Expert blames U.S. spy underfunding

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Defence experts have blamed underfunding in intelligence as a possible factor in suspected terrorists being allowed to strike at the U.S. with such devastating effect.

Hijackers managed to get on board and then overpower the crews and passengers of four domestic flights before targeting the planes like bombs at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. A fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.

The defence specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly says on its Web site, jane's.com, that the failure of U.S. intelligence to prevent these attacks could have been the result of a general shortfall in spending on traditional spy activities.

RESOURCES Jane's Defence Weekly

The article, written by Clifford Beal, says: "One possible contributing factor to this failure of the intelligence and security system could be the lack of resources the U.S. has devoted to human intelligence (HUMINT) capabilities throughout the past decade."

While it acknowledges that high levels of funding have been devoted to national technical means such as surveillance satellites, signals intelligence flights and other eavesdropping technologies, HUMINT has been overlooked.

HUMINT, made popular during the Cold War, involves methods such as analysis, linguistic skills and the cultivation of agency networks.

Jane's adds: "This latest act of terrorism, although the most horrific to date, is not the first time that the U.S. government has been caught unaware.

"Indeed, the subject of 'asymmetric warfare' the use of terrorist methods to strike at weaknesses in the societies of western countries -- has been a significant worry for strategic planners in the U.S. for most of the 1990s."

It points to the 1983 suicide bombers' attack on U.S. military locations in Lebanon, which resulted in its withdrawal, as well as the destruction of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the bombing of USS Cole in Yemen in August 2000.

The U.S. senate select committee on intelligence recognised last month the need to boost investment on HUMINT. It approved an increase in such funding under the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002.

No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's meticulously planned and co-ordinated attack, but one name that has been mentioned is the Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden, living in Afghanistan.

His group Al Quaida group has denied responsibility and members of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have condemned the attack.

But Jane's says: "As far back as September 1999, Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor (JTSM) reported that law enforcement agencies were fearful that bin Laden's group was preparing for a series of new attacks on U.S. targets, especially financial targets in New York."

It adds: "To provide advanced warning against, and to help avoid, the kinds of attacks that happened in New York, a long-needed overhaul of U.S. intelligence capabilities may be forthcoming."