THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 30, 1995 TAG: 9510260041
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
In 1929 Secretary of State Henry Stimson tried to shut down America's fledgling spy apparatus with the quaint words, ``Gentlemen do not read each other's mail.''
But international competition isn't a gentlemanly business, and governments regularly learn all they can about one another's intentions by fair means and foul.
Following the Cold War, our spy agencies have tried to justify their budgets by insisting on the need for economic espionage. President Bush argued in 1991 that ``we must have intelligence to thwart anyone who tries to steal our technology or otherwise refuses to play by fair economic rules.'' President Clinton has reportedly codified rules governing economic espionage.
There's no question counterintelligence is needed, which is what Bush seems to have been describing. We need to know who's trying to steal our technical secrets - defense secrets especially, but not exclusively. Stealing the secrets of our competitors is considerably more problematic, but it's taking place.
In the past year, CIA employees have been expelled from France for trying to learn the details of that country's GATT positions. The CIA spied on the Japanese team negotiating an auto-trade deal. The Japanese have protested spying by the CIA and National Security Agency on their delegation to a trade summit in Miami last year. Other delegations were also subjected to government eavesdropping.
According to the British paper, the Guardian, the CIA and NSA also learned of a $6 billion French arms deal with Saudi Arabia and a $1.4 billion radar deal with Brazil. The information allowed Boeing and McDonnell Douglas to take the Saudi business and Raytheon to win the Brazilian contract.
Secretary Stimson would be mortified, but we're far from alone in this game. The French have long insinuated spies into American companies. A San Diego scientist will soon begin a prison term for illegally selling classified computer technology to the Japanese.
Such practices will never cease. In self-defense we are going to have to guard against other countries and companies that seek competitive advantage. Our leaders need intelligence to protect our interests and must assume others are trying to learn our secrets.
The real questions are how much intelligence is enough and who's going to control the spooks. The CIA's budget is going up, not down. Yet its record is troubling. The agency was laughably wrong in its assessments of the Soviet threat and the economic strength of the Eastern Bloc. It played host to Aldrich Ames and has participated in rogue operations. Even now, we wouldn't be hearing about American economic spying if it hadn't been detected.
Spying may be necessary, but we need to get better at it. And stricter oversight is essential to keep from feeding an inexhaustible appetite for funds and to keep from being humiliated by incompetence. by CNB