FC: CIA chief says technology has "given adversaries a leg up"

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpwh0m.htm

     By TOM RAUM Associated Press Writer

     WASHINGTON (AP) -- Evidence that a U.S.-destroyed
     Sudanese pharmaceutical plant was manufacturing
     chemical-weapons components remains ``compelling,'' despite
     growing international skepticism over the 1998 bombing, insists
     CIA director George Tenet.

     ``We were not wrong,'' Tenet told a Georgetown University
     audience Monday night.

     [...]

     Tenet, a 1967 Georgetown graduate, said rapid advances in
     technology have ``given adversaries a leg up they didn't have''
     just a few years ago.

     ``The genie has exploded out of the bottle and the genie is
     providing information to any and all masters -- from CNN to
     terrorists,'' he said. ``Friends and foes alike have the same
     access we do to high-powered, portable computers and
     communications systems safeguarded by encryption.''

     At the same time, Tenet said, the United States has evolved into
     ``the most attractive target in the world.''

     He said the CIA was doing more to try to keep up with the
     times.

     ``The CIA is now engaged in our biggest recruiting drive since
     the end of the Cold War,'' he said, lamenting, ``We face major
     competition from the private sector.''

     When a student asked Tenet a complicated question dealing with
     the CIA's ongoing covert activities, Tenet said, ``No, I can't tell
     you about that. Thanks for coming anyway.'' Then he added that
     if the student wanted a job upon graduation, ``see me.''

     AP-NY-10-19-99 0433EDT



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