Ex-FBI agent talks Sept. 11

The whistle-blower on the FBI’s post-Sept. 11 investigation thinks she knows why good people… The whistle-blower on the FBI’s post-Sept. 11 investigation thinks she knows why good people make poor choices.

These reasons include competing loyalties, groupthink, inability to admit to having made a mistake and act utilitarianism — acting in a way that will bring happiness for the greatest number of people.

Inside the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, Coleen Rowley, whom Time Magazine honored as one of its Persons of the Year in 2002, discussed the dirty work involved with acting ethically.

Rowley, a former FBI agent, was the inaugural lecturer in Pitt’s Johnson Institute Lecture of Exemplary Leadership series.

‘It’s a beautiful day outside, and you come to hear me preaching about ethics,’ said Rowley.

In the wake of Sept. 11, Rowley sent a memo to the director of the FBI that cited shortcomings in the bureau’s investigations of Zacarias Moussaoui, a man her office suspected of terrorism.

Five years later, Moussaoui was convicted of terrorism and conspiracy for his involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Rowley said that the first reason why people make bad decisions results from an individual forced to choose between different obligations. This includes, for example, turning in a family member for the good of the nation or world.

‘We should never sacrifice truth in order to obtain a desired result or to avoid personal or institutional embarrassment,’ said Rowley.

Rowley also identified groupthink as another problem that results in unethical behavior. She used cheating as an example.

‘Once cheating becomes the norm, if everyone is doing it, it loses its stigma,’ she said.

The third action that results in unethical behavior is the inability to admit to having made a mistake.

‘In almost all circumstances, you’re afraid of what other people might think of you,’ said Rowley.

Rowley said that act utilitarianism leads to unethical behavior. The famous ‘time bomb’ scenario illustrates this, she said. In this scenario, it is found that it is permissible to torture individuals in an effort to prevent a time bomb from exploding in a large city.

‘It is the doing or the striving to do right that is the goal, not a concocted happy ending,’ said Rowley of this example.

Rowley’s lecture, ‘Exemplary Leadership: Always Do Right,’ focused on the reasons for which individuals choose to make unethical decisions.

‘Always do right,’ said Rowley, quoting Mark Twain. ‘This will amaze some folks and astonish everyone else.’

The Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership, an affiliate of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, recorded Rowley’s speech. It will be included in the new leadership case studies library that the institute has recently established.

Lydia Roberson, an administrative aid for the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, said that the focus of the Johnson Institute is to improve ethics and leadership in public service.

Roberson said nearly 60 speakers were considered for the inaugural lecture of exemplary leadership.

‘We were looking for someone working in their field with high ethical standards,’ said Roberson. ‘Coleen [Rowley] stood out because she is someone who is doing her job and doing it well, but she spoke out in a time of crisis.’