Nation & World 10/8/01
Finger-pointing, fingerprints-------
How about putting 100,000 police on the streets... funds intended for hiring translators were diverted to hiring more agents to fight street crime,
Officials say the CIA and FBI now are rushing to improve their intelligence capabilities. One intelligence source says the CIA is bringing back retirees to fill the massive demand for qualified help. Meanwhile, the FBI has put out the word that it badly needs people who can translate Arabic, Farsi, and Pashto. "They are scouting everywhere for translators," says a law enforcement officer involved in the government's massive manhunt. One reason: In the past, the bureau hasn't had sufficient personnel to translate and interpret critical documents, or vast amounts of intelligence, that could have shed light on terrorist plots. In some ways, the FBI must shoulder the blame. The bureau has very few Arab-American agents and translators, and funds intended for hiring translators were diverted to hiring more agents to fight street crime, several former Justice Department officials say. "The language problem is prodigious," says the intelligence source, "at both the CIA and the FBI."
Surveillance. Apart from the language needs, Attorney General John Ashcroft now wants Congress–in addition to the $20 billion more in counterterrorism funding it has committed since the attacks–to give law enforcement even more powers to wiretap immigrants and monitor their activities in the United States.<
They will be fighting the ACLU tooth and nail here as well
Under the current law, a suspected terrorist brought before the court must be given an unclassified summary of the deportation charges. Smith plans to introduce a provision this week that would allow the government to use classified information in the court proceeding without sharing any information with the suspect. The proposal is likely to spark a hot debate in Congress, where some members deplore the use of secret evidence and have been trying to outlaw the practice.<
we need to finger point these Congressmen (American hate-wing)
Smith couldn't care less. "We need to bring these terrorists to court and deport them," he says. Smith persuaded Congress to approve the creation of the court in April 1996. But its powers were weakened, he adds, by amendments requiring suspected terrorists to be given a summary of the charges against them.<
ACLU--terrorists with rights..thats great
As a result, the Justice Department never used the court, fearing that disclosure of intelligence would expose sources. Current officials would not comment for this story.
Civil libertarians say the department has found it easier to deport or imprison suspected terrorists through other administrative immigration proceedings. Secret evidence, which is anathema to Arab-Americans and civil rights activists, can be used in those proceedings when the government seeks to deport aliens on other grounds, such as "garden variety" immigration violations, says a former top immigration official. In the terrorist court, suspects would have more safeguards–the right to counsel and the option to challenge the constitutionality of the secret evidence, says Timothy Edgar, a top lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. No such rights are available in immigration court proceedings, he says. Given the choice, he says, the terrorist court is the least distasteful.
Immigration officials say that secret evidence is seldom used, perhaps only 10 to 12 times a year out of 300,000 cases in the immigration courts. Steven R. Valentine, a former Justice Department official who oversaw the Office of Immigration Litigation, says the government must deport or detain terrorist suspects–especially in light of the recent tragic attacks. In the past, he says, because of legal challenges, the Justice Department has been unable to deport known terrorists. "That," he adds, "is insane."
With Kit R. Roane in New York
usnews.com
to highlight a few points
>Former Justice Department officials say the agency couldn't use the court because the law requires disclosure of sensitive information to terrorists–evidence, they say, that would compromise intelligence gathering and identify sources.<
>Secret evidence, which is anathema to Arab-Americans and civil rights activists, can be used in those proceedings when the government seeks to deport aliens on other grounds, such as "garden variety" immigration<
> Immigration officials say that secret evidence is seldom used, perhaps only 10 to 12 times a year out of 300,000 cases in the immigration courts.<
> In the past, he says, because of legal challenges, the Justice Department has been unable to deport known terrorists. "That," he adds, "is insane."< |
