December 22, 2008: The FBI is unhappy with how the
current financial scandals on Wall Street have crippled some counter-terrorism
investigations. The need to investigate the many cases of fiscal malfeasance
(especially the alleged Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme) related to the current
problems in the American financial industry, has shifted many FIB investigators
away from counter-terrorism work. The FBI won't say how many agents have been
diverted from terrorism work, but this appears similar to what happened in the
1990s.
Back then, the bombing of the New York City World
Trade Center in 1993, and later al Qaeda attacks on American targets overseas,
resulted in a huge expansion of FBI counter-terrorism activity. Some
knowledgeable observers noted that the FBI effort would probably work, and
prevent al Qaeda from carrying out another such attack. Indeed, the FBI did
make many arrests and aborted at least one major attack. But it was also noted
that, if the FBI got distracted by other demands, and reduced the
counter-terror effort, al Qaeda would have another shot. The FBI did, and so
did al Qaeda, on September 11, 2001.
