US scrambles on security

Amid finger-pointing at where to lay the blame, the role and capabilities of US intelligence agencies has become a centrepiece of the debate on how to best uncover plots before it is too late.

"September 11 woke up everyone in America to the reality that we're in a war on terrorism," said Senator Richard Shelby, the senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

There are no shortage of changes - shifting the role of the FBI from crime fighting to anti-terrorism, beefing up CIA spying operations and proposing the creation of a new Cabinet-level Homeland Security Department, to name several new developments.

But the changes cannot guarantee the prevention of another attack and al Qaeda, the guerilla group blamed by the US for the attacks, is still very much a threat poised to strike again, American officials say.

"The most important lesson learned is that our borders are no longer relevant in protecting the American people. Certainly we have to go out there and snuff out terrorism where it originates," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

The CIA, FBI and National Security Agency, which eavesdrops on electronic communications worldwide, have come under the most scrutiny after what critics say was a huge intelligence failure to detect the September 11 plot.

Nineteen men using box cutters, some trained at US flight schools, hijacked four commercial planes which crashed into twin skyscrapers in New York, the Pentagon outside Washington and a Pennsylvania field. More than 3,000 people were killed.

The attack left Americans feeling vulnerable about their security and turned government focus onto fighting terrorism and protecting against another attack.

"What changed much more than terrorism itself was the whole American posture toward it," a US official said.

The House and Senate intelligence committees are conducting a joint inquiry into what went wrong and how to fix it, and some lawmakers are pushing for an independent commission to conduct a broader review.

It may never be known whether the attack could have been prevented if missed clues had been tied together, and even new safeguards and heightened awareness might not stop an attack.

"There is no guarantee that this would not happen again. But we can reduce risks and that is what our goal is," Pelosi said.

An FBI agent in Phoenix wrote a memo in July 2001 expressing concern that Middle Eastern men were training at US flight schools. That was not linked to the detention a month later on immigration charges of Zacarias Moussaoui, who had sought flying lessons in Minnesota.

Moussaoui is the only person charged in the September 11 attacks. He has denied involvement but has said he was a member of al Qaeda and had sworn his allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

A key failing was the lack of cooperation and information sharing inside the CIA and FBI and with each other, lawmakers say. The agencies have taken steps to resolve that issue.

But a deeper change in culture and mind-set is required to face a foe that strikes from the shadows, experts said.

"There was something about the Cold War that at a certain point had become familiar. Oh yeah it's those pesky old Russians again and we sort of had learned how to deal with each other," a US official said.

With the Soviets it was a question of whether they would attack, but al Qaeda has already demonstrated it will.

"I worried about Russian missiles, and there was reason to worry about them, but there was something iffy about it," the official said. "This isn't iffy, this is unfortunately as real as it's going to get, and that's a major change."

Intelligence agencies are getting increased funding to recruit more spies, more people with foreign language skills, and upgrade technology - all long-standing problem areas.

But priorities need sharper focus because the vast amount of intelligence collected is useless unless it is analysed in a timely fashion, critics say.

"There may not be enough analysts on the face of the earth to analyse all of the collection that is being done," Pelosi said. So a judgment on priorities is required with the goal of uncovering "the plans and intentions of our adversaries," she said.

US spy agencies were criticised for relying too heavily on foreign intelligence services with their own agendas.

For example, one intelligence expert said, unsubstantiated reports of al Qaeda members regrouping in Iraq probably came from Israeli intelligence which has an interest in the United States taking action against Baghdad.

The US in its hunt for al Qaeda has been in close cooperation with Pakistan's intelligence service, which probably has members who support Osama bin Laden, experts say.

"Lots of people have their own agendas, they see the world through their own prism," a US official said, adding that US spy agencies were well aware of that.