USA TODAY
Data sought on secret spending
Tue Feb 3 16:19:08 2004
64.140.159.118

Data sought on secret spending

By Richard Benedetto
USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040203/5891789s.htm

WASHINGTON -- Only a handful of people know precisely how much the federal government spends each year to gather intelligence -- and they're not allowed to tell.

After a dubious conclusion that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction just before the war in Iraq, critics say there should be more financial accountability for the government's spying.

''With the quality of our intelligence being questioned, the American people should have a general idea what we're spending on it,'' says Lawrence Korb, an assistant secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration.

Spending for intelligence-gathering, secret satellite systems, spy operations and other classified projects is hidden, part of the total but invisible in the budget books made public Monday. Nor is it in any of the previous budgets issued by other presidents. It's top-secret.

The secret spending, known only to those in government with the highest security clearances, is called the ''Black Budget.'' Each year, it is debated in the White House, the Pentagon, CIA headquarters and intelligence committees of Congress, but it is not made public.

Watchdog groups' estimates for the 2004 CIA budget alone are around $40 billion, up from $26.7 billion eight years ago. The 1997 figure became public after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit forced CIA Director George Tenet to release it. Another suit is pending for the 2002 budget.

Steven Aftergood, who brought the Freedom of Information lawsuits on behalf of the Federation of American Scientists, says he is not seeking line-by-line spending for specific projects, just a total figure. He notes that billions of dollars are being spent with accountability only to those government officials involved in spending it.

''Disclosure of the total will not endanger national security,'' Aftergood says.

The only mention of the CIA in the main budget book is a chart on spending for retirement and disability funds for CIA personnel. In the Defense Department chapter of the 2005 budget book, under the heading ''General Provisions,'' it says, ''The Secretary of Defense may transfer up to $120 million of funds available in the Iraq Freedom Fund to carry out the classified project described in the classified annex accompanying Public Law 107-206.''

Spending on classified activities, fueled by the war on terrorism, is believed to be up significantly. But those who know aren't talking.
==========================================
GRAHAM: WHITE HOUSE USED SECRECY TO SHIELD SAUDIS

Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL), former chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, accused the Bush Administration of
improperly employing national security classification in order
to conceal the extent of Saudi involvement in the September 11
terrorist attacks.

"The Administration misused the classification process to protect
the foreign governments that may have been involved in 9-11,"
Sen. Graham said in a floor statement February 3.

As evidence of this charge, he revealed new information about the
missing "27 pages" that were withheld from the published version
of the congressional Joint Inquiry Report last year.

He noted that "some of the information censored from these pages
actually appears in other parts of the report," and he went on
to describe three examples of information about Saudi nationals
that had been censored in the 27 missing pages but described
elsewhere in the same report.

"There is no reason for the Bush administration to continue to
shield make-believe allies who are supporting, either directly
or indirectly, terrorists who want to kill Americans," he said.

See Sen. Graham's full statement, with the discussion of the 27
pages highlighted in bold towards the end, here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/graham020204.html


DEMOCRATS URGE INDEPENDENT INTEL COMMISSION

Democratic congressional leaders said this week that a new
independent commission on intelligence and the Iraq war should
not be unilaterally appointed by President Bush.

"While we support the need for an independent commission, this
commission should not be one whose members are appointed by and
report to the White House," they wrote in a February 2 letter to
the President.

"One of the major questions that needs to be addressed is whether
senior Administration officials, including members of the
Cabinet and senior White House officials, misled the Congress
and the public about the nature of the threat from Iraq. Even
some of your own statements and those of Vice President Cheney
need independent scrutiny. A commission appointed and controlled
by the White House will not have the independence or credibility
necessary to investigate these issues." See:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/com020204.pdf


EXTENSION OF 9-11 COMMISSION PROPOSED

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the Senate to extend the
duration of the National Commission that is investigating the
September 11 attacks until January 2005. See:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/s2040.html


SECRET HOLD BLOCKS STUDY OF WWII DETAINEES

A proposal to investigate the conduct of the United States
government towards foreign minorities detained or otherwise
placed in jeopardy during World War II is being blocked in the
United States Senate by an anonymous "hold," complained Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, a sponsor of the measure.

Last year, a bipartisan bill called the "Wartime Treatment Study
Act" was introduced in the Senate (S. 1691). Its declared
purpose is "to establish commissions to review the facts and
circumstances surrounding injustices suffered by European
Americans, European Latin Americans, and Jewish refugees during
World War II."

"S. 1691 would not grant reparations to victims. It would simply
create a commission to review the facts and circumstances of the
U.S. Government's treatment of German Americans, Italian
Americans and other European Americans during World War II,"
Sen. Feinstein said.

"Unfortunately, someone on the other [i.e. Republican] side of
the aisle has placed a hold on the bill. This anonymous person
or persons are unwilling to identify themselves or to explain
the reasons for the hold," Sen. Feinstein said. See her January
28 floor statement here:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2004/s012804.html


_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
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