18 February 1999

    DoD News Briefing
    Thursday, February 18, 1999 - 1:45 p.m.
    Captain Mike Doubleday, DASD PA

    [Excerpt]

    Q:  Could you explain why Secretary Cohen is going to speak
    at Microsoft today when it's in the middle of these antitrust
    suits that the U.S. Government...  (Laughter)  Why do that?

    A:  Well, Secretary Cohen is embarked on a program to talk
    to people throughout the United States that the Department
    of Defense may not previously have talked to.  He, as you
    may be aware, talked to the Illinois Statehouse.  He is
    today talking to Microsoft. He is delivering a message that
    talks about the Department of Defense.  It's an important
    message that we feel that all corners of the country should
    hear.  He is going to be traveling to other parts of the
    country in coming months, and I think you'll see other venues
    that are probably non-traditional for a Secretary of Defense
    to speak in. But I think it's an interesting way to carry
    the message and one that is welcomed.

    Q:  Could you say whether consideration was given to the
    fact that Microsoft is engaged, unlike the Illinois chamber,
    in a massive suit with the government?

    A:  That certainly was not a major consideration.  I think
    the major consideration is the fact that Microsoft is a
    high tech company.  The U.S. armed forces of today are
    high-tech operations.  They utilize a lot of software from
    a variety of companies that are on the leading edge of
    technology.  And these are people who are looking to the
    future and being very innovative, and certainly people that
    we want to deal with and talk to on a continuing basis.

    Q:  Can you say, or if you can't say, can you take the
    question of whether this was cleared with the White House,
    and whether Justice Department's views were sought.

    A:  I will see what I can do for you on that one.

18 February 1999

Questions to Secretary Cohen are not intended to be about the classified and/or "means and methods of intelligence" -- about which DoD has a policy to never comment on -- of the Echelon signals interception program (active since at least the mid-1970s official USG documents show) but about what impact on US international defense policy the Echelon furor has had and what the USG intends to do in response to assure its global partners that the US is trustworthy. It is this global building of trust that Cohen's September 1998 talk at the Council on Foreign Relations addressed.

    Date:         Wed, 17 Feb 1999 17:05:02 -0500
    Sender: DOD PRESS ADVISORIES LIST <DODADVISORIES-L@DTIC.MIL>

        No. 026-P
    PRESS ADVISORY  February 17, 1999
    Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen will not hold a media
    availability following his remarks to Microsoft employees in Seattle
    Thursday. The cancellation of the media availability previously
    announced in Memorandum for Correspondents No. 014-M was necessitated
    by a scheduling change to the Secretary's itinerary.
    -END-

16 February 1999

    From a DoD press briefing 16 February 1999:

      Secretary Cohen is leaving tomorrow for Seattle.  Thursday
      he will meet with and address the employees of Microsoft
      to discuss national defense, national security issues with them.

    If any MS-employee plans to attend this, I wonder if you would be willing to
    ask questions of Secretary Cohen on my behalf or yours.

    Since last September I have had a request pending at DoD
    for an interview with Cohen on Echelon and DoD information
    security policy (copy of messages below). Today I was told
    by Susan Hansen, DoD Public Affairs, with whom I had previously
    spoken and exchanged e-mail (see below), that she had
    been unable to find anyone in DoD who would talk about Echelon
    because "it is just a term some journalist used but does not refer
    to any official US program or policy." (See first public report on
    Echelon: http://jya.com/echelon-dc.htm.)

    I reminded Ms. Hansen that my original request concerned Secretary
    Cohen's September speech in which he talked about the goal
    of building better relations with other nations, and that my request
    for an interview was for him to comment on how the furor over
    Echelon affected this goal. She said, and here is the controversial
    part: "Political appointees such as the Secretary are not informed
    enough to discuss such matters, and that I should take this up with
    the National Security Agency." Implying that only military people
    are informed, and not the civilans who supposedly outrank them.

    I have left a message of inquiry with the NSA today (for Ms. Emmel,
    301-688-6524, as suggested by Ms. Hansen).

    So the questions for Secretary Cohen are those contained in the first
    message below to Mr. Kenneth Bacon. And, then, a question on whether
    what Ms. Hansen said today is accurate: that political appointees
    such as the Secretary are not informed enough to comment on such
    programs as Echelon (which corresponds with what Mr. Bacon told me
    after the CFR talk in September).

    Thanks much.

    John Young <jya@pipeline.com>

    ----------

    September 15, 1998

    Kenneth H. Bacon
    Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
    OASD (PA)
    1400 Defense Pentagon
    Washington D.C. 20301-1400

    Dear Mr. Bacon,

    Three points of Secretary Cohen's informative talk at the
    Council on Foreign Relations last evening would benefit
    by amplification, and I ask your assistance in arranging an
    interview with the Secretary to focus on the Department's
    policy on information security technology.

    1. The first concerns his view on the interdependency of military
    and economic affairs for assurance of national security.

    1.1 What does he see as the prospect for further declassification
    of restricted defense technology for use by industry for protection
    of information against economic espionage, as exemplified in the
    declassification of the Skipjack encryption algorithm.

    1.2 And what other services and/or technology the defense supply
    and intelligence agencies may provide non-governmental customers
    in competition with other nations where closer cooperation between
    such agencies and industry is more common.

    2. The second concerns the need for international cooperation
    for US defense policy and how that is impacted by publicity and
    criticism of the Echelon electronic intercept program and other
    national technical means not customarily discussed in public by
    the Department.

    2.1 What are Secretary Cohen's views of programs such as Echelon
    political and international trust issues and what he is his view of European
    calls for investigation of Echelon.

    2.2 What are Secretary Cohen's views as a constructive response to

    charges that Echelon and other national technical means are
    offensive military and economic espionage against those from
    whom the US desires defense cooperation.

    3. In the Q&A on the topic of terrorism and encryption, Secretary
    Cohen remarked that the American people will have to decide how
    much privacy they are willing to give up in order to be protected from
    terrorist threats.

    3.1 What are the Secretary's views on how disputes on encryption
    policy could be resolved in light of his calls for closer connection
    between military and economic interests and for international
    cooperation for defense policy.

    Your office has always been exemplary in responding to requests
    for information. Thank you very much.

    Sincerely,

    John Young
    JYA/Urban Deadline
    251 West 89th Street, Suite 6E
    New York, NY 10024

    E-mail: jya@pipeline.com
    Tel: 212-873-8700
    Fax: 212-799-4003

    ----------

    January 7, 1999

    Kenneth H. Bacon
    Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
    OASD (PA)
    1400 Defense Pentagon
    Washington D.C. 20301-1400

    Dear Mr. Bacon,

    This follows up two telephone conversations in November with
    members of your staff -- the last with Susan Hansen -- on my
    September request to you for an interview (copy below) on the
    the Department's policy on information security technology.

    Ms. Hansen said on November 18 that she had passed along
    my inquiry and would attempt to get a response from a
    knowledgeable person. Since then nothing has been heard.

    Your attention to this request would be very much appreciated.

    Sincerely,

    John Young
    JYA/Urban Deadline
    251 West 89th Street, Suite 6E
    New York, NY 10024
    Tel: 212-873-8700

    ----------

    From: "Hansen, Susan, CIV, OASD/PA" <susan.hansen@osd.pentagon.mil>
    To: "'jya@pipeline.com'" <jya@pipeline.com>
    Subject: Your interest in Echelon and Encryption Policies
    Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 09:06:07 -0500

    Mr. Young,  Assistant Secretary Bacon has forwarded me your recent e-mail,
    following up your interest in the Department's views on various encryption
    issues.  I apologize that I have not had any information to forward since
    many of these matters are still under review.  I have again asked the staff
    of the Office of the Secretary of Defense for some comments in response to
    your particular concerns.  I hope we can be more timely in any response.
    Sincerely, Susan Hansen Defense Public Affairs 703-693-6858

    ----------

    Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 10:20:33 -0500
    To: "Hansen, Susan, CIV, OASD/PA" <susan.hansen@osd.pentagon.mil>
    From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
    Subject: Re: Your interest in Echelon and Encryption Policies
    Cc: kbacon@pagate.pa.osd.mil

    Dear Ms. Hansen,

    Could you let me know about progress on my request for
    an interview on Echelon and information security policies?
    This repeats a telphone message left for you today.

    You will recall my initial request to Mr. Bacon in September
    1998, your and my telephone talk in November 1998, my second
    request to Mr. Bacon on January 7, 1999 and e-mail from him in
    and you later that month. Appended are my two requests to Mr.
    Bacon.

    Thank you very much.

    John Young
    JYA/Urban Deadline
    251  West 89th Street, Suite 6E
    New York, NY 10024

    E-mail: jya@pipeline.com
    Tel: 212-873-8700
    Fax: 212-799-4003