POINDEXTER MAY LEAVE DEFENSE AGENCY

01 August 2003
Dayton Daily News

A3

John Poindexter

WASHINGTON - John Poindexter is expected to resign from a Pentagon research 
agency after two programs in which he was involved - the latest one 
proposing bets on potential terror activities in the Middle East - generated 
intense criticism.

Poindexter's resignation from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 
is anticipated within the next few weeks, a Pentagon official said Thursday. 
He said he did not know if it had been requested.

The latest program, called Policy Analysis Market, drew rebukes from members 
of both parties on Capitol Hill after it was revealed Monday by Democratic 
Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. Even top Defense 
Department officials - including Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who said he 
killed the program Tuesday, about an hour after reading about it - distanced 
themselves from it.

The Web-based futures program would have allowed traders to speculate on the 
possibility of actions such as terror attacks or assassinations in the 
Middle East.