[1437] in peace2
Fw: Postol alleges fraud at Lincoln Lab, MIT
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Gregory Dennis)
Mon Feb 11 13:19:35 2002
Message-ID: <001301c1b328$a5889520$1d031a12@sdg.lcs.mit.edu>
From: "Gregory Dennis" <gdennis@MIT.EDU>
To: <peace-list@mit.edu>
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 13:19:29 -0500
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>http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/040/metro/MIT_professor_alleges_fraud_wit
hin_research+.shtml
>
> MIT professor alleges fraud within research
>
> By Patrick Healy, Globe Staff, 2/9/2002
>
> A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor has accused two MIT
> colleagues of falsifying the results of a 1997 ballistic missile test to
please
> their funders at the Pentagon - and has formally complained that MIT
president
> Charles M. Vest knew about the alleged misconduct but has failed to police
it.
>
> Earlier allegations by MIT physicist Theodore Postol and another engineer,
Nira
> Schwartz, triggered two congressional investigations into the missile test
that
> will be completed in two weeks.
>
> Postol's new complaints about Vest and his fellow scientists, which he
> presented to the MIT Corporation last month, are roiling the university's
> administration, as officials and scientists argue over how to handle the
> explosive charge of scientific fraud.
>
> At issue is the success of an infrared sensor that the Pentagon tested in
the
> Pacific Ocean in 1997 as part of a planned national missile defense
system. In
> 1998, the tests were evaluated by two scientists from MIT's Lincoln
Laboratory
> and three others. The scientists pronounced the test ''basically sound,''
and
> the Pentagon used their report - which won respect in some Washington
missile
> defense circles as the ''MIT study'' - to champion US spending on missile
> defense.
>
> But Postol says research he later conducted, along with that of another
> engineer, so discredits the 1998 report that there is no way that the two
> Lincoln Lab testers could have reached their conclusions honestly.
>
> Postol, a longtime critic of missile defense, contends his findings raise
> questions not only about the effectiveness of President Bush's proposed
> national missile defense system, but also about MIT's close relationship
with
> the Defense Department. Lincoln Lab has a five-year contract to perform
> research and development for the Pentagon worth an estimated $1.6 billion;
the
> contract was renewed about two years after the disputed missile study was
> finished.
>
> The two Lincoln Lab researchers who worked on the 1998 report, M.J. Tsai
and
> Charles Meins, did not return phone calls and e-mail requests for
interviews
> last week. Attempts to reach the three other researchers involved - two
from
> the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and one from the private,
nonprofit Aerospace Corporation - were unsuccessful.
>
> MIT is one of the largest recipients of US research spending among
> universities: It received $251.2 million last year, including $60.9
million
> from the Pentagon, on top of the Lincoln Lab funding. The 1,200 scientists
at
> the Lexington-based lab are MIT employees, but the lab itself is a
government-
> owned, contractor-operated facility, and all of its equipment is property
of
> the US government.
>
> The scientific issues disputed by Postol are complex questions of physics
and
> mathematics. But the issues facing MIT and the government are more
clear-cut:
> MIT's reputation as a leading science institution flows from the integrity
and
> impartiality of its research, and the White House has sought to build a
firm
> body of science to support the billion-dollar investment in a missile
defense
> system.
>
> Postol, a missile expert who consulted for the Defense Department in the
1980s,
> said he has become embroiled in the issue because he thinks the ''MIT
study''
> impugns the institute's name.
>
> ''The Pentagon wanted to hide the fact that its missile test failed, so
they
> went to Lincoln Lab to get them to produce a fraudulent study that said
> otherwise,'' said Postol. ''MIT is aware of this, but has done next to
nothing.
> MIT's academic integrity is at risk.''
>
> Postol provided letters to the Globe showing Vest received Postol's fraud
> complaints as early as last April. In November, Vest told Postol that MIT
was
> weighing how to review the complaints ''within the framework of MIT
policies.''
>
> MIT officials yesterday would not say whether an investigation has begun.
>
> Postol did not, however, supply evidence that MIT scientists deliberately
> falsified data to curry favor with the Pentagon. That allegation, he says,
may
> be addressed in the congressional investigation.
>
> MIT officials strongly reject the fraud charge. ''There's always the
> possibility that a scientific study can turn out to be wrong, but not
> fraudulent,'' said an MIT official, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because
> the administration is not publicly discussing the issue. ''Fraudulent
means
> intent to deceive, and we don't believe that was occurring here.''
>
> The US General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has
> received two requests - from Representative Edward J. Markey, a
Massachusetts
> Democrat, and from two other members of Congress - to investigate the 1997
> missile test, the 1998 study involving Lincoln Lab, and Postol's
accusations.
> The reports are slated to be given to the members in two weeks.
>
> The GAO review has found problems with the missile test data, a GAO
official
> said, but he and other officials declined to reveal if those problems
reflected
> errors or outright fraud.
>
> According to Postol and MIT and government officials, the GAO is studying
> problems with an infrared sensor that was designed to identify objects
that
> simulated the presence of enemy warheads. But the sensor did not produce
usable
> data, Postol alleges, because it failed to cool to its designed operating
> temperature. The 1998 study by the Lincoln Lab researchers pointed out
some
> flaws in the test, but judged it to be ''basically sound.''
>
> Science magazine reported this month that the GAO has uncovered ''a
problem
> with the sensors that was never mentioned'' in the 1998 study or other
Pentagon
> reports on the missile test, which the test program manager initially
termed
> ''highly successful.''
>
> Roger Sudbury, a spokesman for Lincoln Lab, said yesterday that the
Pentagon
> had asked the two MIT researchers to conduct ''a fairly quick study'' of
> whether the missile test had been successful or flawed. ''It was a task
that
> was carried out and completed to the satisfaction of all the parties on
the
> study,'' Sudbury said. ''There is no evidence of fraud.''
>
> Asked if Lincoln Lab was conducting an investigation, Sudbury referred the
> question to officials at the MIT campus.
>
> Vest has told Postol and MIT officials that he supports an internal review
of
> the allegations. But Vest's promises have failed to satisfy Postol, a
senior
> member of the MIT faculty who is a longstanding critic of the MIT
president.
>
> Postol took the unusual step last month of lodging a formal complaint
against
> Vest with MIT's governing board for ''failing to investigate a serious
case of
> scientific fraud that has taken place under his oversight of the MIT
> administration.''
>
> Last Wednesday evening, Postol and another colleague, political scientist
> Harvey Sapolsky, met with MIT board chairman Alexander V. D'Arbeloff to
discuss
> the fraud allegations. According to the two professors, D'Arbeloff assured
them
> that he would ''expedite'' an investigation at Lincoln Lab and MIT.
>
> D'Arbeloff said in an interview he was dismayed that the fraud charges had
been
> made public, and refused to comment about his meeting with Postol and
Sapolsky.
>
> ''This is a highly discreet matter, and it's appalling that it's being
> discussed publicly,'' said D'Arbeloff, an MIT graduate and former chairman
and
> chief executive officer of Teradyne, a maker of semiconductor testing
> equipment.
>
> An MIT spokesman declined to discuss, or even confirm, details about an
> internal review.
>
> Michael Levi, a strategic security expert at the Federation of American
> Scientists, said Postol's allegations about the missile test were
important.
> ''The fundamental question raised here is, what kind of accountability is
there
> in the missile defense program and defense programs at large?'' Levi said.
> ''If this one instance of misleading the public is exposed as accurate,
you
> have to ask what other ones have not been exposed.''
>
> Lieutenant Colonel Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Pentagon ballistic
missile
> program, noted that no investigations have turned up evidence of fraud
related
> to the 1997 test or the 1998 report.
>
> He also said that the Pentagon has since decided not to use the missile
design
> tested in 1997, instead selecting a design with two sophisticated sensors.
>
> Patrick Healy can be reached by e-mail at phealy@globe.com.
>
>
> This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 2/9/2002.
> ) Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
>
>
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