Saturday, December 9, 2006
State Dept. Skips CIA, Goes Google
The U.S. State Department recently asked the CIA to identify Iranians who could be sanctioned for their role in their country’s nuclear-weapons program.
The CIA refused.
So the State Department did an end run around the agency and found at least some of what it was looking for – by using Google.
A junior foreign-service officer at the department typed search terms such as "Iran and nuclear” into the search engine and selected those with the most hits, the Washington Post reported.
The list was submitted to the CIA for approval, but again the agency refused to cooperate, claiming its agents on the Iran desk were already overworked and the disclosure could compromise its intelligence sources.
So the State Department cut the list further and resubmitted it.
Eventually the list was whittled down to 12 individuals the CIA did approve, although none is believed to be directly connected to Iran’s secret military effort to produce a nuclear warhead, according to the Post.
The 12 Iranians could be subject to travel bans or curbs on their business dealings under a draft resolution now being considered at the United Nations.
The U.S. State Department recently asked the CIA to identify Iranians who could be sanctioned for their role in their country’s nuclear-weapons program.
The CIA refused.
So the State Department did an end run around the agency and found at least some of what it was looking for – by using Google.
A junior foreign-service officer at the department typed search terms such as "Iran and nuclear” into the search engine and selected those with the most hits, the Washington Post reported.
The list was submitted to the CIA for approval, but again the agency refused to cooperate, claiming its agents on the Iran desk were already overworked and the disclosure could compromise its intelligence sources.
So the State Department cut the list further and resubmitted it.
Eventually the list was whittled down to 12 individuals the CIA did approve, although none is believed to be directly connected to Iran’s secret military effort to produce a nuclear warhead, according to the Post.
The 12 Iranians could be subject to travel bans or curbs on their business dealings under a draft resolution now being considered at the United Nations.
