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Spy Tech 'The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of
Science and Technology' by Jeffrey T. Richelson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37954-2001Sep27.html
Reviewed by Martin A. Lee
Sunday, September 30, 2001; Page BW04
THE WIZARDS OF LANGLEY
Inside the CIA's Directorate Of Science and
Technology By Jeffrey T. Richelson Westview. 416 pp. $30
During the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962, a CIA antenna mounted
on a destroyer near Florida transmitted deceptive signals to make it
appear as though a U.S. fighter plane were about to enter Cuban
airspace. A Cuban pilot thought he had the American aircraft "in
sight." But as he prepared to shoot down the intruder, a CIA
technician flicked a switch and the "ghost aircraft" suddenly vanished
from the Cuban's radar screen. The ability to project phantom
airplanes onto enemy radar is among the numerous accomplishments
Jeffrey T. Richelson discusses in The Wizards of Langley. Spanning a
half-century of covert machinations, this is the first book to
chronicle the CIA's extensive efforts to exploit science and
technology for espionage purposes.
Since the late 1940s, CIA scientists have created state-of-the-art
tools to support a wide range of cloak-and-dagger activities,
including lock-picking and bugging devices, disguises that could alter
an agent's voice and physical appearance, and exotic murder weapons
such as exploding sea shells and .22 caliber cigarette pistols. Spy
paraphernalia of this sort conjures up lurid images from James Bond
movies. But real-life routines were considerably less romantic for
members of the CIA's Directorate of Science & Technology (DS&T), which
focused primarily on collecting and analyzing information.
The DS&T "made an enormous contribution to U.S. intelligence
capabilities and national security," according to Richelson. It
engaged in underwater as well as aerial surveillance and was
instrumental in building and operating the U-2 and A-12 spy planes.
Top-secret CIA projects with colorful code names such as WHALE TALE,
BLACK SHIELD and NICE GIRL provided crucial data on Soviet nuclear
armaments, missile launch facilities, chemical and biological warfare
research and more general scientific developments behind the Iron
Curtain.
Still, there were some major blunders. CIA analysts failed to predict
the first atomic bomb test by the People's Republic of China in
1964. But this setback seemed to galvanize the experts in the DS&T,
who designed the first spy satellites that enabled the U.S.
government to snoop on its adversaries from the
heavens. High-resolution imagery generated by the CIA's successful
space reconnaissance program resulted in an intelligence bonanza for
Washington.
Despite constant bureaucratic wrangling and bitter turf wars with the
military services, the DS&T remained "at the cutting edge,
substantially in advance of what was being done in either the private
sector or other parts of the government," says Richelson. He credits
the DS&T with several innovations that have aided modern medicine,
including lithium batteries for heart pacemakers and technology that
assists in breast cancer detection.
While these practical benefits are notable, the CIA's scientific
endeavors also had a nasty underside. The author recounts various
misdeeds of the Technical Services Staff, a "very spooky" outfit that
tested drugs on unwitting American citizens in the 1950s and early
1960s. Some of the seamier aspects of this story have been documented
in other studies of the agency (including my own book Acid Dreams).
Army biochemist Frank Olson, an early casualty of these reckless
experiments, plunged to his death from a New York City hotel window
two weeks after he drank a cocktail spiked with LSD at a CIA
gathering. After a 22-year cover-up, CIA officials declared that Olson
had committed suicide. But recent forensic evidence suggests that he
may have been pushed out the window after a struggle with unknown
assailants, a possibility that Richelson does not mention.
A databank maintained in the agency's Office of Research and
Development monitored and catalogued worldwide progress in
pharmacology research. This office also pursued a futile quest to
harness psychic powers for the "remote viewing" of Soviet military
installations and other targets. In addition, the CIA tried to turn
animals into intelligence assets. One ill-fated scheme, known as
"Acoustic Kitty," entailed wiring a cat with transmitting equipment so
that it could function as a mobile listening post.
In the post-Cold War era, the CIA has been grappling with the
information explosion triggered by the Internet and a plethora of
digital telecommunications. CIA scientists have pioneered data mining
and retrieval systems, language translation machines and microwave
technology that greatly increases the speed at which computers
operate. The agency is currently providing venture capital to
commercial firms such as SafeWeb, which has developed software that
allows people to use the World Wide Web without leaving traces of the
sites they have visited.
Richelson's book offers a rare glimpse into a vital aspect of
U.S. intelligence. At times, however, his writing suffers from the
sheer volume of detail he presents, and the amoral tone of the
narrative can be disconcerting. He notes, for example, that CIA
technicians facilitated plans to mine Nicaraguan harbors during the
Reagan administration, without indicating that this covert operation
violated international law.
>From a purely technical standpoint, the achievements of Langley's
wizards are impressive. But spy satellites will never completely
supplant the need for reliable intelligence from human sources -- as
the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington earlier this month
tragically have reminded us. And scientific prowess, no matter how
formidable, cannot guarantee wise policy choices. *
Martin A. Lee is the author of "Acid Dreams" and "The Beast
Reawakens."
--
Mind Control: TT&P --> http://www.datafilter.com/mc
Allen Barker
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