Feds Pay Millions For Bogus Spy Software

[ElNono]

The US Government paid tens of millions of dollars to Dennis Montgomery because he said he had created software that could decode secret Al-Qaeda messages embedded in Al-Jazeera broadcasts. Even though the CIA figured out that his software was fraud (http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/us/politics/20data.html&OQ=_rQ3D4&OP=2fc09dc0Q2FuQ7El8u!Q23H@UQ23Q23Q26CuCOQ2BQ2BuOC uCOux@uQ5DQ23Q3CfQ26fH@uCO!3Q263wiQ26gQ3C) in 2003, other defense agencies continued to believe in it. To date, the government has not prosecuted Montgomery, most likely to save itself the embarrassment.

[Winehole23]

Not content to be overinvested in anti-terrorism/national security to the max, we throw away money by the fistful so that no one dare call us weak on security or question our terrorist fightin' bona fides.

[ElNono]

I'm just alarmed by the misuse of NatSec classification to cover up what is an obvious fuck-up. I have no problem with the govt test-driving tech to asses it's usability, but once it's been determined to be bogus, there's no reason for them to go out of their way to protect it...

[Winehole23]

there's no reason for them to go out of their way to protect it...There might be cause to fear a catastrophic failure of public confidence in the US government, if cases of this sort ran all the way to legal consequences. If the government feeds keeps us in the dark and feeds us bs like we were mushrooms, no doubt it's for our own good.

[boutons_deux]

"fear a catastrophic failure of public confidence in the US government"

huh? What's to fear? That's the fundamental message of St Ronnie and the VRWC, and of the failure of NatSec/FBI/Repugs to pre-empt 9/11.

And that's also the lesson of nearly 20 military years in Iraq and Afghanistan failing to make UCA safer or those countries "democratic"

[Winehole23]

Sometimes you barely make any sense at all, boutons.

[boutons_deux]

I make so much sense, you can't grasp it.

[Winehole23]

You repeat yourself so much others block it out. Maybe you should tweak the formula every now and then.

[ElNono]

There might be cause to fear a catastrophic failure of public confidence in the US government, if cases of this sort ran all the way to legal consequences. If the government feeds keeps us in the dark and feeds us bs like we were mushrooms, no doubt it's for our own good.

Sounds good to me... time to grab a beer and watch some TV...