Comments on: Obama Boosts White House Intel Advisory Board

By: Philip Henika

Philip Henika — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:40:29 +0000

Mr. Cerra:

Here is the citation (1) and a quote that piqued my curiosity re: ‘real time’ prevention of terrorist plots. Another contemporary ‘real time’ example was CNN reporting on ‘real time’ events during the Iran election protests. CNN responsibly included disclaimers i.e. independent verification of people and events takes time away from ‘real time’ – right?

(1) http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20090909_2698.php

Foiled Plot Offers Clues to Recent Absence of Major Terror Attacks on West
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009
By James Kitfield
National Journal

“”Without going into the details of a specific case, I will tell you that if we want to succeed in this fight against Islamic radical terrorism, we have to work together in sharing information and strategies, and we have to do it in real time, because this type of information has little value if we share it only after attacks have already taken place,” Camacho, Spain’s counterterrorism chief, emphasized. That is the lesson not only of the Barcelona and Madrid plots, he says, but also of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.”

By: Robert Cerra

Robert Cerra — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:40:07 +0000

THe PIAB and the IOB are very encouraging developments, but what we really need is for the Obama Administration to just be honest with the American people and tell the CIA and the rest of them to simply remain in their offcices and refrain from conducting any intelligence gathering operations and when necessary report any possible violations of law to their superiors.

I agree with Mr Dredd we need to get those pesky military types under control. Mr Henika needs to rethink his ideas of interrupting a terrroist plot. Common sense suggests that the CIA is at or near the CYA mode as they react to all the recent inquiries, investigations and oversights thrown in their path.

By: Philip Henika

Philip Henika — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:48:08 +0000

Steven:

There are an increasing number of citations re: an improved ability of domestic and foreign Intel Agencies to foil e.g. Al Qaeda plots. In some cases, it has been suggested that investigations of Al Qaeda plots have generated sufficient details for ‘real time’ prevention. Madeleine Gruen has posted a detailed timeline for the activities of N. Zazi at the Counterterrorism Blog in what has been called the most significant plot since 9/11. Therefore, I am surprised that “no matters of substance were discussed and no questions from the press were taken at the meeting.” So, one my questions is: does Intel oversight include the possible ramifications of ‘real time’ prevention which I suspect may also intrude, in real time, on privacy issues?

By: Dredd

Dredd — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:32:12 +0000

One problem with this is that the military come under military law in many instances, which protects them from civilian prosecutions sometimes. They study and watch many things, including wiggle room.