20061103
• Secret - US - Iraq - Nuclear - Government - Military - Intelligence - Internet - Archive - History - Hoekstra - Michigan - Roberts - Kansas - Legislation - Politics - "U.S. Web Archive Is Said to Reveal a Nuclear Primer." ... "Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war. The Bush administration did so under pressure from Congressional Republicans who had said they hoped to “leverage the Internet” to find new evidence of the prewar dangers posed by Saddam Hussein." ... "But in recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq’s secret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb." ... "Last night, the government shut down the Web site after The New York Times asked about complaints from weapons experts and arms-control officials. A spokesman for the director of national intelligence said access to the site had been suspended “pending a review to ensure its content is appropriate for public viewing.”" ... "Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency, fearing that the information could help states like Iran develop nuclear arms, had privately protested last week to the American ambassador to the agency, according to European diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity. One diplomat said the agency’s technical experts “were shocked” at the public disclosures." ... "The documents, roughly a dozen in number, contain charts, diagrams, equations and lengthy narratives about bomb building that nuclear experts who have viewed them say go beyond what is available elsewhere on the Internet and in other public forums. For instance, the papers give detailed information on how to build nuclear firing circuits and triggering explosives, as well as the radioactive cores of atom bombs." ... "The director of national intelligence, John D. Negroponte, had resisted setting up the Web site, which some intelligence officials felt implicitly raised questions about the competence and judgment of government analysts. But President Bush approved the site’s creation after Congressional Republicans proposed legislation to force the documents’ release." ... "The campaign for the Web site was led by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Peter Hoekstra [Republican] of Michigan. Last November, he and his Senate counterpart, Pat Roberts [Republican] of Kansas, wrote to Mr. Negroponte, asking him to post the Iraqi material." (1, 2, 3) -By William J. Broad with contributions by Scott Shane -NYTimes 

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20060730
• US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Law - 2006 Election - Nev. - Pat Roberts - Kan. - "Report on Prewar Intelligence Lagging: Information Democrats Want Most Might Not Come Out Until After Election." ... "When angry Democrats briefly shut down the Senate last year to protest the slow pace of a congressional investigation into prewar intelligence on Iraq, Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) claimed a rare victory." ... "Republicans called it a stunt but promised to quickly wrap up the inquiry. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which is overseeing the investigation, said his report was near completion and there was no need for the fuss." ... "That was nine months ago." ... "The Republican-led committee, which agreed in February 2004 to write the report, has yet to complete its work. Just two of five planned sections of the committee's findings are fully drafted and ready to be voted on by members, according to Democratic and Republican staffers. Committee sources involved with the report, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they are working hard to complete it. But disputing Roberts, they said they had started almost from scratch in November after Democrats staged their protest." -By Dafna Linzer -WashingtonPost 

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20060425
• US - Iraq - Noteworthy - Government - Military - Intelligence - Secrets - Law - Pat Roberts - Kansas - "Is There A Double Standard On Leak Probes?" ... "When the CIA announced on Friday that it had fired an employee who the agency claims "knowingly and willfully shared classified intelligence" with a newspaper reporter, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, immediately praised the agency's action, saying that "unauthorized disclosures of classified information can significantly harm our ability to protect the American people."" ... "Roberts, one of the staunchest defenders of the Bush administration's effort to stop the flow of sensitive information to the press, said in a statement that "[t]hose who leak classified information not only risk the disclosure of intelligence sources and methods, but also expose the brave men and women of the intelligence community to greater danger. Clearly, those guilty of improperly disclosing classified information should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."" ... "But three years ago on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, Roberts himself was involved in disclosing sensitive intelligence information that, according to four former senior intelligence officers, impaired efforts to capture Saddam Hussein and potentially threatened the lives of Iraqis who were spying for the United States." ... "On March 20, 2003, at the onset of military hostilities between U.S. and Iraqi forces, Roberts said in a speech to the National Newspaper Association that he had "been in touch with our intelligence community" and that the CIA had informed President Bush and the National Security Council "of intelligence information from what we call human intelligence that indicated the location of Saddam Hussein and his leadership in a bunker in the suburbs of Baghdad."" ... "The former intelligence officials said in interviews that Roberts was never held accountable for his comments, which bore directly on the issue of intelligence-gathering sources and methods, and revealed that Iraqis close to Hussein were probably talking to the United States." ... "After opening his speech with the information about human intelligence and Saddam Hussein's location in a Baghdad bunker, the senator said that President Bush had conferred with his top military advisers and had "authorized a pre-emptive surgical strike with 40 Tomahawk Missiles launched by ship and submarines and so called bunker bombs by F-117 stealth aircraft. I do not have a damage assessment. The Iraqi's report 14 killed and one wounded and are reporting damage in residential areas."" ... "At the time, it was one of the most sensitive secrets in government that the CIA had recruited Iraqi nationals who claimed to have infiltrated Hussein's inner circle to be able to follow his movements at the onset of war. But after the bombs and missiles hit an Iraqi governmental complex known as Dora Park, located on the Tigris River south of Baghdad, Hussein either was not there, or escaped unharmed." ... "Whether or not Roberts' comments were inadvertent, former intelligence officials said, they almost certainly tipped off the Iraqi dictator that there were spies close to him. "He [Roberts] had given up that we had a penetration of [Saddam's] inner circle," says a former senior intelligence official. "It was the worst thing you could ever do."" -By Murray Waas with contributions by Brian Beutler -NationalJournal

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• US - Iraq - Government - Military - Intelligence - Pat Roberts - Kans. - Law - "Sen. Roberts seeks delay of Intel probe." ... "Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said he wants to divide his panel’s inquiry into the Bush administration’s handling of Iraq-related intelligence into two parts, a move that would push off its most politically controversial elements to a later time." ... "The inquiry has dragged on for more than two years, a slow pace that prompted Democrats to force the Senate into an extraordinary closed-door session in November. Republicans then promised to speed up the probe." ... "Left unfinished would be a report on whether public statements and testimony about Iraq by senior U.S. government officials were substantiated by available intelligence information. Roberts also would leave unfinished another report on what Democrats have called possibly illegal activity in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, formerly headed by Douglas Feith, who is believed to have played an important role in persuading the president to invade Iraq." -By Alexander Bolton -TheHill.com

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20060424
• Secret - Government - Terrorism - Prisons - Law - Media - Politics - Arizona - Pat Roberts - Kansas - Michigan - "CIA Cracks Down On Leaks: Central Intelligence Agency employee Mary McCarthy was fired for leaking information about CIA secret prison camps to the Washington Post. Two former CIA intelligence experts discuss the implications of the firing and the future of security at the CIA."
- JIM LEHRER: "..." ... "Some perspective on this now from two career CIA employees. Richard Kerr spent 32 years at the agency. His last position was deputy director of central intelligence under the first President Bush." ... "Ray McGovern was an analyst for 27 years. He retired in 1990. He is now a member of the group Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, which has criticized the current administration for politicizing intelligence." ... "Mr. Kerr, should Mary McCarthy have been fired for what she did?"
- RICHARD KERR, Former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence: "Yes, I believe so."
- JIM LEHRER: "Do you agree, Mr. McGovern?"
- RAY MCGOVERN, Former CIA Analyst: "Yes, but that's only part of the story."
- JIM LEHRER: "What's the other part?"
- RAY MCGOVERN: "Well, we need to create a context here."
- JIM LEHRER: "OK. All right."
- RAY MCGOVERN: "We're not talking about petty crimes or misdemeanors; we're talking about war crimes. She was cognizant of war crimes. She needed to do something about that, from a moral and a legal perspective. And she chose this way to do it, because the other ways were blocked for her."
...
- RAY MCGOVERN: "I think, Jim, this was an exceptional case."
- JIM LEHRER: "An exceptional case?"
- RAY MCGOVERN: "Yes, really an exceptional case. Never before, in my experience for 27 years in the agency, was I aware of war crimes. Now, we're talking about serious things here, and her..."
- JIM LEHRER: "And you're talking about, in her case..."
- RAY MCGOVERN: "I'm talking about torture..."
- JIM LEHRER: "... the allegation that she gave the Washington Post information about these so-called prison camps in Eastern Europe?"
- RAY MCGOVERN: "Correct."
- JIM LEHRER: "And if she knew that, and she wanted to do something about it as a CIA professional, her only avenue was, in your..."
- RAY MCGOVERN: "No..."
- JIM LEHRER: "No?"
- RAY MCGOVERN: "... I assume that she went through the proper channels. She was working for the inspector general, but the inspector general, however..."
- JIM LEHRER: "The agency's inspector general, right."
- RAY MCGOVERN: "Yes, he's supposed to be independent, but he's really a creature of the director. And the director marches down with the vice president to try to persuade [Arizona] Senator McCain to create an exception so that the CIA can torture people." ... "And so she's faced with a situation that's real. The director is in favor of torture. And their only other recourse is Congress. And Congress, the oversight committees -- I hate to say this, but it's a joke." ... "She can't get any redress from [Kansas Senator] Pat Roberts. I call him Patsy Roberts, because he's a patsy for the administration. [Michigan Representative] Pete Hoekstra, he criticized..."
- JIM LEHRER: "The House Intelligence Committee chairman."
- RAY MCGOVERN: "... in the House side, yes, he criticized her yesterday. But, you know, that was the height of cynicism, because if he were doing his job it wouldn't be necessary for Mary McCarthy to do these things."
- JIM LEHRER: "So she had no other option then, from your..."
- RAY MCGOVERN: "That's the way I see it. I knew Mary pretty well. She's got a lot of integrity. And, you know, you can argue that she has a moral responsibility and a legal responsibility." ... "In other words, if she's in the chain of command and she sees these kinds of crimes being perpetrated, under Nuremberg and other international law, she is required..."
- JIM LEHRER: "She had to do this?"
- RAY MCGOVERN: "... to do something."
-PBS /NewsHour

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