FAS | Intelligence | News | 2003 ||||

May 2003 Intelligence News

• Pentagon Explores a New Frontier in the World of Virtual Intelligence by Jim Wolf (Reuters), New York Times, May 30. "The Pentagon is shopping for ways to capture everything a person sees, says and hears, as part of a project it says is meant to help create smarter robots."
• US intelligence agencies to review Iraq data by Edward Alden, Financial Times, May 23 (subscription req'd). "US intelligence agencies are conducting an in-depth review of the intelligence gathered on Iraq prior to the war - an undertaking that could raise questions about whether the Bush administration exaggerated evidence about Baghdad's weapons programme and its links to al-Qaeda."
• A Spy Machine of Darpa's Dreams by Noah Shachtman, Wired News, May 20. "The Pentagon is about to embark on a stunningly ambitious research project designed to gather every conceivable bit of information about a person's life, index it and make it searchable."
• State Monitored War Protesters by Ian Hoffman, Sean Holstege and Josh Richman, Oakland Tribune, May 18. "Days before firing wooden slugs at anti-war protesters, Oakland police were warned of 'potential violence' at the Port of Oakland by the California's anti-terrorism intelligence center, which admits blurring the line between terrorism and political dissent."
• Graham 9/11 Coverup Claim Lacks Proof by Keith Epstein, Tampa Tribune, May 18. "Whether or not there is a coverup or some specific outrage, the delayed release of the document is outrageous all by itself."
• CIA responds to Florida lawmakers' call for terror report by Tamara Lytle, Orlando Sentinel, May 13. "Intelligence officials said Monday that they have made progress in declassifying a congressional report on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and could finish by the end of the month."
• Bush orders agencies to use commercial spy satellite data by Shane Harris, Government Executive, May 16. "President Bush has ordered federal agencies to make greater use of private sector high-resolution imaging satellites that take detailed pictures of objects on the ground from hundreds of miles above earth."
• U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Space Policy, White House Fact Sheet, May 13.
• DoD Issues Military Commission Instructions, Defense Department press release, May 2.
• Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Authorizes Intelligence Spending for Fiscal Year 2004, press release, May 1.