By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer
August 21, 2008
WASHINGTON - A congressional committee on Thursday asked for
an investigation into a counterterrorism database software
upgrade that it says is months behind schedule, millions over
budget and would actually be less capable than the U.S. government
terrorist tracking system it is meant to replace.
At issue is Railhead, a software upgrade to the Terrorist
Identities Datamart Environment, which is a vast database of
names that feeds the nation's terrorist watch list. It is meant
to help analysts "connect the dots" between known
or suspected terrorists and their contacts, potential targets
and safe houses. As of January, the database contained 500,000
names. The upgrade was supposed to be completed by the end
of this year.
But the House Science and Technology investigations and oversight
subcommittee said Thursday that the program "has been
imploding for more than one year," citing internal program
documents and e-mails obtained by the committee.
"The program appears to be on the brink of collapse after
an estimated half-billion dollars in taxpayer funding has been
spent on it," said subcommittee chairman Rep. Brad Miller,
D-N.C., in a statement issued Thursday.
Miller said the "majority" of more than 800 private
contractors from dozens of companies working on Railhead have
been laid off, and the National Counterterrorism Center "drastically
curtailed" the program last week and may shut it down
completely.
Spokesman Carl Kropf of the counterterrorism center declined
immediate comment.
Miller sent a letter to the national intelligence director's
inspector general requesting an investigation.
The committee also says "Railhead insiders" allege
the government paid the Boeing Co. $200 million to retrofit
the company's Herndon, Va., office with security upgrades so
top secret software work could be performed there and then
leased the office space from Boeing. A Boeing spokesman could
not be immediately reached for comment.
The committee investigation also found problems with the existing
terrorist database. It says 40 percent of suspect names and
addresses contained in CIA cables that should be entered into
the database are never entered.
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