FBI-MILITARY ALLIANCE BEARS WATCHING

One can understand the impulse to want to eliminate red tape and get the
job done. But a New York Times story detailing a closer-than-ever working
relationship between the U.S. military and the FBI in the effort to hunt
down suspected al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan nonetheless raises some red
flags.

The traditionally independent military and civilian law enforcement
agencies are cooperating in Pakistan even more than in the drug war, where
the lines of authority previously have been blurred. The experiment in
cooperation in Pakistan is seen as a possible model for similar
anti-terrorist activities in the Philippines, Yemen and elsewhere.

There is some disagreement as to how closely FBI agents are working with
Pakistani police in tracking al-Qaida suspects. Pakistani officials tell
reporters that FBI agents have gone along on raids. American officials say
the FBI role is more limited, that the FBI agents develop and hand over
intelligence information to local officials who then take action.

However the new model is working, it bears watching. Until very recently -
notably the objectionable FBI expansion overseas under former director
Louis Freeh - the FBI was seen as a domestic law enforcement agency. There
are serious questions as to whether the FBI should be operating in Pakistan
or other foreign countries at all.

It is also worth remembering that maintaining a separation between military
and civilian law enforcement has been an important safeguard of liberty in
the United States. "We've seen an enormous escalation of military
involvement in domestic affairs related to the drug war," University of
California-Irvine Professor Gilbert Geis said in a newspaper interview.
"I'm not sure if FBI involvement in what seems like an essentially military
intelligence operation in Pakistan is a healthy development."

A desire to eliminate bureaucratic barriers to sharing intelligence and
information is understandable and probably to the good. But blurring lines
of responsibility between civilian and military agencies carries potential
dangers for liberty.