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| 2006/1/10-12 [Uncategorized] UID:41319 Activity:low |
1/10 What a great idea. What a shame Risen decided to disclose another
secret project that we can't use now:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10755448/site/newsweek
\_ If it's true it's a moronic idea. Doesn't it assume the Iranians
are complete idiots who can't read technical diagrams and fix
flaws? What about if they take the designs, compare it to others
from Pakistan, North Korea, Russia, etc. I admit I don't know
anything about the design of nuclear weaponry but if it's anything
like designs of other things you can often glean a lot of tricks
and details from looking at a complete set of specifications.
\_ Actually, this is not a new idea, and it's not moronic. If you
pass on to the other side research that you know is both secret
and goes to a dead end, you can make them invest time and money
in something that you know won't work. This is an extrapolation.
\_ Ever seen Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen? |
| msnbc.msn.com/id/10755448/site/newsweek The intelligence community is also furious over disclosures in New York Times reporter James Risen's "State of War" about a Clinton-era CIA plot, Operation Merlin. Risen writes that a former Russian nuclear scientist on the agency payroll was to take Russian nuke blueprints (acquired by the CIA) and leak them to Iran. The catch: they contained faulty info that the CIA hoped Iran would incorporate in a bomb design. But the initiative went awry when the scientist noticed the flaws and told the Iranians to look closely at the blueprints. Risen's book says the episode shows how hard it's been for US intelligence to stop nuclear proliferators. But current and former US intel officials, who asked not to be named discussing the sensitive matter, complain that while the scheme Risen cites may have ended years ago, similar tactics could be used today. They say the book-which says the Bush administration endorsed Merlin with a view to maybe trying something similar on other rogue states-puts bad guys on guard. ") The Bush administration asked the Times more than two years ago not to write about the operation, say two administration officials who asked not to be identified discussing intel issues. A Times spokeswoman says, "We generally don't discuss stories we don't publish." Risen tells NEWSWEEK Merlin was "obsolete at the time I wrote about it." He didn't want to discuss the Times's internal deliberations. |