Thursday January 14, 9:36 pm Eastern Time

Pentagon confident on Y2K, worries about Russia

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. military is 100 percent ready to fight any Year 2000 computer problems that may arise but fears nuclear power Russia is not as well prepared, a top Pentagon official said on Thursday.

In an upbeat briefing about the Pentagon's preparedness for any Y2K computer glitches, Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre was also confident other crucial U.S. sectors, such as banking, telecommunications and power grids would be ready.

Allaying fears of missiles being fired without warning or planes crashing due to computer glitches, Hamre said 1,673 out of the military's 2,300 "mission-critical" systems had been fixed and all of them would be ready by midnight on Dec. 31.

"The Department of Defense will be able to protect the people of the United States and its allies in 351 days and 12 hours. There is not a question about that," said Hamre, pointing to a digital clock counting down to 2000. "We will be 100 percent ready by the end of the year."

Mission critical systems range from early warning systems and nuclear command and control to individual weapons that are heavily reliant on computers for direction.

The so-called Y2K problem is the inability of many computers to interpret correctly the century that dawns at the end of this year. This hitch stems from the past practice of expressing years in two-digit shorthand. As a result many computers will read 2000 as 1900.

"We don't know what problems might occur, but we think they will be modest because the bulk of the country seems to be doing what we are doing -- really getting on top of this problem," said Hamre.

Hamre voiced some concern Russia was not as active in tackling the Y2K problem as the United States, especially for early warning systems, adding that a delegation was going to Russia next week to discuss working together on the issue.

"My sense is that Russia is not as fully aware of the extent that this is a problem. They don't seem to have the same level of urgency that we have over it. But we are comfortable they will retain positive control over their nuclear inventory," said Hamre.

"We are not anxious there are going to be accidental occurrences as a result of Y2K for nuclear command and control systems. But we want to have the least amount of uncertainty," he said.

The early warning systems rely heavily on computers to mesh data from satellites, radars and other sensors and are used by Russia and the United States to monitor impending threats such as missile launches or unidentified aircraft.

Hamre said the private sector in the United States was well prepared for next year and he was impressed by work that had been done in areas such as telecommunications and energy.

"We have a lot of insight into what is going on in the private sector and we are really very confident that we are not going to have the wide-scale disruption that some people had been forecasting," he said.

Lt. Col. Warren Patterson, assigned to the military's Y2K Task Force, was involved in a series of tests over three days last month to check Year 2000 compliance of an early warning detection system.

During that period, over 30 simulated missile tests were conducted and the systems involved coped with those successfully from beginning to end, said Patterson.

Hamre said Defense Secretary William Cohen had motivated his staff to find a solution to the Year 2000 computer problem by describing it as a "war-fighting" issue.

"Rarely (in war) do you know the time, the place and the date precisely when the enemy will attack. But we do know in this case and it is at midnight on the 31st of December.

"He (Cohen) said...it is not just a computer geek issue and I am holding you responsible for it," said Hamre.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990114/brs.html

*****

Barney here.

Of course I don't believe any of this stuff. They haven't nipped it in the bud yet! If they can't prove it, I don't believe it! (Had an atheist say that to me outside church once)

I'm among the good ol' plain folks of our fair nation who will believe an extremist gloom-and-doom junkie over any level-headed government official whose job depends on serving the public.

In fact, if God himself were to appear and tell me the gloom-and-doomers were wrong, I'd have to think about it. Gloom and doom is the only logical way! The human race can't fix anything! Never has, never will!

The only people I trust in this Y2K thing are people who are selling Y2K supplies, and those who have always been hoping for the fall of the government anyway.....(woops, did I just give away the gloom-and-doom political platform?)

-- Barney Fife (nipit@the.bud), January 15, 1999

Answers

Barney F.,

I hope you're not trying to imply that Ed Yourdon makes his living by selling Y2K supplies. He's been a computer programmer and author since the 1960's.

You mentioned people "who have always been hoping for the fall of the government anyway". Maybe you're talking about someone like Gary North, but Ed Yourdon's "Time Bomb 2000" book discusses a wide variety of Y2K scenarios with no additional agenda. None.

Have you actually read the book?

This forum has politcal liberals, moderates and conversatives on it. That's because Ed Yourdon's book had no political or religious agenda to it.

What's your agenda, Barney F.?

http://www.trufax.org/research2/disinforules.html

"Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation - The Politicians Credo"

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), January 15, 1999.

I believe every word of the statement from the Pentagon. Read it again. They are saying that 627 mission critical systems are not ready yet and they are ready to fight! Lets see now.... 627 divided by 350.

Mark

-- Mark (aag78@dial.pipex.com), January 15, 1999.

Oops! Posted a similar article.

But not a similar conclusion.

Y2K is just "part" of the Pentagon's problem. It is not in their nature to be open and honest. Most are careerists. Sort'a like politicians.

I for one, am grateful for the Y2K whistle blower's. It means many more people have the opportunity to pay attention, or not. The government certainly has. And they tend not to mobilize unless there's a very real perceived problem, um, threat.

Y2K is not a simple thing. Although, there are many simple minds focused on the non-problems. To the detriment of us all, but mostly themselves.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 15, 1999.