http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/bush/
DAY 103:
On October 12, 2001, the FBI requested $1.5 billion to fund its counterterrorism efforts. The Bush White House cut that request by two-thirds, to $531 million. Attorney General John Ashcroft cut the FBI's request for items including computer-networking and foreign-language intercepts by half, a cyber-security request by three-quarters, and eliminated altogether a request for "collaborative capabilities."
Before September 11, the FBI requested $588 million in increased funding for 2003. Part of that increase would have been used to hire 54 translators and 248 counterterrorism agents. In the 2003 budget request Ashcroft sent to the White House, on September 10, 2001, he did not include the FBI's request and he proposed cuts in some counterterrorism programs.
In April 2000, Ashcroft's predecessor, Janet Reno, called terrorism "the most challenging threat in the criminal justice area." Reno also increased the Justice Department's counterterrorism budget by 13.6 percent in 1999, 7.1 percent in 2000, and 22.7 percent in 2001.
A "Strategic Plan" produced by Ashcroft's office on August 9, 2001, did not include fighting terrorism as one of the department's seven goals; it was listed as a subgoal, beneath gun violence and drugs, and was not among the 13 objectives highlighted as an "Attorney General Goal."
A month earlier, however, in July 2001, Ashcroft began using a private jet after an FBI "threat assessment" warned him against commercial flights.
(Sources: Dana Milbank, "FBI Budget Squeezed After 9/11," Washington Post, March 22, 2004. See article at: washingtonpost.com. Adam Clymer, "How Sept. 11 Changed Goals of Justice Dept.," New York Times, February 28, 2002. See article at: criminology.fsu.edu. Julian Borger, "Ashcroft Drawn Into Row Over September 11," Guardian, May 21, 2002. See article at: guardian.co.uk.)
DAY 103:
On October 12, 2001, the FBI requested $1.5 billion to fund its counterterrorism efforts. The Bush White House cut that request by two-thirds, to $531 million. Attorney General John Ashcroft cut the FBI's request for items including computer-networking and foreign-language intercepts by half, a cyber-security request by three-quarters, and eliminated altogether a request for "collaborative capabilities."
Before September 11, the FBI requested $588 million in increased funding for 2003. Part of that increase would have been used to hire 54 translators and 248 counterterrorism agents. In the 2003 budget request Ashcroft sent to the White House, on September 10, 2001, he did not include the FBI's request and he proposed cuts in some counterterrorism programs.
In April 2000, Ashcroft's predecessor, Janet Reno, called terrorism "the most challenging threat in the criminal justice area." Reno also increased the Justice Department's counterterrorism budget by 13.6 percent in 1999, 7.1 percent in 2000, and 22.7 percent in 2001.
A "Strategic Plan" produced by Ashcroft's office on August 9, 2001, did not include fighting terrorism as one of the department's seven goals; it was listed as a subgoal, beneath gun violence and drugs, and was not among the 13 objectives highlighted as an "Attorney General Goal."
A month earlier, however, in July 2001, Ashcroft began using a private jet after an FBI "threat assessment" warned him against commercial flights.
(Sources: Dana Milbank, "FBI Budget Squeezed After 9/11," Washington Post, March 22, 2004. See article at: washingtonpost.com. Adam Clymer, "How Sept. 11 Changed Goals of Justice Dept.," New York Times, February 28, 2002. See article at: criminology.fsu.edu. Julian Borger, "Ashcroft Drawn Into Row Over September 11," Guardian, May 21, 2002. See article at: guardian.co.uk.)
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
traviscommeau:
yeah, let me add you to my list and fire up that program... i'll see if i can make it up north a bit, maybe we could get a half-way point or something...
traviscommeau:
603-493-2872