The TERROR VISAS: Waving Them Through.(investigation of visas issued to 9/11 terrorists)

For more than a year, the CIA and FBI have suffered much criticism for the intelligence breakdowns leading up to September 11, and specifically for their failure to "connect the dots." Surely these agencies have much to answer for. So does the Department of State, which has escaped similar scrutiny. It is responsible for letting those deadly "dots"-i.e., the 19 terrorists-into the country in the first place.

As Joel Mowbray reported in the last issue of NR, at least 15 of the visas issued to the hijackers should have been denied under laws existing at the time. An independent investigation by the General Accounting Office has now confirmed this sobering fact-and added a few appalling details to the picture. In fiscal year 2001, for instance, the State Department granted visas to 79 people it knew to be on the FBI's terrorist watch list because "it determined there was insufficient information linking [these visa applicants] to terrorism." The State Department shouldn't second-guess the judgments of the FBI, let alone act like a coven of ACLU staff attorneys fretting over whether "suspicions" are grounds for exclusion.

Secretary of State Powell has called the consular officers who issue visas the "first line of defense in protecting ourselves from those who would come to ...