Inside the Ring

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Joint Chiefs and 3Com

U.S. defense and intelligence officials said both the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were not informed by intelligence officials about the impending merger deal involving 3Com and the Chinese company Huawei Technology that was announced last week.

Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, who became the top military officer on Monday, and his predecessor Marine Gen. Peter Pace, along with Vice Chairman Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright were not provided with intelligence on the deal before its announcement on Friday, an official said.

"There was an effort made to exclude the chairman and vice chairman by saying this is not a military matter," said one official. "They were not told about this deal."

One intelligence official said: "Maybe they didn't have a need to know" — the universal security reason that is used to limit distribution of intelligence.

Bain Capital Partners, an investment firm, is leading the $2.2. billion merger of 3Com and Huawei, which will have a minority interest. Bain announced Wednesday it will submit the deal to a national security review by the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

3Com makes computer-intrusion-detection equipment used by the Pentagon, the U.S. Army and U.S. intelligence agencies, raising concerns that the deal could lead to a compromise of technology, or the disclosure of U.S. government computer network vulnerabilities.

Chinese military hackers were detected breaking into Pentagon computers in July in what U.S. officials said was a significant electronic penetration.

The CFIUS review will at least allow senior military leaders, including Gen. Cartwright, to be kept informed of the national security risks posed by the deal. Adm. Mullen has given Gen. Cartwright responsibility for overseeing a major effort within the Pentagon and military services to improve the security of computer networks, which are under constant daily attack from foreign hackers, including numerous detected intrusions that U.S. intelligence officials say are coming from China's military.

A Joint Staff spokesman declined to comment when asked whether the chairman and vice chairman were notified about the 3Com-Huawei deal.