The F.B.I. forced Mr. Richardson to remove his byline from the piece. You'd think the F.B.I. would want to heed what Mr. Richardson, its only polygrapher with a doctorate, has discovered about the holes in its security screen. Instead, it has transferred him out of the polygraph unit and forbidden him to speak publicly on the issue. Thus the Congressional Select Intelligence Committees and the Joint Security Commission, the Government bodies that have been staring at tea leaves at the bottom of the Aldrich Ames Case, have not had the benefit of his wisdom. He said the problem stems from ignoring that the polygraph isn't really a standardized test.
Some operators are better than others.
First, the Pentagon should be made to release the polygraph study it did in the late 80's, which showed the tests to be useless in screening for moles. The report was quickly suppressed. Then the F.B.I.'s polygraph chief, David Murphy, should be asked to back up his questionable claims to congress that F.B.I. polygraphers could have fished Aldrich Ames from the dark. Finally, the intelligence agencies should drop their touching concern about civil rights of their officers and start scrutinizing the bank balances and tax returns of all employees with access secrets. That is a lot fairer than subjecting them to polygraphs, which can demean the innocent and free the guilty.