As America is set to pause and reflect upon the last decade since the horrific events of 9/11, and new threats of suicide bombings this weekend have emerged, Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA10), offered an amendment that was adopted today by the full House that “sets up a process to create a panel of outside experts to bring “fresh eyes” to U.S. counterterrorism analysis, specifically focusing on domestic radicalization.”
According to a Wolf press release:
Wolf, who authored the legislation creating the 1998 National Commission on Terrorism, envisions the panel examining how to establish an effective “Team B” strategy to provide the intelligence community and law enforcement agencies with objective evaluations of U.S. counterterrorism policy and offering recommendations to combat new and emerging threats. (Historically the phrase “Team B” refers to a group of outside experts commissioned by the CIA in the 1970s to analyze threats posed by the former Soviet Union to the U.S. to counter the positions of intelligence officials within the CIA known as “Team A.”)
“The intelligence community and federal law enforcement official are so inundated with reports and investigations today that they do not have the time or capacity to step back and strategically reevaluate the threat before us,” Wolf said. “The Team B concept has been successful in previous administrations when fresh eyes were needed to provide leaders with objective information to make informed decisions and I believe the time has come to employ that strategy again.”
The amendment is based on legislation Wolf introduced in April. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), chairwoman of the House Intelligence subcommittee that handles terrorism issues, and Rep. Peter King (R-NY), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, are lead cosponsors of the legislation. As chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee with oversight of the FBI and other counterterrorism agencies, Wolf has been urging the Obama Administration to create the group for nearly two years. The administration has failed to to embrace the idea, despite the support of respected counterterrorism experts, including Georgetown University professor Dr. Bruce Hoffman.
“We need a strategy which focuses not just on connecting the dots of intelligence, but which seeks to stay a step ahead in understanding how to break the radicalization and recruitment cycle that sustains our enemy, how to disrupt their network globally and how to strategically isolate them,” Wolf said.
The legislation now moves on to the Senate.
