Former Attorney General Janet Reno and many others credited the Patriot Act with updating the law to deal with terrorists, and, most critically, for tearing down the "wall" in terrorism investigations that restricted the communication and cooperation between law enforcement and intelligence officials.

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The key is cooperation and communication.

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"We want to cooperate with other countries including the U.S. to strengthen cooperation and communication, " Wei was quoted as saying Wednesday on the administration's Web site.

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But delegates did begin to lay plans for cross-border communication and cooperation in the event of major meltdowns: work-arounds so commerce can continue and emergency services can be provided if systems collapse.

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For example, the United States is working closely with Russia to reach an agreement that would establish links between our computer emergency response teams and our nuclear risk reduction centers to build cooperation and to set up lines of communication in the event of an alarming incident.

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The conference was organized by the UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC), in cooperation with UNESCO and other partners.

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The episode is a reminder that the fight against terrorism requires even more interagency cooperation, and Congress should investigate whether such communication was lacking in this case.

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