Good
afternoon. It is a pleasure to be here with so many
colleagues in law enforcement.
I want to thank Peter Wilson, chief constable of
the Fife Constabulary, for organizing this conference.
Pete has been a busy man of late. In recent months,
Pete and his colleagues have weathered the G-8 Summit,
Prince William’s graduation from Saint Andrews
University, and the British Open. From protesters
to royal-watchers to sports fans, Pete has seen
it all. And he scheduled this conference on top
of all that. Thank you, Pete.
I also want to thank all of you for your continued
cooperation in the war on crime and terrorism. Your
participation in the National Academy program proves
the old adage true: there is strength in numbers.
The National Academy is one of the crown jewels
of the FBI. The National Academy is world-renowned
not just for its training programs, but for bringing
law enforcement officers from all parts of the world
together for a common purpose. We have created an
international network of law enforcement. And that
network grows larger each day.
Since its inception 70 years ago, more than 36,000
students have graduated from the National Academy,
including 2,500 international students from more
than 150 countries. To put it in perspective, there
are roughly 36,000 yellow bricks on desks and in
bookcases around the world. And those bricks do
not merely represent your commitment to continued
education or to physical fitness. They represent
the relationships you have built with your colleagues
in law enforcement.
With every yellow brick, we are building a foundation
for global law enforcement ... a foundation based
on communication, cooperation, and commitment to
the citizens of the world.
Today I want to talk about some of the changes we
have made in the FBI to further information sharing
and coordination with our international law enforcement
partners and what those changes have meant to our
efforts.
Twenty years ago, the idea of regularly communicating
and collaborating with our law enforcement and intelligence
counterparts around the world was as foreign as
the Internet or the mobile phone. But times have
changed. Indeed, the world itself has changed.
To quote New York Times columnist and best-selling
author Tom Friedman, we are living in a “flat
world.” Advances in technology, travel, and
communication have broken down walls between continents,
countries, and individuals.
But globalization is a double-edged sword. Increasingly,
technology and the global community of the Internet
are used not only to break down walls, but to sustain
and nurture hatred and violence.
Fortunately, we, too, are breaking down walls. We
are using technology to win the war against crime
and terror. We are creating our own “flat
world” within the Bureau and within the intelligence
and law enforcement communities.
Seventeen years ago, I came to Scotland to investigate
the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. You may recall
that in 1988, shortly before Christmas, Flight 103
exploded over Lockerbie, killing all 259 people
aboard and 11 townspeople on the ground. As a prosecutor
for the Department of Justice, I had seen my share
of violent crimes. But this was no ordinary criminal
case: This was one of the first instances in which
terrorism hit home for many Americans.
This case had a strong impact on me. At the crash
site, there was a small wooden warehouse that held
the various personal effects of the passengers on
this doomed flight: a teenager’s white sneaker,
a Syracuse University sweatshirt—everyday
pieces of clothing and personal belongings that
would never again be used.
These ordinary items brought this tragedy home to
me. They became symbols of the pain and the unbearable
loss felt by those whose family members, friends,
and colleagues died that evening.
Solving this case required unprecedented international
cooperation. Investigators from Great Britain, Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, and the United States worked
together to capture two of the terrorists responsible
for this attack and bring them to justice.
I am proud of the work of these colleagues—American,
British, and European—on the Lockerbie investigation.
But I am even more proud of the long-standing relationships
we have created in the years since that attack.
Before September 11, we collected intelligence to
solve crimes. For the most part,
we shared information and collaborated with our
law enforcement and intelligence counterparts on
a case-specific basis—like the Lockerbie case.
Today, we are sharing information and working together
every day to prevent crime, to
prevent the next terrorist attack.
We understand that we cannot afford to meet our
international counterparts at crime scenes after
the fact. We must work together to dismantle criminal
enterprises and terrorist cells, destroy their financial
networks, and disrupt their plans before
they strike.
International Partnerships
To function as a global law enforcement agency,
we must all routinely collaborate with our law enforcement
and intelligence counterparts around the world.
I would like to elaborate on a few of the FBI’s
efforts to create new partnerships, including our
Legal Attaché offices, our joint terrorist
financing investigations, and other joint task forces.
The FBI has 52 Legal Attaché offices—known
as “Legats”—around the world.
Through these Legats, we share information with
our international law enforcement and intelligence
partners and assist with international investigations.
We have seen a number of successes in recent months.
On September 7, notorious British con man Robert
Hendy-Freegard—also known as the “James
Bond con man”—was sentenced to life
in prison for kidnapping, theft, and deception.
The car salesman-turned-con man convinced his victims
that he was a British MI5 spy conducting an undercover
campaign against the IRA. Over a period of 10 years,
Hendy-Freegard fleeced his victims and their families
of nearly $2 million through highly elaborate and
manipulative means. And it took a three-year joint
sting operation by New Scotland Yard and the FBI
to capture him.
Earlier this month, a massive international sweep
targeting violent gang members in the United States
and Central America netted more than 650 arrests.
The operation involved more than 6,000 government
agents in five countries: the United States, El
Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. Top officials
from each country coordinated their efforts from
a joint command post at FBI Headquarters in Washington,
D.C. This combined effort to target gang members
is without precedent.
Joint International Task Forces
We also participate on a number of joint international
task forces. One of our most important ongoing partnerships
is the investigation of terrorist financing mechanisms.
Money is the lifeblood of terrorist organizations.
If we cut off the funding, we disable the terrorists.
The FBI’s Terrorist Financing Section has
teamed up with the Saudi Arabian police force—the
Mabahith—and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority
to identify people or groups that provide support
to terrorists.
Through this partnership, we have access to the
bank records, biographical information, travel histories,
telephone records, criminal backgrounds, and employment
histories of numerous known or suspected terrorists.
Working together, we have destroyed large chunks
of Al Qaeda’s financial network and frozen
hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. Terrorist
financing intelligence has substantially aided foreign
services in preventing or thwarting terrorist activity
in six separate instances in the past three years.
Our world is a safer place because of these efforts.
Aside from terrorist financing, we are also working
with our international partners on a number of other
global issues.
For example, we are collaborating closely with the
Russians in the war on terror. Agents from the FBI,
along with our colleagues from the CIA, are working
with Russian security and intelligence officials
to monitor, prevent, and disrupt terrorist attacks
both here and abroad. Gone are the days of the Cold
War. Today, we are fighting a common enemy.
Another example would be the proliferation of child
pornography on the Internet. A significant number
of the web sites that market child pornography originate
in Eastern Europe.
To address that issue, the FBI formed the Innocent
Images International Task Force, where members from
participating countries—including the United
States, Australia, Great Britain, Norway, and Finland,
as well as several Eastern European countries—sit
side-by-side, sharing information and working cases
together.
Training Initiatives
Global partnerships and information sharing are
vital to our success. But training initiatives are
equally important to our efforts.
Since 2001, the FBI has trained more than 20,000
law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts,
and state officials around the world.
This includes continuous training opportunities
for international law enforcement and intelligence
officials through the National Academy, our International
Law Enforcement academies in Hungary and Thailand,
and our counterterrorism training center in Dubai.
We also provide specific training opportunities
based on the needs of our international counterparts.
For example, police executives from Qatar recently
attended a two-week counterterrorism course at the
FBI Academy. In May of this year, explosives experts
from Russia’s Federal Security Service trained
with their FBI counterparts at the Hazardous Devices
School in Alabama. Last year, FBI Special Agents
trained law enforcement officers from Kazakhstan
in human trafficking, terrorist financing, and public
corruption investigations.
A new training program entitled “Leadership
in Counterterrorism” combines the resources
of the FBI, the Scottish Police College, and the
Police College of Northern Ireland.
These training efforts are vital weapons in the
war against global crime and terrorism. As demonstrated
by the recent attacks in London, we cannot confine
today’s criminal and terrorist threats to
isolated countries or even continents.
These are just a few examples of the changes we
have made to further collaboration and coordination
with our international law enforcement partners.
These global partnerships are not a trend; they
are a new way of doing business.
We are all interconnected—law enforcement
and intelligence agencies, private citizens and
multi-national corporations. What happens to one
of us affects all of us.
In this “flat world,” no police officer,
no agency, and no country can prevent crime and
terrorism on its own. We must rely on each other
for human resources and technology, experience,
and expertise. We must create an international network
of law enforcement and intelligence.
In response to the London bombings, Prime Minister
Tony Blair said, “When they try to intimidate
us, we will not be intimidated. When they seek to
change our country, or our way of life ... we will
not be changed. When they try to divide our people
or weaken our resolve, we will not be divided and
our resolve will hold firm.”
He was speaking of the citizens of Great Britain
in particular, but the words ring true for all of
us here today. We will not be intimidated. We will
not be divided. We will not be weakened.
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, we will win the war
against crime and terrorism.
Thank you for inviting me today. I would be happy
to take any questions.