Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: January 4, 2007 10:15:44 PM PST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Big Brother, Inc., Privately Owned -- National Security
and "the Free Market"
Nominee played big role in outsourcing intelligence
Posted 1/4/2007 10:30 PM ET
By Matt Kelley and Richard Willing, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — J. Michael "Mike" McConnell, in line to become the
nation's top intelligence official, has been a leading figure in
outsourcing U.S intelligence operations to private industry,
records and interviews show.
McConnell, a retired Navy vice admiral, led the National Security
Agency from 1992 to 1996 before joining Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., a
consulting firm based in McLean, Va.
White House officials confirmed McConnell's appointment to replace
Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte but declined to
be identified by name because the nomination has not been formally
announced.
McConnell's nomination and confirmation by the Senate would come
amid two current trends in intelligence gathering: the emphasis on
technology, and the heightened role of private contractors in
analyzing data and preparing reports that once might have been
written by government intelligence officers.
"The mission has expanded, the money is there, and there just
aren't enough (intelligence officers) to do the job without outside
help," says Stephen Marrin, a former CIA analyst who teaches
intelligence studies at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa.
It is unclear how many private contractors are employed by the CIA
and other intelligence agencies. Budgets and hiring figures are
classified.
Last year, Negroponte started an audit of the number of private
contractors used by all 16 intelligence agencies. That count was
started because of concerns about how outsourcing affected
intelligence, and it is continuing, says Chad Kolton, a spokesman
for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The CIA also began a study last September to determine whether
contractors were hurting the agency's work by luring away CIA
officers with higher salaries. The CIA did not return a call
Thursday seeking an update on that study.
Booz Allen is a "huge" supplier of intelligence contracting, Kolton
said. Contract details are classified.
Ralph Shrader, Booz Allen Hamilton's chairman and CEO, says
McConnell's experience as NSA director and a private contractor
make him a good choice. McConnell "will work very hard to do the
right thing," Shrader says.
"He's someone who can solicit lots of opinions, collect them all
up, and produce something that takes the needs of the entire
country into consideration," Shrader says. "He's very hands-on."
Booz Allen has received at least $50 million in Pentagon contracts
since November 2005, records show. Some involve remnants of the
Pentagon's "Total Information Awareness" program. Congress killed
the program in 2003 amid concerns it would invade the privacy of
ordinary Americans.
The $63 million contract signed with Booz Allen in 2002 called for
the firm to develop a single system to collect and search through
huge databases of government, personal and business records for
signs of terrorist activities. McConnell signed that contract on
Booz Allen's behalf.
Work on that contract has continued, according to federal
contracting records, which show the Pentagon paid Booz Allen about
$2 million under that contract during 2006, most recently on Sept. 26.
Spokesmen for the White House, Pentagon, Booz Allen and
Negroponte's office all have declined to comment on the contract.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, says he will question McConnell about the program and
intelligence contracting.
"It's a critical concern," says Wyden, who led the efforts to kill
TIA in 2002.
Contributing: David Jackson
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-04-mcconnell_x.htm
