Thank
you, Mark [Mershon], and good afternoon everyone. George [Vinson],
thanks for your comments. And thanks to the Global Trade Council
for inviting me. I always appreciate a good excuse to come home.
Before
I begin, I want to take a moment to thank your President, Harry
Orbelian. A certain unnamed source tells me that Harry once
did an important favor for the Bureau. Here's the untold story.
A number
of years back, as some of you may know, Harry managed a large
antiques enterprise in town. One day, an FBI Agent paid Harry
a visit. The Agent asked for his help in locating a certain
highly valuable statue, one of thousands if not millions of
pieces of artwork in the area. The time was 10 a.m. By 2 o'clock
that same day, Harry had called the Agent to say that he not
only knew exactly where the statue was, he even had a picture
of it.
Well, it
turns out, the head of the FBI office here at that time, and
a beneficiary of Harry's detective work, was none other than
my father. So I'm here to thank Harry officially on behalf of
the FBI, and hopefully to repay in some small way our family
debt.
What Harry
asked me to talk about with you today, in line with George's
comments, is the threat of terrorism and how we can go about
defeating it together.
Let me
start with the threat as we see it in the FBI. Terrorism is
really nothing new. The term has been around since at least
the French Revolution, and the Bureau has been addressing various
forms of terror here in the U.S. since its earliest days.
Al-Qai'da,
however, represents a new, more insidious form of terrorism
- a far cry from anything we have seen before.
First,
unlike other terrorist groups, al-Qai'da doesn't just want to
influence policy or to make a statement. It seeks to destroy
the United States and any other country it considers an enemy.
To achieve that goal, al-Qai'da is willing to use any weapon,
to forge any partnership, and to sacrifice as many lives as
necessary.
Al-Qai'da
is a global, multi-ethnic movement, with a presence in some
60 nations and direct and indirect links to any number of terrorist
groups around the world. It has been compared to a holding company,
bringing together many different entities under the common roof
of international jihad.
Second, al-Qai'da's leadership is highly educated and experienced.
Its operatives are often well-disciplined, well-trained, and
well-armed. Al-Qai'da is incredibly patient, often taking months
and years to plan intricate attacks. It mutates and adapts as
we make progress and learns from its own failures. It is constantly
generating new recruits, and its resources are deep.
What's
important to understand, though, is not just the global reach
of al-Qai'da but also its global focus. The list of countries
that al-Qai'da has attacked or attempted to attack - along with
those it considers its enemies - grows longer with each passing
month. It includes the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France,
Italy, Germany, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Indonesia,
Morocco, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Singapore, Yemen, and the Philippines,
to name a few. Unlike terrorist organizations of the past, al-Qai'da
is essentially picking a global fight.
The question
for all of us is: what can we do, individually and collectively,
as distinct nations and as a global community, as representatives
of both the public and private sectors, to defeat al-Qai'da
and related terrorist groups?
Let me
talk for a moment about how we in the FBI are addressing the
threat and how we fit into the broader international campaign
to defeat terrorism.
The FBI,
as you probably know, is the lead federal agency in the U.S.
for protecting the American people from acts of terror. Our
primary mission today is one of prevention. That has always
been our goal, and we have headed off quite a few potentially
serious attacks through the years. But today - considering the
scope of the attacks of 9/11, the continuing capabilities of
terrorists, and al-Qai'da's desire to develop weapons of mass
destruction - prevention is measured by a different yardstick.
Heading off attacks here in the U.S. - and to the extent we
can, overseas - is not just our number one priority, it's also
the standard by which we are now judged.
Our strategy
for doing that has several different pieces. First, it means
identifying and disabling potential sleeper cells and lone wolves
who may be planning attacks. Second, it means helping to create
an environment in this country where terrorists find it difficult
to plan and operate. Third, it means taking down terrorist logistical
and support structures, all those who help with training, recruiting,
fundraising, and the like. And fourth, it means tracking down
one-by-one the various operative and leaders of terrorist networks.
To do all
of that, the FBI is bringing to bear all of its law enforcement
and intelligence capabilities. Our investigative skills. Our
forensic and financial expertise. And our experience in developing
assets and penetrating organizations, which we've put to use
over the years in taking down major organized crime syndicates.
We're also
improving in some critical ways. We're in the process, for example,
of modernizing our information technology infrastructure. That's
Silicon-Valley speak for "fixing our computers." Technology
is key to our ability to draw connections and share information
in ways that are proactive and preventative. To help us improve,
we've hired some of the best and the brightest from private
industry, including executives from the likes of IBM, HP, and
Lucent. And we're making progress day-by-day.
Information
and intelligence are also fundamental to prevention, and we
are gathering more intelligence and analyzing it more quickly
than ever before, centralizing it in Washington and sharing
it with partners far and wide. Intelligence has now become for
the FBI an effort that is recognized as important in its own
right, and its status is on par with our major investigative
programs. We recently hired a long-time intelligence expert
from NSA to strengthen our overall intelligence efforts, and
she is already making a difference.
Another
important focus is partnerships. I've been with the FBI nearly
30 years, and I have never seen a greater priority put on relationships
and teamwork. Today, we work more closely than ever with the
CIA and other federal partners, with state and local law enforcement,
and with our many international colleagues. We have plenty of
new partners as well - like George and everyone in the Department
of Homeland Security. Our cooperation today is such that if
you hear about a success against terrorism - whether it's rolling
up a sleeper cell here in the states or arresting a top al-Qai'da
lieutenant like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in Pakistan - you know
that it was the product of teamwork.
The key
operational forces for fighting terrorism here in the U.S. are
what we call our Joint Terrorism Task Forces. There are 84 nationwide
- including one here in San Francisco and several in the Los
Angeles area. These task forces - which include representatives
of a range of local, state, and federal agencies - do all the
investigative legwork and keep their finger on the pulse of
what's happening in a given community.
Another
important partnership - announced two weeks ago - is the new
Terrorist Screening Center. This multi-agency center will support
those who work to keep terrorists from crossing our borders
by creating a single, comprehensive watch list available across
the board 24 hours a day.
Overseas,
as many of you know, we have 45 international offices - what
we call Legal Attaches or Legats. These offices are where we
build the partnerships that are so critical to fighting international
terrorist and criminal networks. It is hard to forge agreements,
arrange renditions, make persuasive arguments on issues, and
discuss cases when your "partner" is sitting at a
desk thousands of miles away. We need to be on the ground overseas,
with Agents who know the cultures, the legal and criminal justice
systems, and the players in a given country. Our Legats give
us that presence.
Our success against terrorism will be determined, in large part,
by the quality of the relationships we develop worldwide. On
his various trips around globe, Director Mueller has heard again
and again from international officials that we have to stop
meeting at crime scenes. We need to meet more often before attacks,
so we can prevent them from occurring in the first place.
More and
more, we're doing that. The cooperation internationally since
September 11 has been outstanding. More than 3,000 terrorist
operatives have been arrested worldwide in the past two years,
including top al-Qai'da leadership. And even when there are
attacks, our partnerships are only getting stronger. In recent
months, for example, the FBI has sent teams to cities like Riyadh,
Jakarta, Casablanca, and Baghdad to help investigate terrorist
strikes. Before September 11, when the FBI went overseas we
were focused on developing evidence for a prosecution in U.S.
courts. Today, we are giving little thought to where a case
will be tried or who will get credit. We are just going to help.
And we have seen the difference in cooperation from international
partners.
In line
with that theme of cooperation, let me talk about some specific
ways we can help each other in this broader campaign to defeat
al-Qai'da.
As much
as they would like to, terrorists cannot spend forever hiding
in the remote corners of the world. They have to interact with
society, particularly if they intend to strike inside the United
States. They will go shopping and set up bank accounts. They
will buy equipment, weapons, and technology. They may contact
and communicate with supporters and fellow operatives here and
overseas. They may try to go back and forth across borders.
They may try to commit petty crimes - like credit card fraud
- to support their activities.
All of
these are opportunities to identify and stop terrorists from
doing harm. And everyone can play a role by keeping their eyes
open and reporting any unusual or suspicious activities to our
Joint Terrorism Task Forces or to our Legats overseas.
If you
are in the diplomatic community, for example, you may encounter
individuals with questionable backgrounds who are attempting
to obtain passports. You may pick up bits of useful information
on suspicious characters from your respective countries. I understand
that several consulates on the West Coast have provided the
FBI with relevant information relating to terrorism in recent
months. In one case, a diplomatic establishment gave us information
on stolen passports that it had reason to believe were in the
possession of individuals from the Middle East. That's exactly
the kind of cooperation it takes to defeat the global threat
of terror.
Those of
you from the business world can - and have - played an important
role as well. A number of banks and financial institutions,
for example, have helped us track down sources of terrorist
funding. Other organizations have provided us with information
on specific individuals or specialized experience on key issues.
We appreciate that help. We also appreciate your keeping an
eye on suspicious purchases, whether it is chemicals or weapons
or technology.
In this
day and age, I would also make this suggestion: know whom you
are hiring. We had a case recently where a company used a temp,
liked his work, and brought him on board full-time without conducting
any background checks. That employee later raided the company's
electronic systems and fled to the Middle East. Which brings
me to another point: make sure you have good digital security.
If you haven't already, you might want to join our local chapter
of InfraGard, a joint effort between the FBI and private sector
companies focused on guarding critical infrastructure by sharing
information and strategies.
Our relationships,
of course, go both ways. We in the FBI understand that it is
in our best interests to support you just as you support us.
It is up to the FBI to help you understand what to look for,
to share strategies, to work with you to harden targets, and
most importantly, to share threat information that may impact
this community or your countries back home. I believe we're
doing a better job of that -- not perfect, but better. Please,
if you have questions, concerns, ideas, or issues, don't hesitate
to contact us. When it comes to terrorism, we want to make sure
that no stone is left unturned.
Let me
close on a personal note. When I left San Francisco 17 months
ago, one of the things I took with me was a picture of the Golden
Gate Bridge that was given to me by my friends and colleagues
here. That picture now hangs in a central spot in my new office
in Washington. It shows the bridge back in 1936 when it was
still under construction. You can see both sides of the bridge
as they are being formed, but the structure doesn't yet fully
span the Bay.
I like
that picture not only because it reminds me of the city I consider
my home, but also because it says a great deal about our work
ahead. Our future success, in my mind, hinges on our ability
to build bridges of cooperation and mutual support between our
countries and our organizations. The stronger those bridges
are, and the faster we build them, the safer we will all be.
More than anything, that is the message I want to leave you
with today.
Thanks
for having me, thanks for your support of the FBI, and God bless.