[Infowarrior] - FBI & ICE Bury Terrorism Cases Behind the Wall

[Richard Forno]

Tuesday
14 Aug 2007
FBI & ICE Bury Terrorism Cases Behind the Wall
By Annie Jacobsen in category Bureaucracy & The Wall

http://www.theaviationnation.com/

A stunning report by the Inspector General reveals that the turf war
between the FBI and ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) has
resulted in major terrorism cases being dropped or ignored by ICE
agents so as to avoid working with FBI agents. From USA Today:

Using a hypothetical example, the report said, if a case involved two
leads ‹ one involving illegal drugs and the other involving terrorism
‹ an agent would pursue the drug lead in order to avoid working with
the FBI. In such cases, the agent did not always forward the
terrorism lead to the joint task force, the report said.

The Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) is controlled by the FBI.

Not only does this egregious pettiness jeopardize the country's
national security, but it contradicts the very premise of the
creation of the Department of Homeland Security which was to tear
down the wall of bureaucracy. Instead, according to both Inspector
Generals overseeing the two federal agencies, the FBI and ICE have
buried terrorism cases behind that wall.

The investigation began at the behest of Iowa Senator Charles
Grassley, a member of the Judiciary Committee. According to a press
release, Senator Grassley sought oversight in response "to reports
from retired ICE agent Joe Webber, a 30-year veteran and former head
of the Houston field office."

"It seems obvious that the findings of this report justify concerns
about a lack of trust between our two largest federal law enforcement
agencies. They need to work together in order to do everything
possible to protect Americans in the war on terror," Grassley said in
a statement.

The report is posted at http://grassley.senate.gov.