"Tomorrow's
FBI: Changing to Meet New Challenges"
Today marks the anniversary of two significant events. The first is that 134
years ago, Congress created the Department of Justice. Apparently the Department
was founded because private attorneys hired to handle the increased litigation
following the Civil War were becoming too costly. Even in 1870, lawyers
were too expensive.
Later,
as crime began to cross county and state lines, the FBI was established.
Soon, the gangster
era demanded a federal force that could track bank robbers, bootleggers,
and violent criminals crossing state lines to evade capture.
The second event occurred on this day in 1932. In response to the much-publicized
Lindbergh kidnapping, Congress gave the FBI authority to investigate kidnappings
nationwide.
A great
deal has changed since then, but there is also much that remains the same.
It is in the
context of this juncture of old and new that I want to discuss today's
changing threat, our new mission, and the future of the FBI.
Technology
and travel have made the world smaller than ever. Criminal activity not
only crosses state lines, it traverses international boundaries at the
stroke of a computer key. Crime is more diverse than ever before. It includes
terrorism, corporate fraud, illegal weapons trade, and the trafficking of
human beings.
And there
is a growing convergence of these threats both old and new. We see organized
crime laundering
money for drug groups. Drug groups selling weapons to terrorists. Terrorists
committing white-collar
fraud to raise money for their operations.
Today's threat is increasingly
asymmetrical and complex. During the Cold War, the United States had in
the Soviet Union a relatively predictable enemy which it fought in relatively
predictable ways. Like chess, it was complicated, but there were only two
sides and a limited number of moves available to each. Now, the dynamic
more closely resembles the latest computer game than an old-fashioned chess
game.
The international threat
of criminal and terrorist organizations is the product of the modern world
in which we live. Today, terrorists and criminals use sophisticated business
practices to achieve their goals, not unlike that of legitimate multinational
corporations.
This is how Al Qaeda
functioned before 9/11. Since then, they have shown an ability to evolve.
Today their control is more fragmented. Al Qaeda is working with other
independent groups and individuals sympathetic to their cause. And they
are recruiting outside the Middle East to find individuals who will easily
blend with the American population as well as those who are disenfranchised
within the United States.
In the
war against terrorism one cannot help but be struck by the dichotomy of
old and new airplanes used as weapons, plastic explosives hidden in donkey
carts, and videotaped beheadings posted on the Internet. Terrorists who
shun our way of life are more than willing to use our technology to carry
out and publicize their attacks. Increasingly, the global community of
the Internet is used not only to break down barriers, but also to sustain
and nurture centuries-old hatreds.
These are
problems as old as human history, and we cannot expect them to be solved
overnight.
In 1946, George Kennan issued his Long Telegram, urging a strategy of
containment against the Soviet Union. He said that it would be longer and
tougher than Americans had realized, but that he believed freedom would
prevail.
So it is with terrorism.
Again, it will be a long and difficult war. However, this time, mere containment
will not suffice. We must fight back on multiple fronts, with methods both
old and new. We must go after terrorists and stop them before they strike.
With globalization,
the ability of nation-states to effectively respond to criminal activity
is seriously challenged. To confront this dangerous new landscape, law
enforcement must continue to evolve. We in the FBI have already changed
to meet these new threats, but more change is needed. Immediately following
September 11th, our primary mission became the prevention of terrorist
attacks.
As a result,
our top three national security priorities are now counterterrorism, counterintelligence
and cyber security.
This means every counterterrorism lead is addressed, even if it requires a
diversion of resources from other areas. All other programs support this
goal either directly or indirectly. Despite the progress we have made by
removing the sanctuary of Afghanistan and detaining two-thirds of their
leaders, Al Qaeda still has the desire and the means to attack us. This
will likely be the case for years to come.
In counterintelligence
we are alert to the potential for a foreign power to penetrate the U.S.
Intelligence Community and to compromise Critical National Assets. We are
also deeply concerned about an agent of a hostile group or nation producing
or using weapons of mass destruction.
Furthermore,
the players in the espionage game have diversified. The number of countries
engaged
in espionage against the U.S. has risen since the end of the Cold War.
And we are no longer dealing exclusively with intelligence agents. Today
the threat can just as easily come from students, business executives,
or hackers.
In the cyber area, we
continue to see a dramatic rise in computer-related crimes, such as denial
of service attacks, and in traditional crimes that have migrated on line,
such as identity theft, copyright infringement, and child pornography.
Thanks
to our increasingly interconnected world, isolated individuals can now
launch attacks costing
billions of dollars and impacting millions of people. You may recall
the Love Bug from a few years ago developed by a student from the Philippines.
By the time the "Love" virus had run its course, millions of
systems had been disrupted. Total damages worldwide were estimated at
8 to 10 billion dollars. This trend will increase as criminals discover
new ways to exploit the Internet.
The future
is sure to bring further challenges. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
called 9/11 a failure of imagination. In the future, we must have the creativity
to think of possibilities we have not yet imagined. We must become more
flexible, more agile, and more mobile. I envision tomorrow's FBI as a highly-trained,
electronically sophisticated, internationally networked organization that
has terrorism as its principal target.
To confront
tomorrow's threats, we must continue developing our capabilities in intelligence,
in technology, and internationally.
The FBI has always used
intelligence in pursuing its criminal cases. It is how we fought Nazi spies
during World War II, Soviet espionage during the Cold War, and La Cosa
Nostra in the seventies and eighties.
While the FBI has always
excelled at intelligence-gathering, we need to improve our ability to analyze
and share that information. We cannot prevent terrorist attacks without
the ability to identify potential terrorists, predict their actions, and
neutralize them before they attack.
This is why we are establishing
a Directorate of Intelligence within the FBI -- one with broad authority
over all intelligence-related functions. This is the next logical step
in the current evolution of the FBI's intelligence capability.
This service
within a service maintains our commitment to the integration of our law
enforcement
and intelligence operations. At the same time, it would create direct lines
of authority and accountability.
Intelligence is a tool. That tool becomes increasingly important when there
are more threats than we can physically pursue. We need an edge to tell
us what to investigate. Soon, all counterterrorism cases will be intelligence-driven
operations with law enforcement sanctions as an ancillary aspect. Intelligence
will be as routine to every FBI Agent as his or her gun and his or her
credentials.
Likewise, intelligence
analysts will need new tools and capabilities. It does not take long for
terrorists to catch on to our technology and to adjust. In the future,
it must be upgraded on a continuous basis so that we stay several steps
ahead of our enemies.
We will have a fully
operational modern information technology infrastructure. One with seamless
information sharing that will close the communication gap with our law
enforcement partners and the intelligence community. Our overriding goal
is to provide the right information, to the right people, at the right
time.
In addition to being
connected through technology, we need enhanced connections internationally.
Indeed, these relationships will be the key to our success. No nation,
or agency, can fight crime and terrorism alone.
Since 9/11, our 48 international
offices or Legats have become increasingly important to our overall operations.
What began strictly as a liaison, now assists our counterparts overseas
on joint investigations, intelligence-sharing, and the development of new
methods to prevent attacks.
In one recent case,
an e-mail contained a threat to bomb the New York subway. Working with
our counterparts we were able to trace the message to a Russian address
and ask the Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry to investigate
the credibility of the threat. They mobilized their resources and resolved
the threat. This is an example of the instantaneous, 24-hour cooperation
we now enjoy with our former Cold War adversary.
In the future, the FBI will have offices or Legats in every country with a
major impact on the United States. Their resources will include agents,
analysts and reports officers who will be instantly connected throughout
the world.
U.S. law enforcement
will have to be aligned with our counterparts overseas much like our military
forces are aligned with their counterparts overseas. Some day, there will
likely be an official international anti-terrorism alliance, with a structure
similar to NATO -- united partners joined against a common enemy.
To meet the growing
international challenge, the FBI will need a truly diverse workforce of
individuals who think differently and have different views of the universe.
In hiring employees, we will still need those with a background in law
enforcement and the military. But we will also need individuals with specialty
backgrounds, who understand international law, are fluent in foreign languages,
or have a background in intelligence.
We need
to bring people from other countries Indonesia or Pakistan -- here to
work jointly with the FBI. We need to send FBI Agents to foreign countries
to become familiar with other cultures and better understand their people.
We have always moved agents around to new postings. In the future, we need
agents who are capable of changing countries as easily as they change cities.
Even as the FBI moves forward, it is vital that we preserve the best of an
agency with a long and distinguished history. We must continue to serve
as guardians of civil liberties operating with full adherence to the Constitution.
We must uphold our fundamental values of Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity.
With the full measure of our dedication, we in the FBI will preserve these
traditions, even as we evolve to meet today's new threats.
The enemies of the United
States seek to take full advantage of our technology to attack us. They
think they are stealing the best part of the West to use against us. But
they do not understand what the best part is. It is not our technology;
it is not our weaponry; it is not our wealth.
The best part of America
is freedom -- freedom to think, freedom to create, freedom to change. These
are the true treasures of this nation. And they are the tools we will use
to defeat this enemy.
The threat is real.
The stakes are high. We cannot, and we will not fail.
###