The Hill News

A former member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Friday the events leading to the stunning resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak underscore the need for U.S. intelligence agency reform.

"As the world watches events unfold in Egypt, it only highlights the need to reform how the United States gathers information around the world, so that we can anticipate events rather than simply respond to them," said former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). "This reform includes using all the tools at our disposal, integrating clandestine collection of intelligence with the means by which our government gathers information openly."

Feingold's comments are among the latest from lawmakers who have criticized U.S. intelligence as being unprepared.

On Tuesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that neither the Senate nor the White House had been thoroughly warned about the possibili! ty of mass anti-government protests breaking out in Egypt.