FBI vs. ATF

Nearly nine years after the 9-11 attacks, turf wars should be a thing of the past. But apparently they continue with an ongoing squabble between the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives over which agency has responsibility for investigating bombings.

It reached the point that Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler stepped in to sort out responsibility with a memo outlining which agency gets what cases, according to a Washington Post report.

He noted disputes have caused "unfortunate confusion" among local law enforcement officials and "duplication of effort between ATF and the FBI."

The problem "must be remedied ... so that there is never an incident where actionable intelligence does not get into the right hands because of concerns about which agency will be the lead."

Mr. Grindler designated the FBI as the lead agency on bombings associated with terrorism. All other cases will go to ATF.

But it may not be as clear as that. Mr. Grindler upset some ATF agents when he cited examples of bombings that would be presumed to have terrorist links and so automatically become the responsibility of the FBI. At least until that agency determines otherwise. Then the case would revert to ATF, which would have to initiate its own investigation.

The lack of interagency cooperation can impede investigations.

The Post cited a report last year by Glenn Fine, the Justice Department's inspector general, saying "disputes between ATF and FBI personnel have affected working relationships, and in some locations have resulted in their racing to crime scenes to determine which agency leads an investigation."

Besides jurisdictional quarrels, the two agencies have argued over who should maintain a national bomb database and even who should train bomb-sniffing dogs, according to the Post.

For the ATF and FBI, it's about getting credit and publicity. But in fact, Americans don't care who is responsible for an investigation. They just want it done.