Classified US Intel Budget Revealed Via Powerpoint

Atario writes "In a holdover from the Cold War when the number really did matter to national security, the size of the US national intelligence budget remains one of the government's most closely guarded secrets. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the highest intelligence agency in the country that oversees all federal intelligence agencies, appears to have inadvertently released the keys to that number in an unclassified PowerPoint presentation now posted on the website of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). By reverse engineering the numbers in an underlying data element embedded in the presentation, it seems that the total budget of the 16 US intelligence agencies in fiscal year 2005 was $60 billion, almost 25% higher than previously believed."

Comments

Old Jedi Mind Trick

[ReidMaynard]

These are not the budget numbers you are looking for..

Stargate

[d3ac0n]

Well, they have to fund the Stargate program SOMEHOW don't they? Why not take the money from an agency that nobody would suspect of being involved? :)

Quote from ID4

[u-bend]

Julius Levinson: You don't actually think they spend $20,000.00 on a hammer, $30,000.00 on a toilet seat do you?

Re:Name that quote

[pla]

Name that quote

Ooh, ooh, I know!

Part of the "decorative pattern" on Bush's private toilet-paper.

I think the silly, meaningless sentence you quoted comes from the first roll, ninth sheet. ;-)

Great Budget

[tehwebguy]

I guess there weren't any basic tutorials on computer security in that budget

Ho Hum

[fm6]

Back in the 60s there was a popular story (probably an urban legend, but still a good story) about a realtor in McLean, VA, who needed to do a report on how many people worked in the area. That would include CIA headquarters. The CIA refused to release any figures — it's a national secret! So the guy called up the Soviet embassy, which was happy to provide the data he needed.

Secrecy, often as not, is less about keeping the bad guys in the dark than about avoiding public scrutiny.

Re:Name that quote

[Bearpaw]

The Communist Manifesto? Mao's Little Red Book?

Surely no government of a free and democratic country would be based on such a radical ideal. Give people information like that and next thing you know they'll want some voice in how that money gets spent, and that way lies anarchy.

The solution is clear

[BlackCobra43]

Ladies and gentlemen, for the good of our nation, for our security..we must outlaws Powerpoint. Then, only criminals will use it in order to bore each other to tears. Two birds with one stone!