http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071001/NATION/110010...
Terror database gets plenty of hits
October 1, 2007
By Sara A. Carter - The Terrorist Screening Center has detected more
than 40,000 people trying to gain entry into the U.S. who either
associated with terrorist groups or were known terrorists themselves,
and the database is only going to get better, says the agency's chief.
"The country is undoubtedly much safer today as a result of the work
at the Terrorist Screening Center," said Director Leonard C. Boyle,
who added that his agency is working to fix problems with the database
identified by the Department of Justice's Inspector General.
Mr. Boyle told The Washington Times that a memorandum of understanding
was signed last month by very "high ranking members" in all federal
law-enforcement agencies to assist the Terrorist Screening Center
(TSC) - the nation's primary center for helping government officials
identify and apprehend terrorists - in removing names that should not
be there and increasing the accuracy of the names that should.
"We can more directly determine whether a person who is on a watch
list should be on the watch list," Mr. Boyle said of the memorandum,
which took effect immediately, although he did not provide a copy of
it. "This memorandum of understanding is to be principally responsible
to redress the determination."
As of April 2004, the database contained more than 700,000 entries.
The list is developed through the intelligence community responsible
for for eign targets being placed on the list, while the FBI is
responsible for placing domestic terrorist threats to the list.
It is not certain, however, how many of the more than 40,000 actual
terrorist hits were stopped from entering the U.S. by the agencies
accessing the database.
Although the FBI's worldwide screening center was successful in
detecting positive terrorist matches worldwide, the center is not
responsible for stopping their entry into the U.S.
"What we do is to provide those screeners with as much information as
we have on that particular person and their ties to terrorism," Mr.
Boyle said. "The agencies make the final determination on whether they
can enter. We simply provide information. When we determine whether
that person is on the watch list, we notify the FBI, and the FBI can
take whatever measures it deems necessary."
Between December 2003 and May 2007, TSC has recorded about 99,000
calls for possible terrorist hits from government and law-enforcement
agencies such as the State Department and U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.
Mr. Boyle said recent criticism from the Inspector General's
investigation is understandable, but the report failed to mention the
numerous terrorists who have been prevented from entering the country
since the inception of the database.
"In the space of 3ВЅ years, the Terrorist Screening Center has made
extraordinary strides in providing information on known and suspected
terrorists to those who have to make the important determination on
persons whom we should allow into the country," Mr. Boyle said.
Mr. Boyle said that the creation of the database, which was not
available before the September 11 terrorist attacks, has enabled "a
force multiplier of 750,000 police officers" including municipal,
county, state and tribal officers.
"Prior to the creation of the screening center, while those persons at
State and customs had access to some information regarding the
applicant, they did not have access to the entire U.S. government law
enforcement and intelligence community database, of known and
suspected terrorists. As a result of the TSC's creation, all of that
information is now available to those screeners."
While the Justice Department report noted that the consolidated watch
list is successful in helping law enforcement and government officials
screen persons for terrorist connections, it added that the database
still faces numerous challenges.
"Although we found that the TSC had successfully created and deployed
a consolidated watch list database, we also determined that the TSC
could not ensure that the information in that database was complete
and accurate," the report stated. "We found instances where the
consolidated database did not contain names that should have been
included on the watch list. In addition, we found inaccurate
information related to persons included in the database."
One of the most widely reported mistakes was the 2004 detention of
1970s folk singer Cat Stevens, who converted and changed his name to
Yusuf Islam, which reportedly resembles a name that, with slight
spelling changes, is on the U.S. "terror watch" list.
Mr. Boyle said the governmentwide process will better use the
biometric system - including fingerprints, DNA and iris scans - to
ensure the effectiveness of the list. He said he understands the
concerns reported over the recent years of persons being wrongly
placed on the "no-fly" lists.
Still, the director emphasized that the process to remove persons from
the list "is one that takes time."
"Our first obligation is protecting the American public," said Mr.
Boyle. "It is not simply protecting them from attack but doing so in
such a way to protect their privacy and civil liberties. We remove
names every day for people no longer suspected of being on the
terrorist watch list, but the process is not always instantaneous."
