NationStates Jolt Archive

Mystery surrounds costly spy program
Senator calls project 'dangerous to the national security'


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress' new blueprint for U.S. intelligence spending includes a mysterious and expensive spy program that drew extraordinary criticism from leading Democrats, with one saying the highly classified project is a threat to national security.

In an unusual rebuke, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, complained Wednesday that the spy project was "totally unjustified and very, very wasteful and dangerous to the national security." He called the program "stunningly expensive."

The rare criticisms of a highly secretive project in such a public forum intrigued outside intelligence experts, who said the program was almost certainly a spy satellite system, perhaps with technology to destroy potential attackers

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/08/us.spy.program.ap/index.html


I think it sounds pretty much like a death ray

No. Of course not.

No. Of course not.

But CNN implies that they are!

Mystery surrounds costly spy program
Senator calls project 'dangerous to the national security'


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress' new blueprint for U.S. intelligence spending includes a mysterious and expensive spy program that drew extraordinary criticism from leading Democrats, with one saying the highly classified project is a threat to national security.

In an unusual rebuke, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, complained Wednesday that the spy project was "totally unjustified and very, very wasteful and dangerous to the national security." He called the program "stunningly expensive."

The rare criticisms of a highly secretive project in such a public forum intrigued outside intelligence experts, who said the program was almost certainly a spy satellite system, perhaps with technology to destroy potential attackers

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/08/us.spy.program.ap/index.html


I think it sounds pretty much like a death ray
yep they probobaly got the tech from the same aliens that gave us nightvisiongogles(sp)

No, it in theory might have the ability to defend itself from incoming missles etc. or maybe even attack other sats. That's all the speculation is saying.

No, it in theory might have the ability to defend itself from incoming missles etc. or maybe even attack other sats. That's all the speculation is saying.

Why would it threaten national security if thats all that it is?

The CIA never does anything wasteful. The government does not need to be criticised. Republicans are your friends. Have a nice day.

The CIA never does anything wasteful. The government does not need to be criticised. Republicans are your friends. Have a nice day.

*becomes brainwashed*

sounds familiar..

Why would it threaten national security if thats all that it is?
I suppose we might take out chinese spy sats with it.

hmm, i wouldnt be surprised by this though.

becomes massively intrigued...I want that CIA internship even more now.

You know, this sounds EXACTLY like something from the movies. And by movies I mean Dr. Strangelove. And how the Russians learned about a doomsday device project from the NYTimes, even though it never went through.

Could be something to do with countering Galileo. They did suggest before they would be willing to shoot down the European GPS network if it became an inconvenience during a war. Perhaps the "undermining national security" bit is a way of saying that doing something that stupid would only get you nuked.

The CIA never does anything wasteful. The government does not need to be criticised. Republicans are your friends. Have a nice day.

Was MKULTRA wasteful?

In case you don't know, MKULTRA was a series of secret experiments in the 1950s. The most notorious of these experiments was the study of the effects of LSD to compel criminals into self-incrimination in violation of the Sixth Amendment and to make foreign leaders, particularly Fidel Castro, seem high during speeches.

I suppose we might take out chinese spy sats with it.

I thought all this star wars killer satelite stuff was so over after Reagan. I am guessing it is some kind of space laser used to shoot down ICBM's; Rumsfeld and Condi were absolutely gaga about starwars stuff before 9-11 changed everybody's priorities. Or perhaps it is some kind of spy satelite with a weapon on board so for example if we spot a tall bearded Arab wandering around the mountains of Tora Bora we could zap him.

I don''t know why democrats would insist it is threat to national security though, I find that very strange. Are they just talking about the price tag or maybe it will be used to spy on Americans.

I thought all this star wars killer satelite stuff was so over after Reagan. I am guessing it is some kind of space laser used to shoot down ICBM's; Rumsfeld and Condi were absolutely gaga about starwars stuff before 9-11 changed everybody's priorities. Or perhaps it is some kind of spy satelite with a weapon on board so for example if we spot a tall bearded Arab wandering around the mountains of Tora Bora we could zap him.

I don''t know why democrats would insist it is threat to national security though, I find that very strange. Are they just talking about the price tag or maybe it will be used to spy on Americans.


probably both..but most likely more of the price issue. they say the money could be better spent on the war or social programs.

I must say though, a death ray would kick-ass.

I know there was a plan for the military or CIA to buy Columbia to fit it with a laser. But we all know how that ended, so i guess they are just trying to figure something out to strap it on...maybe hubble.

considering hubble will be out of date in a few years, i wouldn't be surprised.

I thought all this star wars killer satelite stuff was so over after Reagan. I am guessing it is some kind of space laser used to shoot down ICBM's; Rumsfeld and Condi were absolutely gaga about starwars stuff before 9-11 changed everybody's priorities. Or perhaps it is some kind of spy satelite with a weapon on board so for example if we spot a tall bearded Arab wandering around the mountains of Tora Bora we could zap him.

I don''t know why democrats would insist it is threat to national security though, I find that very strange. Are they just talking about the price tag or maybe it will be used to spy on Americans.
Highly unlikely, you would have to set it up so it could nab it while the ICBM was out atmosphere so unless they had a sufficient number up its unlikely they could cover the angles properly. Lazers do not work well in atmosphere.

Yeah for large amounts of money being put into spy and defense!! YAH!!!

We need to increase the amount of spending in that program, get rid of some of those social crap programs and bureacracys and invest more money in DEFENSE!!

w00t for Unlimited Defense Spending!! w00t!

The way the government is going it could be some kinda GPS thing - they want to make national ID cards and could theoretically slip chips into them. That would be dangerous since if the tracking system could be hacked it would make it easy to target and kidnap or kill top level officials, scientist, etc.

Not to mention destroying the constitution and possibly pissing the public off enough to cause an uprising if it were secretly implemented and then the public found out about.

Sounds like a saner theroy than a death ray.

Was MKULTRA wasteful?

In case you don't know, MKULTRA was a series of secret experiments in the 1950s. The most notorious of these experiments was the study of the effects of LSD to compel criminals into self-incrimination in violation of the Sixth Amendment and to make foreign leaders, particularly Fidel Castro, seem high during speeches.


I thought MKULTRA was a poster here on NS. :D

Seriously though. The CIA just doesn't have the wherewithall to make a space based death ray. Hell, their having enough trouble here on planet Earth. Now, some other black project organization that's funneling funds from the CIA might be working on such a project. Hard to say what's really going on in our government (or shadow government) these days.

Wow, I'm starting to sound a bit like MK. Ain't it cool!