John Ashcroft Discusses Terrorism and National Security in Robertson Hall
By Kevin Mooney, 04.07.05

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks was is critical for U.S. policy makers to chart a new path to place a greater emphasis on prevention as opposed to mere prosecution said former Attorney General John Ashcroft during a recent lecture at Regent University.

In his comments on Monday, April 4, Ashcroft discussed several of the reforms which have enabled U.S. intelligence agencies to tackle the challenges associated with terrorism. Ashcroft reviewed what he thought were some of the critical mistakes made in the past.

“Terrorists seek to impose their agenda through extortion,” he said. “They do not trust in the marketplace. We are also dealing with individuals who expect to extinguish themselves.”

Ashcroft favors a pathway rooted in prospective techniques that lead to the prevention and detection of potential acts of terror. But he was quick to point out prosecution still has value, and should be vigorously pursued as part of an overall strategy.

The separation that existed between intelligence gathering and law enforcement figured into Ashcroft’s comments. He cited U.S. Justice Department memos that indicated government officials had been keeping this separation in a stricter configuration than was even required by law. Ashcroft also reviewed some of the key mistakes made in the past, which slipped past U.S. intelligence. He specifically pointed to the Church Commission of the 1970s.

“What happened was we threw the baby out with the bath water,” he said. “U.S. intelligence was greatly incapacitated and this is a hard deficit to make up.”

However, thanks to large measure to recent reforms the barrier between intelligence gathering and law enforcement has been removed, Ashcroft said. Although he favors strict guidelines governing the requirements for intelligence gathering, the former attorney general also wants continued cooperation between the various agencies.

“I favor a scenario where everyone respects the requirements for collecting intelligence and information, but then pours that information into a basin everyone can use,” he said.