NOT EXACTLY A REVOLUTION

The reorganization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced this
week by FBI Director Robert Mueller hardly lives up to the promise "to
fundamentally change the way we do business."

Other than shifting 400 agents from drug law enforcement to anti-terrorism
units, the reorganization plans amount to superficial patchwork - and just
might make the problems posed by the uncontrolled recent growth of dozens
of federal law enforcement agencies worse.

Consider the implications of the recent flap over memos and requests from
FBI field offices in Phoenix and Minneapolis. The Phoenix memo got lost in
the bureaucratic paperwork shuffle; hundreds of similar memos hit
headquarters every day. The Minneapolis request to issue a warrant to
search Zacarias Moussaoui's computer fell victim to bureaucratic timidity
and PC fears of being accused of "ethnic profiling."

Creating a more centralized anti-terrorist operation and hiring more FBI
agents is not likely to solve such problems. It is more likely to add to
paperwork glut and impair communications.

The Bush administration has missed a golden opportunity to effect genuinely
fundamental reform of the federal law enforcement octopus. At least 40
federal agencies have some responsibility for gathering intelligence with
some relationship to terrorism. Even if they all had the latest and most
sophisticated computer database and networking systems - and it is
notorious that they are all in the Model-T era computer-wise - it would be
difficult for them to share information effectively. Furthermore, each
agency has more powerful incentives to protect its own turf than to work
well with others.

Many of the reforms announced by Mr. Mueller require congressional
approval. Several congressional committees have also announced probes into
the pre-9/11 lapses. They should broaden their scope to consider more
fundamental reform.