With Congress and the White House deadlocked over anti-terrorism legislation, CIA Director John Deutch is predicting a dramatic increase in terrorism and advocating a shift in strategy to meet the threat.
"There is going to be tremendous growth in international terrorism over the next decade or so," Deutch told the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, "not only directed against Americans but throughout the world."To combat terrorists, the CIA will need to rely more heavily on two of its most criticized tools: human intelligence and clandestine operations, according to Deutch.
He said the CIA is shifting resources from other branches into its counterterrorism organization and is working to improve historically strained relations with the FBI to better combat terrorism.
"It is a very, very serious matter, and it deserves a very high priority," Deutch said.
At the White House, meanwhile, President Clinton, speaking before vetoing a bill that would have cut funding for hiring and training new police officers, said Congress has a responsibility to "give law enforcement the tools they need" to fight terrorism, especially in light of the Oklahoma City bombing.
"A few people with extreme views have prevented the House of Representatives from even considering the bill," Clinton said.
Clinton offered the legislation after a bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in April, killing 169 people. The measure passed the Senate in June but has been blocked in the House by liberals and conservatives who argue it is a threat to civil liberties.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., sought to address those concerns by removing provisions that expand wiretapping authority, define terrorism in terms of firearms use and permit the use of the military in emergencies involving chemical or biological weapons.
The original White House proposal would have made it easier for federal law enforcement agencies to conduct wiretaps on groups linked to terrorism, created a special court to deport aliens suspected of terrorism, barred groups linked to terrorism from raising funds within the United States and required that tracing materials be added to plastic explosives.
Deutch told lawmakers that because of the shadowy nature of terrorist organizations, many of the technical assets in the CIA arsenal, such as spy satellites and sophisticated listening devices, are of little use.
"It is not like searching for fixed silos in an intercontinental ballistic missile field in Russia," Deutch said. "One has to rely to an extraordinary degree on human intelligence."
The quality of the CIA's effort in that area has been under intense scrutiny since an internal report revealed that convicted CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames had set up double agents who fed tainted in-formation on Soviet military capability to U.S. intelligence gatherers.
Support for law enforcement is one of the CIA's most important post-Cold War missions, Deutch said, as terrorism and drug trafficking become increasingly international.
Nevertheless, Deutch insisted that the CIA - not the FBI or Justice Department - should continue to play the lead role in gathering intelligence on terrorism. He opposed any notion of funneling resources to Justice or the FBI to finance intelligence gathering through "an expanded law enforcement presence overseas."
"Good cops make bad spies, and I also believe that good spies make bad cops," Deutch said.