Rogers: Robust Intelligence Helped Capture bin Laden
DETROIT (WWJ) - 8th District Congressman Mike Rogers said today's intelligence community is far superior to what was around before September 11th.
Rogers addressed a panel Wednesday morning on C-SPAN, telling them that a shrinking intelligence community led to the attacks on 9/11 and today, those agencies are strong.
According to Rogers, many lessons were learned as Osama bin Laden's capture took place.
"We saw technology that didn't exist 10 years ago that is today absolutely critical to the success of those missions," said Rogers. "And it is integrated in a way that I've never seen before between all of our services."
Rogers said there are so many inroads into the Taliban and al-Qaeda thanks to shared technology between intelligence agencies. This is a step up from what was known in the 90's, such as the ability to track using special GPS imagery.
"Sources became incredibly important to try to keep defining down who this might be or what a physical description was or what operational status they might have," Rogers said.
In capturing bin Laden, Rogers said agents began interrogating suspects five years ago. The turning point all started when agents learned a nick-name of someone in the al-Qaeda network.
Rogers said, "Small conversations ended up reaping big rewards over time to try to continue to help identify who, what, when and why."
At the event, the congressman says he believes bin Laden's capture is an example of how improved intelligence can work.
