FAS | Intelligence | News | 2003 ||||

July 2003 Intelligence News

• Intelligence Reform Bill Filed in Senate by Sen. Bob Graham, news release, July 31. "The 9-11 Memorial Intelligence Reform Act, sponsored by Senators Bob Graham, John D. Rockefeller and Dianne Feinstein, embodies the recommendations of the House-Senate Joint Inquiry into the events surrounding September 11."
• The Right and Wrong Stuff of Thinking Outside a Box by Christopher Marquis, New York Times, July 31. "The Pentagon branch responsible for developing technology and techniques for warfare stumbled badly this week by devising a plan for people to bet on future terrorist attacks. Yet in pressing an idea that senators quickly denounced as absurd, DARPA is doing what it is supposed to do -- think outside the box."
• Justice Dept Statement on Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, news release, July 30. "The Patriot Act was a long overdue measure to close gaping holes in the government's ability, responsibly and lawfully, to collect vital intelligence information on criminal terrorists to protect our citizens...."
• White House Rejects Declassification of Remainder of 9/11 Report, press briefing, July 29. "What we will not do is compromise our national security by allowing information relating to sources and methods to be released."
• Statement of Prince Saud Regarding the 9/11 Report, press release, July 29. "We have nothing to hide. And we do not seek nor do we need to be shielded."
• President Bush Rejects Declassification of Remainder of 9/11 Report, July 29. "The declassification of that part of a 900-page document would reveal sources and methods that will make it harder for us to win the war on terror."
• Lawmakers demand probe into outing of undercover CIA agent by Jonathan E. Kaplan, The Hill, July 29. "Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has demanded a criminal investigation into who exposed the wife of retired ambassador Joseph Wilson as a covert CIA agent."
• Lawmakers outraged by 'terror market': Pentagon told to abandon plan for futures-based project by William L. Watts & August Cole, CBS.MarketWatch.com, July 28. "According to the PAM Web site, traders who believe an event is likely to occur would buy the corresponding futures contract."
• Intelligence Critics Urge U.S. to Look to British Spy Agency by Don Van Natta, Jr., New York Times, July 26. "The movement in the United States to create an organization like MI5 gained momentum in November after an advisory group led by James S. Gilmore III, a former governor of Virginia, recommended that a new agency should take over domestic intelligence gathering."
• Sen. Schumer Seeks FBI Investigation into Illegal Leak of CIA Agent's Identity, letter to FBI Director Mueller, July 24. "News reports suggest that Administration could have leaked the identity of a CIA agent to discredit a critic of the President and intimidate others from speaking out."
• FBI Statement on Release of Congressional 9/11 Report, FBI press release, July 24. "We have already implemented or are in the process of implementing these recommendations. While the report provides a snapshot of the FBI at September 11, 2001, the picture of the FBI today shows a changed organization, including..."
• White House Press Briefing: Excerpts on Amb. Wilson and His CIA Wife, July 22. "The Robert Novak column last week identified the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson as a CIA operative who was working on WMD issues..."
• Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction and the State of the Union Speech, White House Press Briefing by Dan Bartlett and Steve Hadley, July 22.
• White House Background Briefing on Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction with senior Administration official, July 18. "The President of the United States is not a fact-checker."
• 9/11 Report Ups Heat On Saudis, Washington by Marc Perelman, Forward, July 18. "The Bush administration, already embattled over its use of doubtful intelligence in building its case for the war against Iraq, is gearing up for renewed scrutiny over reports that it has hampered investigations of the September 11 attacks."
• White House Press Briefing: Excerpts on Iraq Intelligence with Scott McClellan, July 17. "I just disagree with the characterization that is going on here."
• White House Statement on US-UK Exchange of Defense Information, news release, July 17. "President Bush and Prime Minister Blair Today Agreed to Change existing policies in ways that will further strengthen and deepen our defense relationship."
• Rumsfeld's Personal Spy Ring by Eric Boehlert, Salon, July 16. "The defense secretary couldn't count on the CIA or the State Department to provide a pretext for war in Iraq. So he created a new agency that would tell him what he wanted to hear."
• BBG Resolution on the Jamming of Satellite Broadcasts to Iran, Broadcasting Board of Governors, July 15. "The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) today condemned Cuba's jamming of U.S. international broadcasts to Iran, calling the action a "deliberate and malicious" effort to block Iranian audiences from gaining access to truthful news and information."
• White House Press Briefing: Excerpts on Disputed Iraqi Uranium Purchase Allegations, briefing by Ari Fleischer, July 14. "We don't know if it's true -- but nobody, but nobody, can say it is wrong."
• President Bush Remarks on Disputed Iraqi Uranium Purchase Allegations, July 14. "When I gave the speech, the line was relevant."
• Roberts defends Senate committee's private review by Scott Rothschild, Lawrence Journal-World, July 12. "But as the Bush administration blamed the CIA, others said mounting questions about intelligence gathering that led to the invasion of Iraq showed the need for a public congressional investigation."
• White House Press Gaggle on DCI Tenet, Iraqi Nuclear Program with Ari Fleischer, July 12. "President Bush has confidence in Director Tenet and President Bush has confidence in the CIA."
• Senator Pat Roberts' Statement on the Disputed Niger Documents, SSCI news release, July 11. "What now concerns me most, however, is what appears to be a campaign of press leaks by the CIA in an effort to discredit the President."
• Statement of DCI George J. Tenet on Alleged Iraqi Uranium Purchase, July 11. "These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the President."
• Condoleeza Rice Remarks on Forged Iraqi Uranium Purchase Allegation, July 11. "I can tell you, if the CIA, the Director of Central Intelligence, had said, take this out of the speech, it would have been gone, without question."
• President Bush Remarks on Forged Iraqi Uranium Purchase Allegation, July 11. "But, sir, how did it get into your speech if it was erroneous?"
• Secretary Powell Remarks on Forged Iraqi Uranium Purchase Allegations, press briefing, July 10. "I think this is very overwrought and overblown and overdrawn. Intelligence reports flow in from all over... Sometimes it holds up, sometimes it does not hold up."
• White House Press Gaggle: Excerpts on Forged Iraqi Uranium Purchase Allegation, press gaggle with Ari Fleischer, July 9. "After the speech, information was learned about the forged documents. With the advantage of hindsight, it's known now what was not known by the White House prior to the speech."
• First Interim Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, report of the 9-11 Commission, July 8.
• U.S. Develops Urban Surveillance System by Michael Sniffen, Associated Press, July 1. "The Pentagon is developing an urban surveillance system that would use computers and thousands of cameras to track, record and analyze the movement of every vehicle in a foreign city."
• White House Letter on Foreign Narcotics Traffickers, letter to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, July 1. "On May 29, 2003, I designated the following seven foreign persons and entities as appropriate for sanctions, and subsequently imposed sanctions against them, under the Kingpin Act."
• DoD Tested Weapons On Thousands by Robert Gehrke, Associated Press and CBS, July 1. "The Defense Department released the final findings of an investigation into Project 112 and Project SHAD, which were conducted from 1962 to 1973 to test the combat capabilities of biological and chemical agents and ways to protect U.S. troops from such attacks."