tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831518087498541513.post3023834638187505396..comments2023-05-06T02:39:25.916-07:00Comments on Debating the Anthrax Attacks of 2001: Dec. 4 - Dec. 10, 2011 DiscussionsEd Lakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831518087498541513.post-15870947387689027652011-12-06T14:37:15.286-08:002011-12-06T14:37:15.286-08:00Anonymous,
I can't disagree.
However, many...Anonymous,<br /><br />I can't disagree. <br /><br />However, many of the "discussants" attack the <b>entire</b> FBI as part of their rantings. They attack "the FBI's" methodology and history. They rant about Ruby Ridge and Waco and just about every FBI case in history. Some were pointing out every case they could find where some FBI agent committed a crime, as if it meant that <b>no</b> FBI agent could be trusted. So, they're not just talking about the "60 to 120" agents who may have been on the task force at one time or another. They are very often talking about the <b>entire</b> organization.<br /><br />When some "discussants" are talking about "the FBI" as a single entity, it's difficult for another "discussant" such as myself to get them to talk about just the people in the FBI who were part of various task forces. <br /><br />Plus, while the entire organization didn't really have to "change directions," very large organizations have very unique problems when it comes to major projects. The people in management levels have many other projects going on at the same time. They worry about political ramifications, budget considerations and how they look to their peers. They worry about morale and possible embarrassments. Changes in direction upset them. They usually don't know all the details and have to be convinced that the change is absolutely necessary. <br /><br />So, it takes awhile for big organizations to change directions - even if 95 percent of the people in the organization have their own problems to deal with. They are usually all aware of the BIG cases and how they are progressing. <br /><br />You made a good point. Nevertheless, I think it is infinitely easier for a group of 120 people to change directions than it is for a group of 120 people to change directions when they are part of a large organization of tens of thousand of people. <br /><br />What's the difference? I thin it's the fact that you can't be so easily replaced when you're in a smaller organization, and there aren't as many people who think they can do a better job than you can do and have friends in high places ready to help.<br /><br />I've worked in major corporations, and I ran a company that consisted of only 5 people. I could get things done in an hour in the small company that would have taken a year in the major corporation.<br /><br />EdEd Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831518087498541513.post-14213414851867637462011-12-06T13:49:59.755-08:002011-12-06T13:49:59.755-08:00Okay, Mister Lake wrote:
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The main comm...Okay, Mister Lake wrote:<br />-----------<br />The main comment for this week, however, is about how long it can take a big organization like the FBI to change directions.<br />================================================<br />Actually we (the discussants of this case) keep on using 'the FBI' as a rhetorical trope but it seems to me that probably only about 60 to 120 total agents (FBI and Post Inspectors)were on that task force over the life of the task force (October 2001 to February 2010?). And of that number, probably there was a core leadership at any given point of 3 to 10(?) people, with the subordinates filling out the rest. So we aren't so much talking about the wide organization (thousands of agents from coast to coast)as about a select subset of agents. Naturally, at some point they were consulting with the lawyers (Rachel Lieber et alia)but not about every suspect, and not about every suspicion.<br />That doesn't mean that there weren't foot soldiers in regional FBI offices running down this and that, but those foot soldiers would have had little notion of the big picture (whom the task force 'liked' at a particular time etc.).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com