Covering the FBI's Ass-- The Real Reason For the Terrorist Watch List

Some information on the Terrorist Watch List has been released by the FBI.

A couple of things came out of the story on the NY Times. First off, if another agency puts a person on the Terrorist Watch List, the FBI will "renominate" that person to make it virtually impossible that the person's name will ever be removed.

Second, Timothy J. Healy, the director of the F.B.I.’s Terrorist Screening Center, revealed the true reason why the FBI makes the Terrorist Watch List system as opaque as possible and why there is no appeal to being placed on it:

He also defended the idea of the watch list, saying the government would be blamed if, after a terrorist attack, it turned out the perpetrator had attracted the suspicions of one agency but it had not warned other agencies to scrutinize the person.

The FBI was roundly lambasted for being obstinately blind to clues that a terrorist attack ten years ago. At the end of the day, the FBI, like any other government bureaucracy, cares most about not being blamed for whatever goes wrong.

It's all about covering their ass.