The Oregonian

July 30, 2003 Wednesday SUNRISE EDITION

SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. C06

LENGTH: 263 words

HEADLINE: BETTING ON TERROR

Summary: Congress closes a hare-brained casino The Pentagon's 
outlandish plan to take bets on terrorism collapsed Tuesday after less 
than a day of public disbelief. The speed at which this scheme 
imploded underscores how vital a role public scrutiny and 
congressional oversight play in the war on terrorism. 

The Pentagon quietly developed a program that would let people place 
online bets on the likelihood of various terrorist activities in the 
Middle East and elsewhere. Anonymous speculators could buy futures 
contracts for terror attacks, assassinations and other events, much as 
they now can buy futures in pork bellies and oil. Those who predict 
the future correctly would win money.

In the dark privacy of the Pentagon, this might've seemed like a swell 
way to prevent terrorism, since futures markets often reveal trends. 
But in broad daylight, the disastrous consequences of this plan were 
hard to miss: Encouraging terrorism by helping people profit from it? 
They're joking, right?

The online trading market was supposed to start registering traders 
Friday, if not for some digging and whistle-blowing by Sen. Ron Wyden, 
D-Ore., and another senator. The Defense Department briefly defended 
the plan, but as howls of derision from both parties grew louder, 
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz promised on Tuesday to terminate it.

Wyden and other leaders must keep monitoring the Pentagon's many plans 
for national security. Some make sense. Some boggle the imagination. 
It takes an outside eye -- and a watchful public -- to discern the difference.