Today in my paper I am greeted by an article form the New York Times, by David Johnston -
FBI ASKS PUBLICS HELP IN FINDING ANTHRAX SOURCE
“The director of the Federal Beareau of investigation said friday that after weeks of investigation, the government had no idea who was behind the anthrax attacks, and he appealed to the public for help in solving the case.”
WHAT?!!
Now, i am not really in a position to tell the FBI how to do there job, but seriously! What happened to us? When did we go from being the best in the world to being reduced to giving up and begging the public for leads?
Granted, Things like America’s most wanted have helped and other public awareness things have worked, but on a case of this maganitude, i would like something a little better than “We just don’t know” and “If you knoww that someone is doing different things with anthrax then they are supposed to be, and its’ somewhat suspicious, were asking you to let us know.”
Maybe this is more of a Pit thing, but I wanted to know - when did we lose all our superiority? How? Whos fault? Clinton? Reagen? Or were we always like this and i was too stupid to notice?
Dropping an envelope in a mailbox is one of the most anonymous actions one can perform. Anthrax is available to numerous individuals around the country who work in various biology and veterinary laboratories. Unless they have revealed more information in the last day that I have missed, every case of traceable anthrax has been the result of one of three letters, all posted from the same office. (Kathy(sp) Nguyen’s contamination is still a mystery.)
So. What magical device or procedure is going to let them break the case in fewer than 30 days? By carefully moving around the country to mail his bombs, the Unabomber was able to remain undetected for years–and was only caught when his manifesto was published (over several protests) and his brother recognized much of the phrasing in the text.
I am actually not a big fan of the FBI, but I’m not going to criticize them for not using 25th century spy powers or relying on clairvoyance to magically apprehend the culprit.
One of the worst things that Hollywood has done has given Americans a bloated sense of the power and omniscience of their government.
Tech is great, a fine tool. It gets you jack without humint. Things do not happen by magic.
I have the firm sense that 99% of Americans have an utterly unrealistic idea of how information gathering happens and how much info one actually gets.
Your idea of USA’s superiority was likely always a myth. Now we’ve had to confront our own inflated press. Next time you watch one of those all powerful Gov movies (say Air Force One, or Enemy Number One --what was the Will Smith vehicle, I’ve messed up the name–) now you’ll know its 100% fiction.
You are all so right…
I suppose that i watched too many 50’s America Propaganda movies at 2:00 in the morning, and i was skewered. It just seemd odd to me that a police force so (this is probably not true either, but oh well) great and powerful and sophisticated would at least give some image of possesing knowledge rather than saying that they are totally clueless. This is not a new thing i noticed though. The Unabomber took i think (correct me on this) 14 years, and even then his brother turned him in. The Tylonol killer was not caught, the FBI screwed up royally on the Timothy McVeigh trial, and other things that i am too tired to mention. No question about it, the FBI and the CIA are in a state of turbulence, to say the least.
To all my SDMB colleuges: Please bear with any stupid posts i make, these events have messed me up a bit, and like many americans, i am not seeing straight at the moment. Thank you
The FBI–and law enforcement agencies in general–have always relied on public tips and witnesses or informants coming forward. Really, it’s a historically relatively new phenomenon that modern forensic science (fingerprints, blood typing, bullet to gun-barrel matching, fiber analysis, DNA, etc.) has been available to supplement your basic gumshoe work of interviewing people who might have seen something and appealing to the public for leads.
Quite right. Though it astonishes some people who buy into the Hollywood myth, relying on public tips, snitches, “Top 10 Wanted” posters, crime-solver TV programs, etc. is critical to the FBI’s success. Perhaps the Bureau’s greatest asset is 280 million sets of eyes keeping watch. Would you have them go it alone?
The FBI’s mission is almost impossible, given a population of more than a quarter-billion people and the ability of motivated, cash-flush terrorists to maintain transparency. The American public bristles at the idea of FBI surveillance, yet expects miracles when the shit hits the fan. Can’t have it both ways.