IN BRIEF

Inquiry Cites Flaws in Counterterrorism Offices

OCTOBER 03, 2012

“One of the nation’s biggest domestic counterterrorism programs has failed to provide virtually any useful intelligence, according to Congressional investigators. . . .

The report found that the centers ‘forwarded intelligence of uneven quality — oftentimes shoddy, rarely timely, sometimes endangering citizens’ civil liberties and Privacy Act protections, occasionally taken from already published public sources, and more often than not unrelated to terrorism.’ . . .

The investigators also discovered that federal officials cannot account for as much as $1.4 billion in taxpayer money earmarked for fusion centers and that some of the centers listed on paper by the Homeland Security Department do not even exist.The report also lays out problems in protecting citizens’ privacy as the centers gathered and disseminated intelligence.” (New York Times)

With a record like that, expect the department’s budget to be doubled forthwith.

FEE Timely Classic

“An American Stasi?” by Wendy McElroy

“Federal Surveillance: The Threat to Americans’ Security” by James Bovard

“How Washington Protects Your Privacy and Liberty” by James Bovard