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.