CIA opens new terrorism intelligence center
The federal government's new hub for analyzing terrorism-related intelligence opened Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. Named the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), it is made up of counterterrorism analysts and agents from the CIA and the FBI.
The center is the latest initiative in the Bush administration's ongoing realignment of federal agencies with responsibilities for fighting terrorism. The White House has said TTIC will fuse intelligence from across government about terrorists, their plans and operations to better understand where future threats lie.
"TTIC offers a new and innovative approach to addressing the terrorist threats that face our nation, and it marshals resources from across the intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security communities," said CIA Director George Tenet in a CIA-issued statement.
Many observers and some members of Congress had presumed that the new Homeland Security Department would become the central analysis center, since the law establishing the department envisions that role. However, in his state of the union address in January, President Bush announced the CIA would lead the effort. That agency's counterterrorism center, replete with seasoned analysts, will comprise part of TTIC, which will be rounded out by the FBI's counterterrorism division and other intelligence elements from the Defense, State, Justice and Homeland Security departments.
In May 2004, TTIC will move out of its temporary offices at CIA headquarters to a new building. That location hasn't been determined.
In March, CIA Director George Tenet appointed Deputy Executive Director John Brennan to head TTIC. Brennan has worked for the CIA for 23 years.
The intelligence realignment, the most significant since the Sept. 11 attacks, has raised the concern of intelligence experts, some of whom worry about the consequences of aligning a division of the CIA so closely with one from the FBI. The CIA's counterterrorism center is an operational unit, meaning its agents are engaged in counterterrorism activities overseas that aren't governed by the same laws that apply to agents from the FBI. For nearly 30 years, the FBI's ability to conduct intelligence gathering has been strictly curtailed, following revelations in the mid-1970s that the bureau had engaged in operations against U.S. citizens.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., Tuesday sent a letter to President Bush asking him to reconsider establishing TTIC "under the command of the CIA."
Lieberman wrote that the creation of the center "was a positive step in our government's war on terrorism. However, the implementation of [TTIC]-specifically its location, composition, and control-appears to be misguided and potentially calamitous."
By placing the center under the CIA's direction, Lieberman said it would be removed from the government's "daily efforts" to improve defenses against terrorism, which are being led by the Homeland Security Department. The senator also feared that the center's current location would reinforce historical rivalries among intelligence agencies and with the FBI that have been said to inhibit sharing of terrorism information.
In the CIA statement, FBI Director Robert Mueller appeared to refute worries that bureaucratic divisions will hamper the fight against terrorism. "Working side by side, TTIC officers will assess, analyze and disseminate threat information collected from here and abroad to those agencies and officials working to protect our nation," he said.
For his part, Lieberman wrote to the president that, "The current design fails to apply the lessons of Sept. 11 and threatens the progress of much-needed reforms." Placing TTIC outside Homeland Security also "ignores the mandates" of the law enacted last year that established the department, he said. That legislation gives the department "primary responsibility to access, receive, analyze, and integrate all intelligence and law enforcement information…in order to assess, identify, and detect terrorist threats," Lieberman said.
The senator's spokeswoman said the White House has not responded to his letter.
In the CIA statement, Gordon England, Homeland Security's deputy secretary, said, "TTIC is absolutely crucial to the Department of Homeland Security. We could not do our job without a center like this."