Intelligence experts struggle to explain attacks

Intelligence experts on Tuesday struggled to explain how massive terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center could have gone undetected by U.S. intelligence agencies. The perpetrator of the attacks presumably evaded U.S. satellite supervision and electronic monitoring techniques, and any intelligence infiltration of the groups involved was ineffective. Robert Steele, a former Marine and founder of the USMC Intelligence Command, said that low-tech intelligence activities such as spying have long been under-funded in the federal budget. The attacks showed that federal agencies should devote more resources to traditional means of intelligence gathering, he said. "Our enemies are intelligent - they know that the U.S. has spent all of its money on a technical collection that can be easily defeated by simply not using any electronic equipment," said Steele. James Treverton, former vice chair of the National Intelligence Center, said U.S. intelligence agencies routinely receive information on terrorist activities from allies. If any of these channels were disrupted, it could have a major effect on intelligence operations, he said. While experts were reluctant to speculate on what sort of intelligence breakdown allowed the attacks to proceed, most agreed that federal and local governments have failed to adjust to a world in which large-scale terrorist attacks on American soil are possible. The attacks also showed that domestic airport security is sorely lacking, experts said. "It seems to me it's really a triple failure of airport security, of intelligence and it demonstrates that for all the talk about homeland defense, it shows how little we've really done about it," said Treverton. Intelligence agencies will do a thorough review of any intelligence breakdowns, and congressional investigations will inevitably follow, said Jeffrey Richelson, an author who has written extensively on U.S. intelligence agencies. Richelson said Tuesday's attacks do not necessarily reflect a straightforward failure on the part of U.S. intelligence. "Pearl Harbor was said to be an intelligence failure. But the Japanese also exercised great secrecy involving their operation. So it's not so simple when you look at the facts," he said.