13 ten thousand more missions: According to a Defense Department timeline of the Gulf War, www.defense.gov.
14 mind-numbing statistics: USA Today World, 1991 Gulf War chronology, September 3, 1996.
15 terrible weather: McMaster, “Battle of 73 Easting,” 10–11.
16 wrote the first handbook: Wolfe, 3.
17 “We had thermal imagery”: Interview with Douglas Macgregor, April 2014.
18 Eagle Troop: Interview with General Paul Gorman (retired) October 2014. The controversy continues over how long this battle actually lasted.
19 “slaughter for slaughter’s sake”: Powell, 505. All quotes in this section are from Powell’s book.
20 “a great idea”: Interview with Neal Cosby, May 2014.
21 Bloedorn and the DARPA team: Thorpe, “Trends in Modeling, Simulation, & Gaming,” 12.
22 “capturing”: Interview with Neal Cosby, May 2014.
23 “an instrument of war”: This account is from Gorman and McMaster, “The Future of the Armed Services: Training for the 21st Century,” Statement before Senate Armed Services Committee, May 21, 1992.
24 Task Force Ranger: Stewart, The United States Army in Somalia, 1992–1994, 10–11.
25 “a direct hit”: Norm Hooten, interview with Lara Logan, CBS News, 60 Minutes, October 6, 2013.
26 written report: Quotes are from Report of the Senior Working Group on Military Operations Other Than War (OOTW). Around this time, DARPA’s name was briefly changed back to ARPA, then restored to DARPA.
27 “Historical advice”: Glenn, Combat in Hell, 1.
Chapter Seventeen Biological Weapons
1 thirteen-man Soviet delegation: Alibek, 226. The other twelve members were scientists, Soviet army officers, diplomats, and spies.
2 regarded with wonderment: Alibek, 194; email correspondence with Ken Alibek, December 2013. Alibek now lives in Kazakhstan.
3 Alibekov’s job: Alibek, 194.
4 he later described: Ibid., 9.
5 “It wasn’t so clear”: “DARPA: The Post-Soviet Years 1989–Present 2008,” video available on YouTube at DARPAtv.
6 great instability: Office of the Secretary of Defense, “Proliferation and Threat Response,” November 1992, 35.
7 At any given time: Hoffman, The Dead Hand, 330. As per Hoffman, there were 6,623 land-based and 2,760 sea-based nuclear warheads aimed at carefully selected targets inside the United States, and an additional 1,500 nuclear-armed cruise missiles and 822 nuclear-armed aircraft ready to fly.
8 helped conceive and design: Biography of Lisa Bronson, Missouri State University, Faculty DSS-73.
9 “At various stops”: This account is from Alibek, 239–40.
10 reached out to Lisa Bronson: Alibek 242, also discussed with Michael Goldblatt, April 2014.
11 Vladimir Pasechnik’s defection: Mangold and Goldberg, Plague Wars, 91–105.
12 Ultra-Pure: Hoffman, The Dead Hand, 327–328.
13 streptomycin: Poland and Dennis, WHO/CDS/CSR/EDC Plague Manual, 55.
14 “You choose plague”: Hoffmann, The Dead Hand, 334.
15 “one of the key acts”: Ibid., 332.
16 declared smallpox dead: World Health Magazine, May 1980 (cover).
17 Lederberg confirmed: James M. Hughes and D. Peter Drotman, “In Memoriam: Joshua Lederberg (1925–2008),” Emerging Infectious Diseases 14, no. 6 (June 2008): 981–983.
18 to get the Russians to admit: Braithwaite, 141–143. As the British ambassador to the Soviet Union, Braithwaite was stationed in Moscow from September 1988 to May 1992.
19 Yeltsin confessed: Braithwaite, 142–43.
20 Congress got involved: In the spring of 1992, in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, Yeltsin acknowledged that the Soviet Union, and subsequently Russia, had been operating a biological weapons program. He blamed the arms race. In June, while visiting Washington, D.C., Yeltsin told the U.S. Congress, “We are firmly resolved not to lie any more,” and promised U.S. lawmakers that Russia’s illegal bioweapons programs would end.
21 “the most virulent and vicious”: David Willman, “Selling the Threat of Bioterrorism,” Los Angeles Times, July 1, 2007.
22 Alibek confirmed: Alibek, 5.
23 provided chilling details: Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress, May 20, 1998; Alibek, 40.
24 “They did not care”: Alibek, 257.
25 “blindness to the pace”: Cited in William J. Broad, “Joshua Lederberg, 82, a Nobel Winner, Dies,” New York Times, February 5, 2008.
26 “very little capability in biology”: Interview with Larry Lynn; “DARPA: The Post-Soviet Years 1989–Present 2008,” video available on YouTube at DARPAtv.
27 “a SCIF”: Quotes are from interview with Murph Goldberger, June 2013.
28 Lederberg: Nancy Stomach, “DARPA Explores Some Promising Avenues,” 25.
29 unclassified findings: This section is sourced from Block, Living Nightmares, 39–75.
30 cancerous human tumors: Kevin Newman, “Cancer Experts Puzzled by Monkey Virus,” ABC News, March 12, 1994. The subject, “The SV-40 Virus: Has Tainted Polio Vaccine Caused an Increase in Cancer?” was discussed and debated before Congress on September 10, 2003.
31 Shortly after: Block, Living Nightmares, 41.
32 Biological warfare defense: Quotes in this section come from DARPA Biological Warfare Defense Program, Program Overview no. 884, briefing slides (unpaginated).
33 “Star Wars of biology”: Ibid.
34 Preston testified: Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Chemical and Biological Weapons, “Threats to America: Are We Prepared?” April 22, 1998.
35 “hundreds of tons”: Tim Weiner, “Soviet Defector Warns of Biological Weapons,” New York Times, February 25, 1998.
36 distributed to members of Congress: Congressional Record, March 12, 1998.
37 sharing information: Richard Preston, “The Bioweaponeers,” New Yorker, March 9, 1998, 52–53.
38 private meeting at the Pentagon: David Willman, “Selling the Threat of Bioterrorism,” Los Angeles Times, July 1, 2007.
39 Alibek became president: Executive profile, Bloomberg Business Week, October 14, 2013. See also Miller, Engelberg, and Broad, 302–4.
40 Popov: Quotes are from Nova, 1998. Transcripts online at pbs.org.
41 “enigma”: Marilyn Chase, “To Fight Bioterror, Doctors Look for Ways to Spur Immune System,” Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2002.
42 biological warfare defense: Prepared remarks of Larry Lynn, director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, before the Acquisition and Technology Subcommittee, U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, March 11, 1997.
43 “We hope”: “Hadron Subsidiary Awarded $3.3 Million Biodefense Contract by DARPA,” PRNewswire, May 2, 2000. In just a few years’ time, Alibek’s federal grant and contract money would total $28 million.
44 Ukraine: David Willman, “Selling the Threat of Bioterrorism,” Los Angeles Times, July 1, 2007.
45 “terrorist organization”: Testimony of Ken Alibek, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Research and Development and Subcommittee on Procurement, October 20, 1999, 15.
Chapter Eighteen Transforming Humans for War
1 “weakling of the battlefield”: Quotes are from interview with General Paul Gorman (retired), October 2014.
2 “On the field of battle”: Colonel S. L. A. Marshall, The Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation (Washington, DC, 1950), 7–10.
3 Gorman wrote: Gorman, SuperTroop, VIII-7.
4 radical vision: Interview with Michael Goldblatt, April 2014. This belief is common among transhumanists.
5 with the wave of a wand: Garreau, 28.
6 “rapid healing”: Harry T. Whelan et al., “DARPA Soldier Self Care: Rapid Healing of Laser Eye Injuries with Light Emitting Diode Technology,” September 1, 2004.
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7 like hydrogen sulfide: Jason, MITRE, Human Performance, 22–24.
8 to control the lobes: Garreau, 28.
9 Mechanically Dominant Soldier: Tether, Statement to Congress, March 19, 2003.
10 look like Lance Armstrong: Garreau, 32.
11 “a wireless brain modem”: All quotes are from Statement of Dr. Eric Eisenstadt, Defense Sciences Office, Brain Machine Interface, DARPATech ’99 conference.
12 the answer was clear: Author’s tour of Gina Goldblatt’s high technology bedroom, April 2014.
13 the Dark Winter script: Quotes are from Dark Winter, Bioterrorism Exercise, Andrews Air Force Base, June 22–23, 2001; U.S. House of Representatives, Hearing on Combating Terrorism, “Federal Response to a Biological Weapons Attack,” July 2001.
14 Nunn told Congress: Nunn, statement to Congress, July 23, 2001.
15 all BASIS could do: Interview with Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff, October 2013.
16 “Any technology”: Vin LoPresti, “Guarding the Air We Breathe,” Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Quarterly (Spring 2003), 5.
Chapter Nineteen Terror Strikes
1 asks Bray: Quotes are from interview with David Bray, July 2014. Per Presidential Decision Directive 39, the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program was a joint effort between the CDC, the FBI, and the Association of Public Health Laboratories.
2 supercomputers would scan: David Siegrist and J. Pavlin, “Bio-ALIRT Biosurveillance Detection Algorithm Evaluation,” Centers For Disease Control, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, September 24, 2004/53, 152–158. Carlos Castillo-Chavez, “Infections Disease Informatics and Biosurveillance,” Springer, October 2010, 6–7.
3 “It was a clear day”: Cheney, 339.
4 “He grabbed me”: Cheney interview with John King, CNN, September 11, 2002.
5 laying plans for war: Cheney, 341.
6 sitting in his office: Rumsfeld, 335; Larry King Live, December 5, 2001.
7 Davis later told: This account is from Cockburn, 1–3.
8 Secretary Rumsfeld helped: Armed Forces Press Service, September 8, 2006, photographs.
9 “Best info fast”: 9/11 Commission Report, 559; Joel Roberts, “Plans for Iraq Attack Began on 9/11,” CBS News, September 4, 2002.
10 “We all knew”: Rice, 83.
11 “We were embarking”: Cheney, 332.
12 Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 356–57.
13 Tenet sent out a memo: Memorandum from George J. Tenet, The Director of Central Intelligence, “Subject: We’re at War,” September 16, 2001, CIA.
14 “On October first”: Quotes are from interview with David Bray, July 2014.
15 “A war of nerves”: R. W. Apple, “A Nation Challenged: News Analysis; City of Power, City of Fears,” New York Times, October 17, 2001.
16 DARPA was asked: Interview with Michael Goldblatt, April 2014.
17 “a little bit of pride”: Ibid.
18 “There had been”: Quotes are from Cheney, 341.
19 “a virtually zero rate”: Vin LoPresti, “Guarding the Air We Breathe,” Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Quarterly (Spring 2003), 5, Science and Technology Review, October, 2003; Arkin, 288n.
20 “Go call Hadley”: Rice, 101.
21 In New York City: Cheney, 340–42.
22 “Feet down”: Rice, 101.
23 additive called bentonite: ABC News, World News Tonight, October 26, 2001.
24 “Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague”: ABC News, This Week, October 28, 2001.
25 disinformation campaign: William Safire, “Mr. Atta Goes to Prague,” New York Times, May 9, 2002.
26 indication of his significance: Anthony Tether, biography, AllGov.com.
27 five stages: Tether, Statement to Congress, March 19, 2003.
28 nearly three times: FY 2003 budget estimates, determined in February 2002.
29 “Kenneth Alibek”: “George Mason University Unveils Center for Biodefense: Scientists Kenneth Alibek, Charles Bailey to Direct,” press release, George Mason University, February 14, 2002.
30 “prototype biodefense products”: PRNewswire, Analex Corporation, May 1, 2002.
31 $60: “National Security Notes,” March 31, 2006, GlobalSecurity.org.
32 Al Qaeda spent: 9/11 Commission Report, 169. The plotters spent between $400,000 and $500,000.
33 “The match is about to begin”: John Diamond and Kathy Kiely, “Tomorrow Is Zero Hour,” USA Today, June 19, 2002.
Chapter Twenty Total Information Awareness
1 nuclear physicist John Poindexter: Dr. John Poindexter, DARPA biography.
2 struck with an idea: Harris, 144.
3 Poindexter began teaching himself: Ibid., 83.
4 revitalize the Genoa program: Interview with Bob Popp, June 2014.
5 “That’s funny”: Quotes are from Harris, 144.
6 roughly $42 million: Ibid., 145.
7 existing Genoa program: Presentation by Brian Sharkey, Deputy Director of ISO, Total Information Awareness, DARPATech 99 conference, transcript and briefing slides.
8 let go of profit participation: Harris, 147.
9 opening slide: Ibid., 150.
10 system of systems: Popp and Yen, 409; Dr. Robert Popp, DARPA’s Initiative on Countering Terrorism, TIA, Terrorism Information Awareness, Overview of TIA and IAO Programs, briefing slides.
11 Tether agreed: Interview with Bob Popp, June 2014; Harris, 150.
12 $145 million: Congressional Research Services, “Controversy About Level of Funding,” memo on funding for Total Information Awareness programs from Amy Belasco, consultant on the defense budget, Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division, January 21, 2003 (hereafter Belasco memo).
13 “In our view”: Quotes are from interview with Bob Popp, June 2014.
14 multiple programs under the TIA umbrella: Information in this section is drawn from “Total Information Awareness Program (TIA). System Description Document (SDD).” Version 1.1, July 19, 2002.
15 EELD office: DARPA, Information Awareness Office, IAO Mission, briefing slides.
16 “techniques that allow us”: Quotes are from statements of Ted Senator, DARPATech 2002 conference, Anaheim, California.
17 “capture human activities”: Ibid.
18 Human Identification: Jonathan Phillips’s explanation of face recognition for SPIE Defense Security and Sensing Symposium can be viewed on YouTube.
19 “the war languages”: DARPA, IAO Mission briefing slides.
20 Red teaming: International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security, Madrid, March 8–11, 2005.
21 “collaborations”: Quotes are from statements by Tom Armour, DARPATech 2000 conference, Dallas, Texas.
22 find the snakes: Armour added, “The intelligence analyst will need to consult vast amounts of information, from both classified and open sources, to piece together enough evidence to understand their activities.” Armour, DARPATech 2000 conference, Dallas, Texas.
23 “artificial automaton”: Von Neumann, “The Computer and the Brain,” 74.
24 lunch in Rumsfeld’s office: Harris, 185.
25 at Fort Belvoir: Dr. Robert Popp, DARPA’s Initiative on Countering Terrorism, TIA, Terrorism Information Awareness, Overview of TIA and IAO Programs, briefing slides.
26 a whooshing sound: Glenn Greenwald, “Inside the Mind of NSA Chief Gen. Keith Alexander,” Guardian, September 15, 2013.
27 “initial TIA experiment”: Quotes are from interview with Bob Popp; see also Harris, 187.
28 “a vast electronic dragnet”: John Markoff, “Pentagon Plans a Computer System That Would Peek at Personal Data of Americans,” New York Times, November 9, 2002.
29 Safire wrote: William Safire, “You Are a Suspect,” New York Times, November 14, 2002.
30 285 stories: Robert L. Popp and John Yen, 409.
31 true numbers: Belasco memo; DefenseNet transfers from Project ST-28 in FY2002 to Project ST-11 in 2003.
32 No interviews: Interview w
ith Bob Popp, June 2014.
33 “I don’t know much about it”: U.S. Department of Defense, news transcript, “Secretary Rumsfeld Media Availability en Route to Chile,” November 18, 2002.
34 offered his resignation: John M. Poindexter to Anthony Tether, director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, August 12, 2003.
35 “terminated immediately”: Congressional Record, September 24, 2003 (House), H8500-H8550 Joint Explanatory Statement, Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA).
36 Anonymous Entity Resolution: Ericson and Haggerty, 180; Steve Mollman, “Betting on Private Data Search,” Wired, March 5, 2003.
37 Combat Zones That See: DARPA Solicitation number SN03-13, Pre-Solicitation Notice: Combat Zones That See (CTS), March 25, 2003.
38 “to challenge the status quo”: Defense Industry Daily, August 1, 2008.
39 came up with: Vice Admiral Arthur K. Cebrowski and John H. Garstka, “Network Centric Warfare: Its Origins and Future,” Proceedings, 124–139. Cebrowski says he first heard the phrase at the U.S. Naval Institute Seminar and 123rd Annual Meeting, Annapolis, April 23, 1997.
40 the whole world: Remarks by Bill Mularie, director, Information Systems Office, DARPATech ’99 conference, briefing slides.
41 (C4ISR): Rumsfeld, 10.
42 internal documents: U.S. Department of Defense, Report on Network Centric Warfare, 2001; Vice Admiral Arthur Cebrowski (retired), speech to Network Centric Warfare 2003 conference, January 2003.
43 “great moral seductiveness”: Cited in James Blaker, “Arthur K. Cebrowski: A Retrospective,” Naval War College Review, Spring 2006, Vol. 59, no. 2, 135.
44 “The speed”: Quotes are from “Transforming Warfare: An Interview with Adm. Arthur Cebrowski,” Nova, PBS, May 5, 2004.
Chapter Twenty-One IED War
1 “Mission Accomplished”: Remarks by the President from the USS Abraham Lincoln, White House Press Office, May 2003.
2 “I was a gunner”: Quotes are from interview with Jeremy Ridgley, May 25, 2014; Ridgley photographs.
3 “unexploded ordnance”: “Pfc. Jeremiah D. Smith, 25, OIF, 05/26/03,” Defense Department press release no. 376-03, May 28, 2003.