Editorial: The G-whiz men

Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

Policing an increasingly sophisticated, computerized world, the FBI is missing one thing: Internet access.

FBI Executive Assistant Director Willie Hulon, the bureau's chief of national security, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that a majority of the agency's intelligence analysts and special agents don't have Internet access at their desks.

Overall, only a third of the bureau's employees have Internet access at their desk. Another third, Hulon said, should get computers with access in the next year.

According to USA Today, Hulon said the bureau has "stations within field offices that people can go to work at but we don't have access at everyone's desk."

The reason for not having Internet access was not made clear. We can't imagine what a good reason would be , considering that nearly everyone - except for the FBI - has Internet access. If high-ranking FBI officials took a coffee break at Starbucks they might notice all the laptops - humming on the Internet thanks to the Wi-Fi network.

Criminals, from street gangs to white-collar thugs, use the Internet. So do terrorists, who have used the Web to send messages, recruit others and post pictures, videos and descriptions of their actions. (Remember the 9/11 terrorists who visited Las Vegas before heading to New York? One of their stops here was at an Internet cafe.)

After 9/11, equipping the FBI to ferret out terrorists was supposed to be a top priority. The Bush administration pushed its Constitution-busting, super-secret surveillance plan through Congress, yet failed to hook the FBI up to the Internet .

That is pathetic.