Criticism of his work

Riebling’s ideas have drawn criticism from both the political left and right. Writing in Reason Magazine, Michael W. Lynch criticized Riebling from a libertarian perspective, alleging that his arguments have been used to broaden the FBI's ability to collect political information on Americans and people living in the United States. Left-wing journalist Robert Scheer disputed Riebling's assertion that the FBI and CIA were rivals, and suggested that Riebling's critique evinced a lack of concern about federal surveillance of the Black Panther Party and the Vietnam antiwar movement. Some 9/11 Truthers contend that Riebling provided the cover story for an alleged U.S. government conspiracy behind the events of September 11, 2001. Thus one blogger attacks The Nation for its "embrace of a disingenuous book by Mark Riebling," alleging that U.S. Deputy Attorney General and 9/11 Commission member "Jamie Gorelick, who learned so much from this book," adapted Riebling's concept of a "tragic wedge" into the 9/11 Commission's criticism of a "wall between the CIA and FBI.”

Policy influence

Riebling's analysis of security failures influenced post-911 intelligence reforms. Andrew C. McCarthy, the deputy U.S. attorney who prosecuted the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, wrote in The Wall Street Journal in 2006 that "Riebling’s analysis has now become conventional wisdom, accepted on all sides. Such, indeed, is the reasoning behind virtually all of the proposals now under consideration by no fewer than seven assorted congressional committees, internal evaluators, and blue-ribbon panels charged with remedying the intelligence situation." In his January 28, 2003 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush announced an initiative to close what he termed the "seam" between FBI and CIA coverage of foreign threats, as Riebling recommended in Wedge.

From 2002 to 2006 Riebling served as Research Director for the Center for Policing Terrorism, helping law-enforcement agencies build regional fusion centers and intelligence networks. The Center partnered with LAPD Chief William Bratton to create and administer the National Counter Terrorism Academy. The academy teaches a doctrine of intelligence-led policing that Riebling articulated in the Center’s publications. In his 2008 book, Crush the Cell, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Counter Terrorrism Michael A. Sheehan wrote that the Center "provided a team of intelligence analysts that supported our work with timely and accurate reports on fast-breaking issues."

By Mark Riebling

About Mark Riebling

References

External links