United States Department of Defense

STATEMENT BY PENTAGON SPOKESMAN KENNETH H. BACON

At today's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the USS Cole, Sen. Roberts read excerpts from a letter of resignation from a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) analyst.

According to Vice Adm. Thomas Wilson, director of DIA, the analyst did good work at the agency, his work was used regularly in DIA publications, and the agency had enough confidence in the analyst to send him to a force protection conference in the Middle East earlier this year to represent the agency's views.

Vice Adm. Wilson spoke to the analyst this afternoon. The analyst told Vice Adm. Wilson that he had some concerns about how the agency used his analytical views. However, the analyst told Vice Adm. Wilson that he did not have information that would have provided tactical warning of the attack on the USS Cole.