The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

July 31, 2003 Thursday Home Edition

SECTION: News; Pg. 15A

LENGTH: 625 words

HEADLINE: Poindexter's new caldron;
Senators suspect admiral in terrorism wager plan

BYLINE: GEORGE EDMONSON

SOURCE: AJC

BODY:
Washington --- Lawmakers who uncovered the controversial Pentagon plan for a
terrorism futures market are following the trail further, checking for signs of
John Poindexter.

Was Poindexter --- a Naval officer who was a major figure in the Iran-Contra
scandal of the 1980s --- involved? It is a question that continues to surface as
Congress investigates the now-dismantled plans for the program in which traders
would have speculated on the prospect of future terrorist activities.

"We believe that he was responsible for it," Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., one of
the senators whose revelation of the program led to its demise, said Wednesday.
"But we've asked for an investigation. We've asked the Pentagon to explain to us
who was accountable, who was responsible. I think those who were responsible for
doing this ought not be on the public payroll."

At a Tuesday hearing on Iraq, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) asked Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to identify who was responsible for the proposed Policy
Analysis Market, which has drawn criticism from lawmakers in both political
parties. The program was envisioned as a Web-based market that Defense officials
said could help forecast catastrophic events.

When Wolfowitz replied that he didn't know, Nelson, who has been critical of
Poindexter in the past, shot back: "Is it Admiral Poindexter?"

Poindexter, a 66-year-old retired admiral who served as President Ronald
Reagan's national security adviser, is no stranger to controversy. He found
himself in its company in the 1980s. It has reappeared since he joined a Defense
Department research agency after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Poindexter was at the center of a storm when critics began to focus on his
data-mining project called Total Information Awareness late last year.

The program, renamed Terrorism Information Awareness, involves a massive effort
to search for terrorists by analyzing vast volumes of data on individuals.
Poindexter brought the idea to defense officials after Sept. 11, and it landed
him the position at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Public interest groups spoke out against the project, citing privacy concerns.
Poindexter was denounced on the floor of Congress but defended at the White
House and the Pentagon. He even became the subject of the "John Poindexter
Awareness Office" on the Web that urged people to send in information about him,
such as sightings and personal items he purchases.

Poindexter, described by acquaintances as quiet and reserved, gained national
attention, along with his aide, Lt. Col. Oliver North, when the Iran-Contra
scandal broke in 1986. Iran-Contra was a tangled foreign-policy affair that
involved covert arms sales to Iran and illicit diversion of funds to the Contra
rebels in Nicaragua.

Poindexter's convictions for charges that included lying to Congress were
overturned on appeal when the court determined that his congressional testimony,
given under a grant of immunity, was improperly used against him. His fall came
after a career that had risen steadily.

Poindexter graduated first in his class at the Naval Academy in 1958 and later
earned a doctorate in nuclear physics from the California Institute of
Technology. In the Navy, he achieved the rank of vice admiral and served Navy
secretaries at the Pentagon before going to the White House. He is said to be a
computer expert as well.

The Pentagon research agency where Poindexter works, known by its acronym,
DARPA, is involved in a vast array of high-tech projects and works closely with
numerous research universities and businesses. It was started after the Soviets
launched Sputnik in 1958 and played a major role in the development of the
Internet.

GRAPHIC: Photo: Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) points to an example of a Defense
Department Web site that he and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) (left) say would have
allowed investors to trade on "futures" in terrorism events they think are
likely to happen. / From DARPA Web site; Photo: John Poindexter was a central
figure in the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s.