[Infowarrior] - Out of the loop on terror threats

[Richard Forno]

Out of the loop on terror threats
Homeland Security excludes state, local officials from group that shares
data
By Siobhan Gorman
Sun reporter
Originally published February 2, 2007
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.intel02feb02,0,1214353.s
tory

WASHINGTON // State and local officials are protesting efforts by the
Department of Homeland Security to exclude them from a new unit designed to
share information about possible terrorist threats to the country.

The information-sharing group, created by a White House directive last year,
is designed to send out bulletins to state and local officials when the
federal government learns of terrorist activity at home and abroad.

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But Homeland Security officials are opposed to letting representatives of
state and local government serve on the unit that would send out the
information because they believe it would confuse the process.

The department's opposition puts it at odds with the White House and with
other U.S. intelligence agencies, according to state and federal officials
and government documents.

It is the latest example of the government's failure to heed one of the most
critical lessons of the Sept. 11 attacks: the inability or unwillingness of
federal officials to share information with those at the state and local
level who might be in a position to help stave off a terrorist attack.

Thomas "Ted" McNamara, who is in charge of information-sharing in the office
of the Director of National Intelligence, graded government
intelligence-sharing efforts thus far as "just barely 'fair.'" He added:
"We're certainly not doing 'good,' and we're not doing 'excellent.'"

At his Senate confirmation hearing yesterday to be director of national
intelligence, retired Vice Adm. Mike McConnell said the culture of
intelligence agencies must change to appreciate the needs of police chiefs
and their colleagues around the country.

"This is a different age and a different time," he said.

Local response
Federal and state officials said the government is still having trouble
getting timely and accurate threat information to states and localities so
they can decide how to respond - for example, by sending more officers to an
airport or border, dispatching K-9 teams or a bomb squad.

Local officials see and use information differently from "somebody who came
out of fighting the Cold War against Russia," said former Baltimore Police
Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier, who has represented municipal police in
discussions over how to assemble the unit.

Historically, information has often been closely held at the federal level
until the last minute. Sometimes, alerts come in the middle of the night,
making it difficult for mayors and others to respond before the morning rush
hour, said David Sobczyk, a commander with the Chicago Police Department.

"There has to be a leap of faith" to trust local officials with sensitive
information, he said.

A White House directive in November, issued with President Bush's approval,
was designed to fix these problems.

It called for Homeland Security to create a unit that would assemble
terrorism reports specifically for state and local officials. The unit,
which could include two or three state or local officials, would issue
alerts and identify information important to state and local officials,
according to a Homeland Security document obtained by The Sun.

President Bush "has been clear" that he wants state and local
representatives included in the unit, said spokesman Scott Stanzel. He said
he was confident they would be incorporated.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke declined to comment on
the department's position because the issue is still under negotiation, but
the document on the unit, which was assembled by Homeland Security and the
FBI for senior officials, said that all agencies involved, "with Exception
of DHS," agree that state and local officials should participate in the
group.

In meetings on the issue, Homeland Security officials have maintained that
they will represent the interests of state and local officials and that
there is no need to include them directly, according to the senior
intelligence official.

Proponents of state and local inclusion say Homeland Security officials
mainly want to control the flow of information and are reluctant to give up
that power.

Fear of confusion
Two senior Homeland Security officials, discussing their concerns on
condition they not be named because the issue is still unresolved, said that
adding local officials would create "unnecessary confusion" at a unit whose
main role is merely to package information.

And Homeland Security has sought ways to incorporate state and local
officials by assigning them to offices inside the department, such as its
intelligence office and its operations center, Knocke said.

Kerry Sleeper, Vermont's homeland security adviser and the point man for
state homeland officials in talks over the creation of the new unit, said it
was "absolutely insulting" that the issue hasn't been resolved, more than
five years after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who chairs the House
Homeland Security committee, called the impasse "very disappointing news" in
a letter last week to Homeland intelligence chief Charles Allen.

If the White House fails to break the impasse, said the senior intelligence
official, Congress might step in to force Homeland Security to include state
and local participation in the unit.

siobhan.gorman at baltsun.com