“The Central

Intelligence Agency’s clandestine New

York station was destroyed in the Sept. 11 attack

on the World Trade Center, seriously disrupting

United States intelligence operations while

bringing the war on terrorism dangerously close

to home for America’s spy agency, government

officials say.

…Immediately after the attack, the C.I.A. dispatched a special team to scour the rubble in search of secret

documents and intelligence reports that had been stored in the New York station, either on paper or in

computers, officials said. It could not be learned whether the agency was successful in retrieving its

classified records from the wreckage.

…The C.I.A.’s plans for finding a new permanent station in New York could not be

determined.” NY Times [“FMHreader”, “FMHreader”]

And an editorial: ‘As much as the nation may yearn

for a crack intelligence service that can save the day, there is no such outfit

in Washington at present.

But there could be someday, if the White House and Congress are

prepared to address some longstanding structural and operational

problems that have hobbled the C.I.A. and its fellow intelligence services.’