National Public Radio (NPR)/SHOW: Morning Edition 10:00 AM EST NPR December 15, 2004
Two senators debate the need for a $9 billion unnamed program in the secret federal intelligence budget
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
The government spends an increasing amount of its budget on spying, and exactly how much is a closely guarded secret. Here's an example. One large item on the intelligence budget is said to cost $9 billion but officially nobody knows what it is. Some say it's a stealth spy satellite; others say that anyone talking to the news media about it should be investigated. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.
BRIAN NAYLOR reporting:
The debate, once confined to the closed-door deliberations of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, spilled out into the open last week when Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia delivered a short and somewhat cryptic speech on the Senate floor.
Senator JAY ROCKEFELLER (Democrat, West Virginia): Because of the highly classified nature of the programs contained in the annual intelligence budget, I cannot talk about them on the floor. But the Senate has voted for the past two years to terminate the program of which I speak only to be overruled in the appropriations conference. The Intelligence conference report now before the Senate fully authorizes funding for this unjustified and stunningly expensive acquisition.
NAYLOR: Rockefeller was soon joined on the Senate floor by his Democratic colleague on the Intelligence Committee, Ron Wyden of Oregon. Wyden denounced the unnamed program in similar terms, saying the original justification for this technology had eroded as our adversaries had changed.
What the senators were talking about was reported a few days later in The Washington Post and elsewhere. These reports said the subject was a new generation of stealth spy satellites, eyes in space that could send back images of the Earth without being detected. John Pike is an expert on defense technology with the Web site GlobalSecurity.org.
Mr. JOHN PIKE (GlobalSecurity.org): Our first stealth spy satellite was launched back around the time of the first first Gulf War, another one was launched in the late 1990s. And just as Boeing is currently working on a new generation of regular spy satellites, it appears that Lockheed Martin is working on a new generation of stealthy spy satellites.
NAYLOR: The cost of the stealth spy satellite program is put at over $9 billion, which would likely make it the most expensive item in the Intelligence budget. The overall size of that budget is not disclosed, but it's believed to be about $40 billion.
Critics say not only is the program too expensive, it's also out of date. Spy satellites were first deployed during the Cold War when Soviet military research and troop movements were a primary US concern. Today's national security worries have more to do with terrorism and whether Iran and North Korea are developing nuclear capabilities. Pike says these are missions for which spy satellites may not be particularly useful.
Mr. PIKE: The things that we're worried about in those countries are mainly hidden underground nuclear facilities that a satellite isn't going to see, stealthy or otherwise. And, of course, terrorists really just don't show up in spy satellite imagery at all. So I think that the concern is that, while it seemed like a good idea at the time, times have changed. We're talking about a lot of money. And the view of the Senate Intelligence Committee--it appears that they're of the view that that money could be better spent elsewhere.
NAYLOR: The criticism from Rockefeller and other Democrats notwithstanding, the Senate voted to keep spending money on the program, but Rockefeller vowed to continue his opposition and promised to expand his campaign.
Sen. ROCKEFELLER: If we're asked to fund it next year, this particular program, I will seriously consider and probably will ask the Senate to go into closed session so that the senators can understand, fully debate, become informed upon and then vote on termination of this very wasteful acquisitions program.
NAYLOR: Meanwhile, the Bush administration is reported to be angry at the disclosure of the classified satellite program and to have asked for a Justice Department investigation into the leaking of its details to the media. Rockefeller's office says the senator's remarks on the topic were fully vetted and approved by security officials. A Justice Department spokesman said the department had no comment about the potential investigation. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.
INSKEEP: The time is 19 minutes past the hour.
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