The US Justice Department sharply eased restrictions on domestic spying on Thursday, handing the FBI broad, new authority to monitor Internet sites, libraries, churches and political organisations for clues to terrorist plots.
The changes were announced by Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller. Ashcroft, claiming FBI agents in the field have been hampered by a range of bureaucratic restrictions, said the new guidelines would help them to do their jobs.
”These restrictions are a competitive advantage for terrorists,” Ashcroft said of existing rules. He said, for instance, that under present guidelines, FBI agents ”cannot surf the Web, the way you and I can,” and cannot simply walk into public events to observe people and activities.
The new guidelines give agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation more freedom to investigate terrorism even when they are not pursuing a particular case.
President George Bush welcomed the overhaul. ”The FBI needed to change. It was an organisation full of fine people who loved America but the organisation didn’t meet the times,” he said before the guidelines were announced to the public.
Mueller said the changes ”will be exceptionally helpful to us.”
”Our reforms of the FBI will and must strengthen our ability to prevent future terrorist attacks,” the FBI director said.
But the American Civil Liberties Union criticised the loosening of restrictions on domestic spying, saying they could roll back protections and renew abuses of the past.
Under existing rules, FBI agents are not allowed to do general research on the Internet or at public libraries unless the information sought directly relates to a current investigation or to leads being checked out. The new policy, which does not require congressional approval, removes these obstacles.
Ashcroft said agents in the field ”are frustrated because many of our internal restrictions have hampered” their efforts to move quickly on investigations.
Among the changes announced on Thursday is one that would permit the special agents in charge of FBI field offices to undertake investigations with less red tape from Washington.
”These major changes will free field agents to pursue terrorists vigorously without waiting for headquarters to act,” he said.
The changes are part of a wide-ranging FBI reorganisation that follows harsh criticism of the bureau’s handling of information that, in some cases, apparently was available before terrorists struck September 11. – Sapa-AP