On Monday, the Pentagon announced a highly controversial plan for a terror futures market (see news story) that immediately drew harsh criticism. Accordind to AP “[Sen. Ron] Wyden said $600,000 has been spent on the program so far and the Pentagon plans to spend an additional $149,000 this year. The Pentagon has requested $3 million for the program for next year and $5 million for the following year.”
The crazy idea involved “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.”
Today, CNN is reporting that the plan has been cancelled, shortly after Tom Daschle denounced the program on the senate floor as “an incentive actually to commit acts of terrorism” and calling the program a “plan to trade in death.”
The whole thing is just surreal.
