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From USA Today online:


http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20041006/oppose06.art.htm

FBI's backlog is overstated
By Cassandra M. Chandler

During the past three years, the FBI has substantially improved its ability to analyze foreign-language terrorist intercepts. Americans are safer as a result, and we continue to strengthen our capabilities every day.

Reports that the FBI has 123,000 hours of counterterrorism audio recordings waiting for review are not accurate. In the highest-priority counterterrorism investigations, there is no backlog, and all intercepts are reviewed within 24 hours. While we do have a backlog in certain lower-priority counterterrorism matters, that backlog is only 2,800 hours — less than 1% of the total number of hours of audio collected in the FBI's counterterrorism investigations.

In arriving at the 123,000-hour figure, the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General looked at the gross number of audio hours collected by the FBI in counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations in certain languages and subtracted the gross number of audio hours reviewed during the period from Oct. 1, 2001, through Jan. 1, 2004. The numbers did not distinguish between terrorism and other investigations, so the resulting statistics include cases that have nothing to do with terrorism.

Today, new technologies and management improvements are helping us prioritize assignments and track our response time. We have also instituted strict quality controls.

Most important, we have hired more than 700 linguists since Sept. 11, 2001, and we will continue to hire qualified linguists to meet future needs. Like all intelligence organizations, we have difficulty finding speakers of lesser-used languages.

To overcome these difficulties, we have a dynamic recruiting campaign to identify, attract and hire qualified linguists. We offer hiring bonuses, training, a clear path to promotion and a chance to work closely with investigators and analysts as part of the FBI's Directorate of Intelligence. And FBI linguists can work in any of our field offices across the country so they don't have to relocate to serve their country in the war on terrorism.


Cassandra M. Chandler is the assistant director of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs.
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