination of an overwhelming number of priorities, flat budgets, an outmoded structure and bureaucratic rivalries resulted in an insufficient response to this new challenge.
3. Problems at the FBI included limited intelligence collection and strategic analysis capabilities , a limited capacity to share information, insufficient training and inadequate resources.
4. The origin of the money that paid for the 9/11 attacks is still unknown.
C. 9/11 Commission Key recommendations pertaining to the FBI (4):
1. To create a national counter-terrorism center unifying strategic intelligence and operational planning against Islamist terrorists across the foreign and the domestic divide.
2. To appoint a new Senate-confirmed national intelligence director to unify the intelligence community of more than a dozen agencies.
3. To create a new Senate-confirmed national intelligence director to unify the intelligence community of more than a dozen agencies.
4. To set up a specialized and integrated national security unity within the FBI; the report did not support creation of a new domestic intelligence agency.
5. To strengthen the FBI and Homeland defenders.
D . National Journal Group finding flaws: (1-3)
1. flaws in intelligence-gathering methods
2. it is great at crime-solving but not on strategic intelligence- identifying potential threats and alerting appropriate officials to avert a major crisis.
3. few specialists in the area of languages
a. “Juliette N. Kayyem, a Harvard professor who served on the National Commission on Terrorism, notes that piecing together and disseminating intelligence has not traditionally be an important part of the FBI’s mission.” (Frater 2)
4. Lack of data-sharing among the FBI field offices and other agencies
a. “need to know” culture
b. a habit of not sharing information with the CIA, Immigration, and Naturalization Services, Customs Service, or the Federal Aviation Administration
c. “ the 1996 report ‘Preparing for the 21st Century: An Appraisal of U.S. Intelligence’ found that agencies such as the CIA strictly interpret their legal authority to be limited to ‘foreign intelligence.’ So they often decline FBI requests for intelligence information.” (Frater 2)
Transition: Critics of the FBI raise important issues. However; it is important to note that as a domestic law enforcement agency with rigorous congressional and Department of Justice oversight, the FBI has been actively discouraged from engaging in extensive proactive intelligence activities The FBI has, however, responded quickly and effectively once the organization has been empowered with a new mandate and given the tools to do the job.
II. In the past, the FBI has consistently demonstrated its capacity to meet the challenges of new national security threats. (Throughout the FBI History)
Transition-Many factors have influenced the changes that have taken place including the culture and atmosphere within the FBI.
A. Origins/ Early Days of the FBI
1. “Today, most Americans take for granted that our country needs a federal investigative service, but in 1908, the establishment of this kind of agency at a national level was highly controversial.” (FBI throughout the years)(pg.1)
2. Few federal crimes, investigated violations of laws involving national banking, bankruptcy, naturalization, antitrust, peonage, and land fraud.
3. No formal training
B. The “Lawless” Years
1. 1921-1933 Gangsterism and public disregarding Prohibition – “the gangster era”
2. Al Capone- “fugitive federal witness”; KKK
3. traditional investigations of neutrality violations and antitrust violations, gained stature, but could not fight crime without public support, Attorney General in 1925 stated “The Agents of the Bureau of Investigation have been impressed with the fact that the real problem of law enforcement is in trying to obtain the cooperation and sympathy of the public and that they cannot hope to get such cooperation until they themselves merit the respect of the public” (History 5)
4. Steps to Credibility
A. Professionalize the organization
1. abolished the seniority rule of promotion
2. introduced uniform performance appraisals
3. inspections
B. establishing an identification division
1. Special Agent training/ institutionalize
2. “the Bureau was equipped to end the ‘lawless years’”(5)
C. The New Deal
1. expand federal jurisdiction- President Roosevelt influenced Congress to expand federal jurisdiction for crimes due to the rise in crime during the Great Depression
2. Director Hoover created a new identity- for the FBI took its newly retooled identity public
a. through media- coordinated by Hoover to take the message of the war against crime to the American people
b. “Prior to 1933, …public considered them interchangeable with other federal investigators.”
c. Identification with the FBI- special pride and commanded instant recognition and respect from the public
d. training intensive
3. Notorious crimes such as the kidnapping of the Lindburgh baby, in 1932, the exploits of John Dillinger, and the Kansas City Massacre all led Congress to further enhance the FBI jurisdiction and power.
a. Passed a federal kidnapping statute
b. Congress gave FBI jurisdiction for instate crimes
c. Congress gave FBI the power to carry guns and arrest criminals
4. The continuing insensitive of the FBI coupled new congressional statues resulted the end of all major gangster by 1936
D. World War II Period
Transition: “However, fascism in Adolph Hitler’s Germany and Benito Mussolini’s Italy and communism in Josef Stalin’s Soviet Union threatened American democratic principles. With war on the horizon, a new set of challenges faced the FBI” (History 7)
A. Growing Fascist and Communist groups are the new threat to American liberty and security
1. FBI given the authority by the Smith Act in 1940 to outlawing advocacy of violent overthrow of government which gave a base for the FBI to pursue fascist, communist, and other groups that advocated the overthrow of government.
2. Responsibilities and concerns- subversion, sabotage, and espionage= new internal focus
3. For the first time the FBI began to create a continuous network of informational sources that would provide the FBI with information of potential threats
4. In addition the FBI became an intelligence collection agency capable of penetrating or controlling the flow of information through technical innovations
5. During this period the faith in the FBI grew due to spectacular investigation where the FBI intercepted saboteurs and espionage rings.
(History 9)
E. Postwar America
A. The Red Scare- The soviets detonated own atomic bomb, Americans lost monopoly on the atomic weapons and the main focus of the FBI became contracting the Communist threat.
B. The FBI gain new powers to investigate the loyalty of individuals with access to secret information
C. FBI used in alerting the public of Communist threat through speeches, articles, testimonies, and books that was written by the Director Hoover himself.
D. Congress gave FBI the ability to prosecute civil rights violation, racketeering, and gambling.
1. Laws passed by congress to counteract and investigate organized crimes or “La Cosa Nostra” (History 13)
a. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968- electronic surveillance of certain crime by court order
b. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)Statute of 1970- “which allowed organized groups to be prosecuted for all of their diverse criminal activities, without the crimes being linked by a perpetrator or all-encompassing conspiracy” (History 13)
c. Together these laws along with the undercover investigation technique resulted all major traditional crime family heads being imprisoned by the 1980s.
E. “By the late 1960s clear federal authority and local support for civil rights allowed the FBI to play an important role in enabling African Americans to vote, serve on juries n, and be on an equal basis.” (History 12)
F. The Vietnam War Era
A. the FBI the lead federal agency in investigating violent groups associated with the anti- Vietnam war and anti- establishment new left movement
B. the aftermath of the Watergate scandal- in order to regain the support and faith in the FBI after the scandal
1. New policy changes in selecting and training FBI agents and law enforcement leaders
2. Uniform procedures in collecting intelligence
3. first series of barriers were enacted in order to protect public from intrusion which were the guide lines for FBI’s foreign counterintelligence and domestic security investigations
G. The Rise of International Crime
A. The FBI continued to refine the art of undercover activities, this technique and its statutes authority produced important public corruption convictions including members of Congress (ABSCAM), the judiciary (GREYLORD), and state legislatures in California and SC. (History 17)
B. “In 1986, congress had expanded FBI jurisdiction to cover terrorist acts against U.S. citizens outside the U.S. boundaries” (History 17)
H. The Post-Cold War World
A. An important technical tool was the breakthrough of DNA technology and laboratory use
B. During this time period the FBI moved from its traditional approach of defending against hostile intelligence agencies to protecting our information and technologies. In doing so we expanded the threat to include proliferation of “chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; the loss of critical technologies, and the improper collection of trade secrets and proprietary information.” (History 19)
I. The Rise of a Wired World
A. Under the leadership of Director Freeh the FBI aggressively establish Legal Attaché offices around the world including in Russia
B. with the rise of computers used in committing global crimes the FBI put in place measures to combat crimes in cyberspace.
1. Computer Investigations and Infrastructure Threat Assessment Center (CITAC)
C. In response to events in Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas Director Freeh formed the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) to deal more effectively with crisis situations (History 20)
D. As a result of sexual crimes against children the FBI has initiated the Bureau’s Innocent Images Program to identify and stop pedophiles especially through the use of the internet.
J. Change of Mandate
Transition- Robert S. Mueller, III (Director of the FBI) “It has been said that the September 11th attacks were a ‘failure of imagination.’ We cannot fail to imagine the consequences of a nuclear terrorist attack. Nor can we fail to imagine that there are those for whom such an event is the end game.”
A. The President and Congress quickly went to work to equip the FBI and other agencies to combat the still very undefined issue of terrorism.
B. U.S. Patriot Act- which gave the FBI powerful new weapons to address the issue of terrorism
C. On May 29, 2002 “ the Attorney General issued revised investigative guidelines to assist the Bureau’s counterterrorism efforts” by taking the handcuffs off its agents.
D. Reengineering the FBI structure and operations to more closely aligne itself with the fight against terrorism
E. Partnerships- that expanded and strengthen the FBI
F. Importantly the FBI committed itself to upgrade its antiquated technological infrastructure which is critically needed to affective analyze intelligence and communicate efficiently new intelligence to its personal and partners.
1. the former associate deputy director of the FBI and former advisor to the national Security Council, Oliver Revell states “The Constitution, federal privacy laws, and stringent Justice Department counterintelligence guidelines all focus on protecting individual civil rights. This emphasis hinders crime prevention by severely limiting the surveillance of suspicious individual and groups, the interception of mail and phone calls, and the seizure of evidence, such as computer hard drives, that might provide clues to the plans of would-be terrorists.” (Frater 1)
*Transition- This is a model for the FBI creates an internal entity within the FBI as a result of a pressing and identified crime problem.
III. Next, the paper will examine the FBI’s fundamental change in policies, tactics, and even structure in order to address the threat and to answer its many critics.
A. U.S. Intelligence Community counterterrorism center
B. Reallocated resources/ money to the counterterrorism
C. Restructured the internal workings of the FBI
1. Significant increase in the number of intelligence analyzed who’s job is to assess what information is needed in the future, to evaluate intelligence that we have required, and importantly to “connect the dots” or the conclusion concerning the intelligence.
D. The FBI utilized new tools provided by the Patriot Act
Transition- “As its agents shift through rubble and interview countless people about the attacks of September 11, the FBI is in its element. Its traditions, rules, and organizational structure general make it very adept at crime-solving- but very poor at terrorism prevention.”(Frater, Elisabeth)
A. Questioning whether the FBI can change
1. “The pressing question now is whether the FBI can radically shift gears, despite its own inertia and investigative limits imposed by Congress and the Constitution. More specifically, can the FBI systematically detect and deter future terrorist attacks?” (Frater, Elisabeth)
IV. Conclusion and Reflection- Review of major changes and reflects on whether the organization has met the challenge of change and reinventing itself.
To sum up- Based on the above analyze it is clear that the FBI has fundamentally challenged in more significant ways since 9/11 than perhaps in its entire history.
Though it is impossible of what tomorrow might bring it is clear that there was not been any significagant terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11
Since most serious observers believed that the U.S. would be subject to one or more major terrorist attacks in the years following 9/11 it is reasonable to conclude that the FBI’s tremendous efforts to establish itself as an effect counterterrorism agency have at least appear to be successful.
The FBI has throughout its history continued to change and evolve to meet new threats; yet, it maintains the most important and irreplaceable virtues that many of its critics would want to get rid, its unique culture and its commitment to excellence.
The FBI has earned and deserve the privilege of once again rising to the occasion. Just as the FBI has in its past responded and changed the future holds much more for the FBI to learn and grow from.
As discussed in this paper the FBI has earned the respect and confidence of the American people by successfully defeating the crime problems of each American era. Perhaps the FBI greatest asset is, in fact, the trust and confidence that it has earned. This should not be taken for granted or dismissed lightly.
Work Cited
Deutch, John M., and Jeffrey H. Smith. "Smarter Intelligence. " Foreign Policy. (Jan-Feb 2002):
64(6). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Clemson University. 9 Feb. 2009
.
"Facts & Figures: FBI Throughout the Years." OPA intranet. 27 Feb. 2006. 30 Jan. 2009.
Frater, Elisabeth. “Can the FBI Switch Gears?. ." National Journal. 33.40 (Oct 6, 2001): 3106.
Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Clemson University. 9 Feb. 2009
.
"Heraldry of the Seal." Federal Bureau of Investigation. Department of Justice. 17 Feb. 2009
.
Mueller, Robert III S. "How the FBI Defends American Lives While Defending American Liberties." A necessary Balance. Harvard School of Government, Cambridge. 26 Apr. 2007. 29 Jan. 2009.
Mueller, Robert S. "From 9/11 to 7/7: Global Terrorism Today and the Challenges of Tomorrow." Chatham House, London, England. 7 Apr. 2008. 29 Jan. 2009.
Dana Hamilton
Topic- The FBI battle against terrorism
Question- Is the FBI organization and culture capable to adapt to new national security threats?
Hooker/ Introduction- Each detail of the FBI seal has special meaning and symbolic.
A. The background of blue represents justice, the thirteen stars exemplify the original 13 colonies to demonstrate unity, and the laurel leaf represents academic honors, distinction, and fame. The 46 leaves in the two branches were for the 46 states in the union in 1908, the year of founding of the FBI. The red parallel stripes stands for courage, valor, and strength. On the other hand the white parallel stripes stand for cleanliness, light, truth, and peace. “Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity” (Seal) is the motto and inspiration of the FBI. (Seal)
1. *“The most important symbolization; however, is the peaked beveled edge surrounding the Seal which symbolizes the challenges facing the FBI and the ruggedness of the agency”(Seal)
Transition- Of all the important virtues represented by the seal, none is currently more needed than the FBI’s commitment to meet challenges head in and most importantly, the challenge of meeting the new demands posed by the threat of terrorism. In this paper, I will discuss:
Main Points: (1) The question is raised by the critics and 911 commission if the FBI is capable to change and adapt in order to effectively meet the new national security threats. (2)How the FBI has consistently demonstrated its capacity to meet the challenges of new national security threats throughout its history. (3) Next, the paper will examine the FBI’s fundamental change in policies, tactics, and even structure in order to address the threat and to answer its many critics. (4) Lastly, Review of major changes and reflects on whether the organization has met the challenge of change and reinventing itself.
I. The Critics/ 911 Commission
Transition: “As its agents sift through ruble and interview countless people about the attacks of September 11, the FBI is in its element. Its traditions, rules, and organizational structure generally make it very adept at crime-solving—but very poor at terrorism prevention” (Frater 1)
A. Not everyone believes the FBI is up to the task: the critics and the 911 commission findings- Major problems:
B. According to most authoritative review of the FBI performance the 9/11 Commission report has several key findings(4)
1. The FBI did not have capability to link the collective knowledge of agents in the field to national priorities, and other domestic agencies, deferred to the FBI
2. The intelligence community (including the FBI) struggled through the 1990s up until 9/11 to find out about transnational terrorism. The combination of an overwhelming number of priorities, flat budgets, an outmoded structure and bureaucratic rivalries resulted in an insufficient response to this new challenge.
3. Problems at the FBI included limited intelligence collection and strategic analysis capabilities , a limited capacity to share information, insufficient training and inadequate resources.
4. The origin of the money that paid for the 9/11 attacks is still unknown.
C. 9/11 Commission Key recommendations pertaining to the FBI (4):
1. To create a national counter-terrorism center unifying strategic intelligence and operational planning against Islamist terrorists across the foreign and the domestic divide.
2. To appoint a new Senate-confirmed national intelligence director to unify the intelligence community of more than a dozen agencies.
3. To create a new Senate-confirmed national intelligence director to unify the intelligence community of more than a dozen agencies.
4. To set up a specialized and integrated national security unity within the FBI; the report did not support creation of a new domestic intelligence agency.
5. To strengthen the FBI and Homeland defenders.
D . National Journal Group finding flaws: (1-3)
1. flaws in intelligence-gathering methods
2. it is great at crime-solving but not on strategic intelligence- identifying potential threats and alerting appropriate officials to avert a major crisis.
3. few specialists in the area of languages
a. “Juliette N. Kayyem, a Harvard professor who served on the National Commission on Terrorism, notes that piecing together and disseminating intelligence has not traditionally be an important part of the FBI’s mission.” (Frater 2)
4. Lack of data-sharing among the FBI field offices and other agencies
a. “need to know” culture
b. a habit of not sharing information with the CIA, Immigration, and Naturalization Services, Customs Service, or the Federal Aviation Administration
c. “ the 1996 report ‘Preparing for the 21st Century: An Appraisal of U.S. Intelligence’ found that agencies such as the CIA strictly interpret their legal authority to be limited to ‘foreign intelligence.’ So they often decline FBI requests for intelligence information.” (Frater 2)
Transition: Critics of the FBI raise important issues. However; it is important to note that as a domestic law enforcement agency with rigorous congressional and Department of Justice oversight, the FBI has been actively discouraged from engaging in extensive proactive intelligence activities The FBI has, however, responded quickly and effectively once the organization has been empowered with a new mandate and given the tools to do the job.
II. In the past, the FBI has consistently demonstrated its capacity to meet the challenges of new national security threats. (Throughout the FBI History)
Transition-Many factors have influenced the changes that have taken place including the culture and atmosphere within the FBI.
A. Origins/ Early Days of the FBI
1. “Today, most Americans take for granted that our country needs a federal investigative service, but in 1908, the establishment of this kind of agency at a national level was highly controversial.” (FBI throughout the years)(pg.1)
2. Few federal crimes, investigated violations of laws involving national banking, bankruptcy, naturalization, antitrust, peonage, and land fraud.
3. No formal training
B. The “Lawless” Years
1. 1921-1933 Gangsterism and public disregarding Prohibition – “the gangster era”
2. Al Capone- “fugitive federal witness”; KKK
3. traditional investigations of neutrality violations and antitrust violations, gained stature, but could not fight crime without public support, Attorney General in 1925 stated “The Agents of the Bureau of Investigation have been impressed with the fact that the real problem of law enforcement is in trying to obtain the cooperation and sympathy of the public and that they cannot hope to get such cooperation until they themselves merit the respect of the public” (History 5)
4. Steps to Credibility
A. Professionalize the organization
1. abolished the seniority rule of promotion
2. introduced uniform performance appraisals
3. inspections
B. establishing an identification division
1. Special Agent training/ institutionalize
2. “the Bureau was equipped to end the ‘lawless years’”(5)
C. The New Deal
1. expand federal jurisdiction- President Roosevelt influenced Congress to expand federal jurisdiction for crimes due to the rise in crime during the Great Depression
2. Director Hoover created a new identity- for the FBI took its newly retooled identity public
a. through media- coordinated by Hoover to take the message of the war against crime to the American people
b. “Prior to 1933, …public considered them interchangeable with other federal investigators.”
c. Identification with the FBI- special pride and commanded instant recognition and respect from the public
d. training intensive
3. Notorious crimes such as the kidnapping of the Lindburgh baby, in 1932, the exploits of John Dillinger, and the Kansas City Massacre all led Congress to further enhance the FBI jurisdiction and power.
a. Passed a federal kidnapping statute
b. Congress gave FBI jurisdiction for instate crimes
c. Congress gave FBI the power to carry guns and arrest criminals
4. The continuing insensitive of the FBI coupled new congressional statues resulted the end of all major gangster by 1936
D. World War II Period
Transition: “However, fascism in Adolph Hitler’s Germany and Benito Mussolini’s Italy and communism in Josef Stalin’s Soviet Union threatened American democratic principles. With war on the horizon, a new set of challenges faced the FBI” (History 7)
A. Growing Fascist and Communist groups are the new threat to American liberty and security
1. FBI given the authority by the Smith Act in 1940 to outlawing advocacy of violent overthrow of government which gave a base for the FBI to pursue fascist, communist, and other groups that advocated the overthrow of government.
2. Responsibilities and concerns- subversion, sabotage, and espionage= new internal focus
3. For the first time the FBI began to create a continuous network of informational sources that would provide the FBI with information of potential threats
4. In addition the FBI became an intelligence collection agency capable of penetrating or controlling the flow of information through technical innovations
5. During this period the faith in the FBI grew due to spectacular investigation where the FBI intercepted saboteurs and espionage rings.
(History 9)
E. Postwar America
A. The Red Scare- The soviets detonated own atomic bomb, Americans lost monopoly on the atomic weapons and the main focus of the FBI became contracting the Communist threat.
B. The FBI gain new powers to investigate the loyalty of individuals with access to secret information
C. FBI used in alerting the public of Communist threat through speeches, articles, testimonies, and books that was written by the Director Hoover himself.
D. Congress gave FBI the ability to prosecute civil rights violation, racketeering, and gambling.
1. Laws passed by congress to counteract and investigate organized crimes or “La Cosa Nostra” (History 13)
a. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968- electronic surveillance of certain crime by court order
b. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)Statute of 1970- “which allowed organized groups to be prosecuted for all of their diverse criminal activities, without the crimes being linked by a perpetrator or all-encompassing conspiracy” (History 13)
c. Together these laws along with the undercover investigation technique resulted all major traditional crime family heads being imprisoned by the 1980s.
E. “By the late 1960s clear federal authority and local support for civil rights allowed the FBI to play an important role in enabling African Americans to vote, serve on juries n, and be on an equal basis.” (History 12)
F. The Vietnam War Era
A. the FBI the lead federal agency in investigating violent groups associated with the anti- Vietnam war and anti- establishment new left movement
B. the aftermath of the Watergate scandal- in order to regain the support and faith in the FBI after the scandal
1. New policy changes in selecting and training FBI agents and law enforcement leaders
2. Uniform procedures in collecting intelligence
3. first series of barriers were enacted in order to protect public from intrusion which were the guide lines for FBI’s foreign counterintelligence and domestic security investigations
G. The Rise of International Crime
A. The FBI continued to refine the art of undercover activities, this technique and its statutes authority produced important public corruption convictions including members of Congress (ABSCAM), the judiciary (GREYLORD), and state legislatures in California and SC. (History 17)
B. “In 1986, congress had expanded FBI jurisdiction to cover terrorist acts against U.S. citizens outside the U.S. boundaries” (History 17)
H. The Post-Cold War World
A. An important technical tool was the breakthrough of DNA technology and laboratory use
B. During this time period the FBI moved from its traditional approach of defending against hostile intelligence agencies to protecting our information and technologies. In doing so we expanded the threat to include proliferation of “chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; the loss of critical technologies, and the improper collection of trade secrets and proprietary information.” (History 19)
I. The Rise of a Wired World
A. Under the leadership of Director Freeh the FBI aggressively establish Legal Attaché offices around the world including in Russia
B. with the rise of computers used in committing global crimes the FBI put in place measures to combat crimes in cyberspace.
1. Computer Investigations and Infrastructure Threat Assessment Center (CITAC)
C. In response to events in Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas Director Freeh formed the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) to deal more effectively with crisis situations (History 20)
D. As a result of sexual crimes against children the FBI has initiated the Bureau’s Innocent Images Program to identify and stop pedophiles especially through the use of the internet.
J. Change of Mandate
Transition- Robert S. Mueller, III (Director of the FBI) “It has been said that the September 11th attacks were a ‘failure of imagination.’ We cannot fail to imagine the consequences of a nuclear terrorist attack. Nor can we fail to imagine that there are those for whom such an event is the end game.”
A. The President and Congress quickly went to work to equip the FBI and other agencies to combat the still very undefined issue of terrorism.
B. U.S. Patriot Act- which gave the FBI powerful new weapons to address the issue of terrorism
C. On May 29, 2002 “ the Attorney General issued revised investigative guidelines to assist the Bureau’s counterterrorism efforts” by taking the handcuffs off its agents.
D. Reengineering the FBI structure and operations to more closely aligne itself with the fight against terrorism
E. Partnerships- that expanded and strengthen the FBI
F. Importantly the FBI committed itself to upgrade its antiquated technological infrastructure which is critically needed to affective analyze intelligence and communicate efficiently new intelligence to its personal and partners.
1. the former associate deputy director of the FBI and former advisor to the national Security Council, Oliver Revell states “The Constitution, federal privacy laws, and stringent Justice Department counterintelligence guidelines all focus on protecting individual civil rights. This emphasis hinders crime prevention by severely limiting the surveillance of suspicious individual and groups, the interception of mail and phone calls, and the seizure of evidence, such as computer hard drives, that might provide clues to the plans of would-be terrorists.” (Frater 1)
*Transition- This is a model for the FBI creates an internal entity within the FBI as a result of a pressing and identified crime problem.
III. Next, the paper will examine the FBI’s fundamental change in policies, tactics, and even structure in order to address the threat and to answer its many critics.
A. U.S. Intelligence Community counterterrorism center
B. Reallocated resources/ money to the counterterrorism
C. Restructured the internal workings of the FBI
1. Significant increase in the number of intelligence analyzed who’s job is to assess what information is needed in the future, to evaluate intelligence that we have required, and importantly to “connect the dots” or the conclusion concerning the intelligence.
D. The FBI utilized new tools provided by the Patriot Act
Transition- “As its agents shift through rubble and interview countless people about the attacks of September 11, the FBI is in its element. Its traditions, rules, and organizational structure general make it very adept at crime-solving- but very poor at terrorism prevention.”(Frater, Elisabeth)
A. Questioning whether the FBI can change
1. “The pressing question now is whether the FBI can radically shift gears, despite its own inertia and investigative limits imposed by Congress and the Constitution. More specifically, can the FBI systematically detect and deter future terrorist attacks?” (Frater, Elisabeth)
IV. Conclusion and Reflection- Review of major changes and reflects on whether the organization has met the challenge of change and reinventing itself.
To sum up- Based on the above analyze it is clear that the FBI has fundamentally challenged in more significant ways since 9/11 than perhaps in its entire history.
Though it is impossible of what tomorrow might bring it is clear that there was not been any significagant terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11
Since most serious observers believed that the U.S. would be subject to one or more major terrorist attacks in the years following 9/11 it is reasonable to conclude that the FBI’s tremendous efforts to establish itself as an effect counterterrorism agency have at least appear to be successful.
The FBI has throughout its history continued to change and evolve to meet new threats; yet, it maintains the most important and irreplaceable virtues that many of its critics would want to get rid, its unique culture and its commitment to excellence.
The FBI has earned and deserve the privilege of once again rising to the occasion. Just as the FBI has in its past responded and changed the future holds much more for the FBI to learn and grow from.
As discussed in this paper the FBI has earned the respect and confidence of the American people by successfully defeating the crime problems of each American era. Perhaps the FBI greatest asset is, in fact, the trust and confidence that it has earned. This should not be taken for granted or dismissed lightly.
Work Cited
Deutch, John M., and Jeffrey H. Smith. "Smarter Intelligence. " Foreign Policy. (Jan-Feb 2002):
64(6). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Clemson University. 9 Feb. 2009
"Facts & Figures: FBI Throughout the Years." OPA intranet. 27 Feb. 2006. 30 Jan. 2009.
Frater, Elisabeth. “Can the FBI Switch Gears?. ." National Journal. 33.40 (Oct 6, 2001): 3106.
Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Clemson University. 9 Feb. 2009
"Heraldry of the Seal." Federal Bureau of Investigation. Department of Justice. 17 Feb. 2009
Mueller, Robert III S. "How the FBI Defends American Lives While Defending American Liberties." A necessary Balance. Harvard School of Government, Cambridge. 26 Apr. 2007. 29 Jan. 2009
Mueller, Robert S. "From 9/11 to 7/7: Global Terrorism Today and the Challenges of Tomorrow." Chatham House, London, England. 7 Apr. 2008. 29 Jan. 2009
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