"Agent Smith" impersonating me wrote in message news:cWV2ZXJ5.431a36ea337a096084de21a879fe56a3@10 59561856.cotse.net...
*Absolutely nothing useful*


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer

Pentagon Cancels Terrorism Betting Plan


By KEN GUGGENHEIM
The Associated Press
Tuesday, July 29, 2003; 7:06 PM


WASHINGTON - Under fire from all sides, the Pentagon on Tuesday
dropped plans for a futures market that would have allowed traders to
profit from accurate predictions on terrorism, assassinations and
other events in the Middle East.

Republicans said they knew nothing about the program and would never
have approved it. They called the head of the Pentagon agency
overseeing the project to Capitol Hill to answer questions.

Democrats demanded details of any related Pentagon programs, an
apology from the Bush administration and the firing of those
responsible for the market.

"I think those who thought it up ought not only close down the
program. They ought not be on the public payroll any longer," said
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D, at a news conference.

At a hearing where senators criticized the program, Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said, "I share your shock at this kind of
program." But he also defended the Pentagon office that came up with
the project, saying "it is brilliantly imaginative in places where we
want them to be imaginative."

Dorgan and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., touched off the furor Monday by
disclosing details of the Policy Analysis Market, a project that
seemed so bizarre that some lawmakers said they thought it was a hoax.

The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, working with
two private partners, would have set up an Internet futures trading
market on events in the Middle East. Traders could buy and sell
futures contracts based on their predictions about what would happen
in the region. Examples given on the market's Web site included the
assassination of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and a biological
weapons attack on Israel.

Investors were to begin registering Friday and trading was to begin
Oct. 1.

From the trading patterns, the Pentagon agency, known as DARPA, hoped
to gain clues about possible terrorist attacks. In statements Monday
and Tuesday, it said markets are often better than experts in making
predictions.

But the response from both parties was outrage.

"This program could provide an incentive actually to commit acts of
terrorism," Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said on the
Senate floor. He described it as a "plan to trade in death."

Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee asked Appropriations Committee
Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Armed Services Chairman John
Warner, R-Va., to make sure the market wasn't funded.

"I cannot conceive of any reason why the United States government
should be involved in a project of this nature," Frist said.

By late morning, Warner and Wolfowitz, at separate hearings, announced
the program would be ended.

As he praised DARPA at a Senate Foreign Relations hearing, Wolfowitz
said with a smile, "It sounds like maybe they got too imaginative."

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., told Wolfowitz, "I don't think we can
laugh off that program."

"There is something very sick about it," she said. "And if it's going
to end, I think you ought to end the careers of whoever it was thought
that up. Because terrorists knowing they were planning an attack could
have bet on the attack and collected a lot of money. It's a sick
idea."

Warner said he had spoken with the head of DARPA, Tony Tether, who
agreed the program should end.

Warner said in an interview that DARPA "didn't think through the full
ramifications of the program."

Senators said they had only vague information about the DARPA project
that included the market. That project, FutureMAP, or "Futures Markets
Applied to Predictions," will end along with the market Web site, the
Pentagon said.

The Pentagon had requested $3 million for FutureMAP next year. The
senators said the money attracted little attention in the overall the
$3 billion DARPA budget proposal.

About $750,000 had been approved for FutureMAP in past budgets.

"It's totally unauthorized as far as we're concerned," Stevens said.
"No funds should have been used for it at all. It's really a serious
mistake on the part of DARPA."

Tether was called to Capitol Hill to meet with Warner and Sen. Pat
Roberts, chairman of the Intelligence Committee and Armed Services'
emerging threats subcommittee.

Warner's spokesman, John Ullyot, described the meeting as businesslike
and professional. He said the senators will submit written questions
to Tether and will await responses before deciding if hearings or
other actions are needed.

Tether was asked as he left whether retired Adm. John Poindexter, who
runs the DARPA division that included the market program, would keep
his job.

"I don't see why not," he said.

Poindexter, who runs DARPA's Information Awareness Office, is used to
political storms. A former national security adviser to President
Reagan, Poindexter was a key figure in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal.
In addition to FutureMAP, his office oversees the Terrorism
Information Awareness project, a computerized surveillance program
that has raised privacy concerns.

Asked if Poindexter remained on the DARPA payroll, Pentagon spokesman
Lawrence Di Rita said, "At the moment, Admiral Poindexter continues to
serve in DARPA."

Killa T,

And, Your Point Is That . . .
- GW doesn't own a Shortwave Radio.
- - GW doesn't Listen to Shortwave Radio.
- - - GW can't Spell "Shartwove Ridao".
Or, is there any connection that is related to Shortwave Radio ? ? ?


Just a 'short-wave' and goodbye ~ RHF
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= = = (Killa T)
= = = wrote in message om...

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