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It is often noted that espionage is an ancient enterprise with
roots at least as old as the Bible.
But what is rarely if ever recalled is that intelligence
oversight and accountability are *also* part of the Biblical
record, and that the Deity imposed a severe penalty upon those
who distorted intelligence and inflated threats.
A Washington Times op-ed writer today attempted to defend the
CIA by citing the first half of the Biblical precedent.
"Some Americans find in the CIA a convenient scapegoat, failing
to recognize that throughout history espionage has been used to
protect peoples from their enemies. Ancient Israel had spies:
'Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan [to see]
whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds.'
(Numbers 13:17-19)," wrote Ernest W. Lefever of the Ethics and
Public Policy Center in the Washington Times, Feb. 11, p. A18.
What Dr. Lefever failed to mention is that the spies sent by
Moses came back with a hyped National Intelligence Estimate,
with unhappy results.
"The land, through which we have gone, to spy it out, is a land
that devours its inhabitants... and we seemed to ourselves like
grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them." (Numbers 13: 32-33).
Only Joshua and Caleb dissented from this majority view.
Because they wittingly or unwittingly exaggerated the capabilities
of the Canaanites, God sentenced the spies to death, displaying no
judicial deference to the intelligence agencies.
"The men who brought an unfavorable report about the land died
by a plague before the Lord," we are told.
"But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh alone remained
alive, of those men who went to spy out the land." (Numbers
14: 36-37).
JASON ON NEUTRINOS AND THE GLOBAL GRID
The JASON defense advisory group is another worthy entity that
operates happily outside of public awareness. Two more
previously unpublished JASON reports, somewhat dated but of
possible interest to specialists, are now available here:
"Neutrino
Detection Primer," JSR-84-105, March 1988 (2 MB). This report
is intended to provide for non-expert readers a survey of natural
and man-made neutrino sources and a critical review of various methods
which have been proposed for their detection.
"JASON
Global Grid Study," JRS-92-100, July 1992 (5 MB). This is an assessment
of the emerging global communications grid, as of the early 1990s.
