NYU and Columbia University's IDA-Pentagon Connection--Part 1

IDA's 21st-Century NYC Connection?

 “If the Institute for Defense Analyses has produced important studies on problems in national security, much of the credit must go to the university world. Five universities gave IDA its start in 1956, and since then seven more have become Members, broadening our contact with the academic community and strengthening the direction of our corporate affairs. From these and other universities have come many of our scientists and officers, as permanent members or on leaves of absence....

"Without the efforts of these men and the cooperation of these institutions, IDA would not be what it is. We are proud to be able to grace the pages of our report with scenes of the campuses of our twelve Member Universities, as partial recognition of our debt to the entire university world."

--from a 1960s Institute for Defense Analyses [IDA] annual report


“The longstanding mission of the System Evaluation Division(SED) is to provide high-quality analyses…SED, IDA’s oldest research division, was originally established to undertake scientific analyses of weapon systems and new equipment and technologies and to assess operational data derived from combat and field exercises.  These types of classic “systems analyses” have remained a chief focus for SED studies...”

--from the Institute for Defense Analyses [IDA] website 


On April 23, 1968, Barnard College and Columbia University antiwar students in New York City non-violently occupied Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall and made six demands. Demand 3 of the antiwar students was “That the university sever all ties with the Institute for Defense Analyses [IDA] and that [then-Columbia University] President Kirk and [then-Columbia University] Trustee Burden resign their positions on the Executive Committee of that institution immediately.”

In the months prior to this occupation, the Columbia and Barnard chapter of Students for a Democratic Society [SDS] had distributed around campus a leaflet explaining why it was demanding that Columbia University should sever its ties to IDA, which included the following text:

"Recent IDA Projects Further Reflect The New Emphasis In Counterinsurgency. Titles Include:

"`The Worth of Target Kill Assessment Systems';
"`Airborne Night Television Reconnaissance-strikes';
"`Levels of Nocturnal Illumination';
"`Small Arms for Counterguerrilla Operations';
"`Tactical Nuclear Weapons--their Battlefield Utility';
"`Chemical Control of Vegetation in Relation to Military Needs';
"`Interdiction of Trucks from the Air at Night';
"`Night Vision for Counterinsurgents'

and so on. IDA tests and develops weapons specifically for the terrains of Vietnam, Thailand, North-east India, and Latin America (Hearings, House Comm. on Appropriations, Defense Approp. Hearings for 1965, vol 14, p. 138). It goes without saying that for those engaged in the liberation struggle throughout the world, this new emphasis on counter-insurgency will have deadly consequences.

"IDA is also engaged in developing techniques for suppressing ghetto rebellions and other domestic insurgencies. In a report to the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, IDA researchers recommended explosively spread adhesives, spray mists, droplet projectors, foam generators, `super water pistols,' and `tranquilizing darts, which have been used on wild animals' (NY Times, Nov. 12, 1967).

"IDA depends on its university affiliations to attract top talent (see Business Week, Feb. 25, 1967, "Battle for Brainpower"). Without the prestige and assistance Columbia and its eleven other affiliates give IDA, the organization would be desanctified in the eyes of the academic community it exploits: it would appear to be just what it is--an academic service-station for America's world-wide `company cops.' Columbia's disaffiliation would be a big blow to IDA's legitimacy and to the whole military-academic alliance."

(part 1 of article that was originally posted on ZNet website in August 2018)