U.S. intelligence agencies 'wasted' billions

U.S. intelligence agencies have wasted many billions of dollars by mismanaging secret, high-technology programs, the deputy chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence says.

"The American public would be outraged if they knew," Sen. Christopher S. Bond, Missouri Republican, told The Washington Times. "Billions and billions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted."

Mr. Bond said he was unable to provide details or exact figures because the programs are classified. "I wish I could, but I can't," he said, adding that "many billions of dollars" were wasted on "just one program" that had been canceled recently.

In 2009, retired Navy Adm. Dennis C. Blair, then-director of national intelligence, revealed for the first time that U.S. spending on military and civilian intelligence programs totaled about $75 billion.