News Playboy - I only read it for the geopolitical context

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A conman named Dennis Montgomery deceived U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and NSA, into believing he had developed software capable of detecting hidden messages in Arab news broadcasts, costing them millions. The fraud was eventually exposed by French military intelligence, which highlighted the software's ineffectiveness. Additionally, Jim McCormick sold a fraudulent bomb detection device, the ADE-651, to Iraq for $85 million, despite it lacking scientific validation and being compared to a dowsing rod. The discussion emphasizes the irony of the French convincing U.S. agencies of their errors, particularly in the context of the Iraq invasion, where the U.S. had previously dismissed French opinions. McCormick's recent arrest adds to the absurdity of the situation, as he was the only individual held accountable for the failures in weapon detection.
mgb_phys
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Actually I don't read it - but 'the reg' linked to it.
http://www.playboy.com/articles/the-man-who-conned-the-pentagon-dennis-montgomery/index.html?page=1

if this is blocked at work, a conman took the CIA/NSA/other-secret-three-letter-agencies for millions with some software that could detect hidden messages in Arab news broadcasts.
Eventually the French military intelligence (!) convinced them it was rubbish, but not until after an Al-Jazera cameraman spent a few years in Cuba and Bush planned to bomb them off the air.
 
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How about the conman that helped get you guys into Iraq in the first place?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/105450

(And he's still kicking around in the Iraqi leadership!)
 
This is even more ridiculous:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8471187.stm

Iraq has bought thousands of the detectors for a total of $85m (£52m).

The device is sold by Jim McCormick, based at offices in rural Somerset, UK.

The ADE-651 is in use at most checkpoints in Baghdad

The ADE-651 detector has never been shown to work in a scientific test.

There are no batteries and it consists of a swivelling aerial mounted to a hinge on a hand-grip. Critics have likened it to a glorified dowsing rod.
 
mgb_phys said:
the French military intelligence (!)
Hey, what do you mean !?
 
McCormick was arrested last night.
 
Ironic if the only person arrested over Iraqi weapon detection is somebody who invented something that didn't find real weapons that actually existed!
 
humanino said:
Hey, what do you mean !?

That the only people able to convince the US top secret three letter agencies that they had all been a bunch of muppets - were the French!
Generally with reference to invading Iraq, the US government hasn't been rushing to ask the French for their opinion.
That must have take some powers of persuasion!

What did the conversation go like?
Mr president, looks like we have been made to look like a bunch of idiots.
Who says?
The French !
The ones we called 'cheese eating surrender monkeys'?
Yes Mr president
Oops!
 

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