Read it and weep - Pentagon's Futures Market Plan Condemned

[Q]

Pentagon's Futures Market Plan Condemned

Mon Jul 28, 7:46 PM ET

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By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon ( news -web sites ) is setting up a stock-market style system in which investors would bet on terror attacks, assassinations and other events in the Middle East. Defense officials hope to gain intelligence and useful predictions while investors who guessed right would win profits.

Two Democratic senators demanded Monday the project be stopped before investors begin registering this week. "The idea of a federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque," Sen. Ron Wyden ( news ,bio ,voting record ), D-Ore., said.

The Pentagon office overseeing the program, called the Policy Analysis Market, said it was part of a research effort "to investigate the broadest possible set of new ways to prevent terrorist attacks." It said there would be a re-evaluation before more money was committed.

The market would work this way. Investors would buy and sell futures contracts — essentially a series of predictions about what they believe might happen in the Mideast. Holder of a futures contract that came true would collect the proceeds of investors who put money into the market but predicted wrong.

A graphic on the market's Web page showed hypothetical futures contracts in which investors could trade on the likelihood that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ( news -web sites ) would be assassinated or Jordanian King Abdullah II would be overthrown. - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=536&e=5&u=/ap/20030728/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/terror_market

[ShaneGR]

1. This can't possibly be true? Can it?

Well gees, uhhh, I'm just a little mind person but, uhhh, wouldn't it be bad to have people running around who would DIRECTLY BENEFIT from a terrorist attack?

Wait, we already have those people. Nevermind.

SICK.

[madmax]

2. This is really stupid

sh*t. Who the hell is running Washington. :wtf: We have Wall Street and Vegas for this kind of crap. Sometimes I wonder if the people 'in charge' are suffering LSD flashbacks or something.

[antineocon1]

3. Another way to look at this is...

that this is a way to scare people to do what the US wants. Say, for example, that you place a bid that the King of Jordan will die in six months. This will persuade him to do what you want. If not, then it is likely that he will die.

[Eloriel]

5. It would also be an awesome way for those in this administration

to make money -- investing in futures on things they already KNOW are going to happen.

And speaking of money, doesn't the Pentagon stand to become a profit center with a scheme like this? Isn't that in itself a little grotesque?

Eloriel

[antineocon1]

6. Yes, it sure would be...

This sounds illegal to me.

[gristy]

4. This is a duplicate thread

Go to http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=39277&mesg_id=39277&page=

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