Spy agency staff to gather not-so-secretly

[Rose Siding]

Staff from the nation's 15 spy agencies will gather this week for an open, unclassified and largely on-the-record discussion, put together by private citizens aiming to provide a forum for debate about the future of U.S. intelligence.
Organizers of the National Intelligence Conference and Exposition (Intelcon), a conference this week in Arlington say they expect some fairly pungent commentary.

"We're not having people reading out press releases approved by their bosses," said John Loftus, a former Justice Department prosecutor and one of the organizers. Mr. Loftus is now a lawyer in private practice whose Web site, www.john-loftus.com, says he has worked "without charge to help hundreds of intelligence agents obtain lawful permission to declassify and publish the hidden secrets of our times."
...
Mr. Loftus' co-organizer, William Saxton, says the reaction from intelligence professionals and observers has been "phenomenal." He says they already have hundreds registered to attend and hope to get as many as 2,000 people by the end of the event.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050206-113021-9545r.htm