Steven Aftergood
BYRD BLASTS WHITE HOUSE COMMISSION ON IRAQ INTEL
Thu Mar 4 17:46:14 2004
64.140.158.169

SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2004, Issue No. 25
March 4, 2004


** BYRD BLASTS WHITE HOUSE COMMISSION ON IRAQ INTEL
** THE VIRTUES OF RED TEAMING
** INTELLIGENT AGENT SOFTWARE AGAINST TERRORISM
** CHINA AND BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE


BYRD BLASTS WHITE HOUSE COMMISSION ON IRAQ INTEL

The commission that was established by President Bush on
February 6 to review pre-war intelligence on Iraq is
"ill-equipped to discover just what went wrong," argued Sen.
Robert Byrd in a sharply-worded critique on the Senate
floor.

Therefore, he said, "Congress should act quickly to create an
independent Iraq intelligence commission."

"The President has described the panel that he created as
being an independent commission," Sen. Byrd noted. "Well,
nothing could be further from the truth."

"Who created the panel's charter? The President. Who
chooses the panel members? The President. To whom does the
panel report? The President. Whom shall the panel advise
and assist? The President. Who is in charge of determining
what classified reports the panel may see? The President.
Who gets to decide whether the Congress may see the panel's
report? The President."

"I was born at night but not last night," said Sen. Byrd.

See his March 3 statement here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/s030304.html

In a bold move that could test the validity of Sen. Byrd's
concerns, Senator John McCain, a commission member, has
asked the White House to give the commission subpoena power,
according to a story in The Hill.

Without such power, Sen. McCain argued, the commission will
be ineffective. The White House has rebuffed the request.

See "Seeking subpoenas: McCain and Bush clash on powers,
scope of intel probe" by Alexander Bolton, The Hill, March 4:

http://www.thehill.com/news/030404/mccain.aspx


THE VIRTUES OF RED TEAMING

"Red teams" that challenge the premises, goals and operations
of government programs can serve a catalytic role in
transforming military and intelligence organizations,
according to a recent Defense Science Board (DSB) report.

The DSB identified the attributes of successful red teams and
cited instances in which they had played a constructive
role.

The U.S. missile defense program, the DSB noted without
irony, has been the beneficiary of much "free red teaming"
from critics such as MIT professor Ted Postol and the Union
of Concerned Scientists.

"Unfortunately, it is often the case that those organizations
in need of red teaming have a culture inimical to its use,"
the DSB report said.

See "The Role and Status of DoD Red Teaming Activities,"
Defense Science Board, September 2003:

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/dsb/redteam.pdf


INTELLIGENT AGENT SOFTWARE AGAINST TERRORISM

Information technology in the form of automated "intelligent
agents" holds the promise of advancing defenses against
terrorism that goes well beyond mere "information sharing,"
according to a briefing prepared by the Institute for
Defense Analyses (IDA).

"Some form of intelligent automation is required to
continuously search ... a large amount of ever-changing data
to locate patterns that will not only help generate the
desired picture, but also provide insight into terrorist
intentions."

"Intelligent automation will also provide the capability
needed to predict terrorist acts and prevent their
occurrence," the IDA briefing asserted.

See "Defender's Edge: Utilizing Intelligent Agent Technology
To Anticipate Terrorist Acts" by L. B. Scheiber, Institute
for Defense Analyses, June 2003:

http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/agent.pdf


CHINA AND BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE

A study performed last year for the Defense Intelligence
Agency considers China's potential responses to U.S.
deployment of ballistic missile defenses in light of the
historical development of Chinese policy.

"China's attitudes toward BMD have passed through a series of
distinct phases since the beginning of the nuclear era,"
observed author Brad Roberts of the Institute for Defense
Analyses. "Throughout this era it has also pursued its own
strategic defense capabilities."

See "China and Ballistic Missile Defense: 1955 to 2002 and
Beyond" by Brad Roberts, IDA, September 2003:

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/doctrine/bmd.pdf


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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@fas.org
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