>From FOXNews: Senators: Pentagon Plan Would Allow Betting on Terrorism.

When I saw the headline, I thought it was an office pool thing, but it turns out to be utilising the talents of futures traders:

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon ... views it as a potentially innovative way to get clues about terrorists' plans: a public, stock market-style exchange where traders can profit by correctly predicting terror attacks or assassinations in the Middle East.

M'kay. President Bush did warn us nearly two years ago that the War on Terrorism would be waged with both conventional and unconventional strategies but I'm really going to have to think about this one.

It does make sense to use the talents of traders, but I'm squeamish that they could actually profit on terrorism. It also raises an ugly picture when I think about market abuses like insider trading.

The article states that government agencies will not be allowed to participate and will not have access to the identities or funds of traders... but still I wonder if it is connected in any way to the ongoing investigation of the market dump of shares of American and United Airlines just prior to Sept. 11. (Emphasis added)

Read the article. I report, you decide.

(via Neale News)

UPDATE: Instapundit has a good analysis and some additional links about this here so I'm going to live with my squeamishness and stick with "it's not as crazy as it sounds."

UPDATE: According to the New York Daily News, Pentagon pulls the plug on bet-on-a-threat Website.

Pity.

Posted by: Debbye at 10:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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