Debate on Secret Program Bursts Into Open
By DOUGLAS JEHL - An intense secret debate about a previouslyunknown, enormously expensive technical intelligence program has burstinto light in the form of scathing criticism from members of theSenate Intelligence Committee.For two years, the senators have disclosed, Republicans and Democratson the panel have voted to block the secret program, which is believedto be a system of new spy satellites. But it continues to be financedat a cost that former Congressional officials put at hundreds ofmillions of dollars a year with support from the House, the Bushadministration and Congressional appropriations committees.Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, the ranking Democraton the panel, denounced the program on Wednesday on the Senate flooras "totally unjustified and very, very wasteful."Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, later called it "unnecessary,ineffective, over budget and too expensive."Neither senator would say much more about what he was referring to.Even in private on Thursday, most Congressional and intelligenceofficials who were asked refused to comment about the name, purpose orcost of the program. But former Congressional and intelligenceofficials who oppose it said it would duplicate capabilities inexistence or in development, as part of the country's vast network ofsatellites, aircraft and drones designed for eavesdropping andreconnaissance.Among the possibilities suggested by private experts, including JohnPike of Globalsecurity.org, a research organization in Alexandria,Va., were that the system might be a controversial unproven program tolaunch a reconnaissance satellite that adversaries could not detect.Former Congressional officials said they would discount speculationthat the debate had to do with any antisatellite space warfare capability.A number of satellite programs in development, including a FutureImaging Architecture system that Boeing is developing, have been thesubject of considerable public controversy, because of technicalproblems and cost overruns. But current and former governmentofficials said they did not believe that the Boeing program was thesubject of the new dispute.In addition to Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. Wyden, two other Democraticsenators made their opposition public on Wednesday, saying the moneydedicated to the acquisition program could better be transferred toother intelligence gathering as part of what is widely understood tobe the $40 billion intelligence budget.The program being disputed by the senators is to be financed thisyear, but current and former government officials said Republicans aswell as Democrats intended to redouble their efforts to block it.The White House and the Central Intelligence Agency did not respond toa request for comment about the dispute. The Republican chairman ofthe House military appropriations subcommittee, whose support for theprogram has been instrumental in keeping it alive, also did notrespond to a request for comment.The most specific public hints on the program were by Mr. Wyden, whosaid on the Senate floor, "This issue must be highlighted, because itis not going away.""Numerous independent reviews," he said, "have concluded that theprogram does not fulfill a major intelligence gap or shortfall, andthe original justification for developing this technology has erodedin importance due to the changed practices and capabilities of ouradversaries. There are a number of other programs in existence and indevelopment whose capabilities can match those envisioned for thisprogram at far less cost and technological risk."The Senate Intelligence Committee first expressed concern about theprogram three years ago, and it has voted to block it for the last twoyears, Congressional officials said. A former Defense Departmentofficial said of the program: "This is something that does not passmuster and is indicative of the inability of intelligence agencies toprioritize or make decisions. There are billions of dollars of wastein the intelligence budget."A former Congressional official said that "hard decisions should havebeen made to make choices" when Congress first authorized andappropriated the money several years ago."Instead," the former official said, "the decision was made to just goahead with go with everything."Even the $40 billion figure attached to the current intelligencebudget remains no more than an estimate, because spending figuresremain classified by law. But much of the budget is widely understoodto be devoted to the design, construction and operation of satellitesand other platforms used to collect images, signals and other forms oftechnical intelligence.Many critics have long complained that human intelligence programsremain underfinanced, at least in relative terms. In a directive lastmonth, President Bush asked the C.I.A. to spell out a plan and atimetable to increase its clandestine service by 50 percent.A compromise negotiated between the House and Senate this weekprovides authorization for continued financing for the disputedprogram. It was approved by 13 of the 17 senators on the IntelligenceCommittee and all of their House counterparts.Because the financing had been approved in a military appropriationsbill, Congressional officials said, the authorizing committees did nothave the power to transfer the money to other intelligence programs.But an unclassified version of the conference report released onWednesday reported that Senators Carl Levin of Michigan and Richard J.Durbin of Illinois, both Democrats, along with Mr. Rockefeller and Mr.Wyden, had refused to sign the compromise.The report said the senators believed that the money dedicated forwhat was described only as "a major acquisition program" ought to be"expended on other intelligence programs that will make a surer andgreater contribution to national security."
