Information-Sharing, Accountability Issues Plague U.S. Intelligence | CQ Homeland Security
Despite laws enacted since Sept. 11, 2001, that sought to ensure swift and reliable information-sharing among intelligence agencies, the Christmas airliner attack has cast a glaring light on lapses in cooperation.
The failures have drawn criticism from key members of Congress in both parties and a vow by President Obama to force improvements.
According to news reports, a number of agencies had pieces of information about the Nigerian man who attempted to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam as it was approaching Detroit. But the information gathered by the CIA, the State Department and others wasn’t transmitted effectively — or analyzed properly — by the National Counterterrorism Center, which recommends listing suspected terrorists on special watch lists that either bar them from commercial flights or subject them to heightened scrutiny.
