dismantling the foreign-domestic dyad

[Charles Jannuzi]

>A word about intelligence >"failures" is in order. By the >most obvious
criterion-the >success of Osama bin Laden's >operatives on September
11->intelligence and law >enforcement failed to protect >the public. But
only time will tell >if the information necessary to
>predict and stop the attacks >was in government hands in >advance or
reasonably could >have been. At >some point it >will be appropriate to
>analyze this question. For now, >however, such an inquiry would >only
distract government >agents and analysts from the >critical task of
>identifying and preventing >future attacks

What does have to wonder what so distracted them in the first place, or why
they should be entrusted with so much now.

 I remember several days before 9-11 discussing a trip back to the US and
the word in the ex-pat community in Japan was that something was definitely
up.
Some were a bit squeamish about summer travel. Some were a bit reluctant to
go to a conference in mostly Hindu Bali because that's in mostly Muslim
Indonesia (and I can tell you westerners aren't real welcome in some places
there right now).
There was an expectation of some sort of attack on US facilities in Japan.
If you hear it from the usually unhelpful and surly US State Department, you
do wonder if they knew there was something out of the ordinary going on.

I remarked to someone telling me to be careful: the chances are that if I
know about an upcoming attack in Japan, it's got to be happening somewhere
else. Of course, wherever, we thought truck bombs against an embassy or
military base. Or perhaps another boat attack hitting a US ship in port in
SE Asia.

This might not have been anything to do with with 9-11, since it might have
been about what was going in Singapore to attack US naval personnel doing
R&R there.

No doubt the terrorists'  were able to overwhelm the intelligence community
with information, and there was very little intelligence in the analysis. At
first Powell admitted as much, but then such candour was quickly squelched.

Charles Jannuzi