The Columbian (Vancouver, WA.)

                            July 31, 2003, Thursday

SECTION Clark County/region; Pg. c6

LENGTH 433 words

HEADLINE Opinion - In Our View 'Oops' at Pentagon

BYLINE Columbian editorial writers

BODY


   Grotesque proposal came close to reality

   It's cause for special alarm when the shooting of one's foot occurs at the
Pentagon. Americans envision greater accuracy for their military.

   But that's exactly what happened this week. Defense Department officials had
to rush to kill one of the most bizarre and grotesque programs imaginable. The "
Policy Analysis Market" sounded harmless enough, but essentially it was "a
federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism," as described by U.S. Sen.
Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

   And Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., was not engaging in euphemistic rhetoric when
he called the idea "unbelievably stupid."

   The proposed futures market would have allowed traders to profit by correctly
predicting assassinations and terrorist strikes in the Middle East. For some
unexplained reason, this was supposed to have assisted in the war on terrorism.

   Pentagon officials Tuesday were back-pedaling faster than Ichiro on a line
drive over his head. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told outraged
senators, "I share your shock at this kind of program. We'll find out about it,
but it is being terminated."

   However, just because this malformed scheme is dead does not mean an autopsy
is not in order. Key questions linger. Why and how did the program ever get so
close to fruition? After all, a Web site had been established, and registration
of traders was to have begun this Friday.

   Second, why did the program receive so little exposure? Because it was so
absurd?

   Third, who was engineering this trackless train? Armed Services Committee
Chairman John Warner, R-Va., said the project was supervised by retired Adm.
John Poindexter, a key figure in the Iran Contra scandal of the 1980s and head
of the controversial Terrorism Information Awareness program. The TIA has drawn
criticism from people concerned about privacy issues. Warner also said Tony
Tether, head of the Pentagon's Defense Research Projects Agency, also was
involved. If so, how could both Poindexter and Tether overlook the preposterous
nature of their explosive experiment?

   Had it not come from such presumably enlightened sources, the proposed
terrorism futures market would sound like some fraternity-instigated hoax. Who
was trying to initiate whom? But as Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said, "I don't
think we can laugh off that program. There is something very sick about it." She
's right.

   It's great that our government works so effectively to excavate these hideous
ideas and stop them. But it's quite alarming that such an offensive program came
so close to reality.