Tyson (Virginia) – Intelnews.org

A group of former government officials of the United States has warned against plans to build a new casino in part of North Virginia, where several intelligence facilities are located. The proposed casino will be built in Tysons, also known as the Tysons’ Corner, an unmanned community of about 30,000 inhabitants, located between McLean and Vienna, west of the nation’s capital.

Part of the Washington metropolitan area, Tysons is next to the office of the Director of National Intelligence and the headquarters of the National Center for Combating Terrorism. In addition, it is only a few miles from the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), located in the nearby Langley, Virginia. Several large state -owned contractors have offices in Tysons, including BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, Palantir Technologies and Deloitte.

A two-party group of local legislators, headed by the leader of the majority in the State of the State of Scott A. Sourel (D-Fairfax), have proposed a bill that seeks to investigate the possibility of building a casino complex in Tysons. The casino will be part of a mixed -purpose building that will include luxury apartments, a luxury hotel and a concert space. Supporters of the bill claim that the proposed development will bring jobs to the area and improve the quality of life of Tysons residents.

But the proposed plan meets resistance from a group calling themselves national security leaders for Fairfax. The newly formed group is reported to be led by Anne Grren, a former deputy director of the Center for Weapons Intelligence Center, Non-Proliferation and Control of the CIA, and Sally Horn, who was the senior director of the Minister of Defense. Last December, the group wrote a letter [PDF] to local government officials, claiming that the existence of a casino in Tysons can potentially support the machinations of foreign spies.

The letter condemns “[t]The proximity of the Tysons Casino to a significant population of government, military and contracts under contract with access to a highly confidential government intelligence, diplomatic and defense information. ” He warns that not only a casino would “attract organized crime – casinos always do it – but also hostile intelligence services who want to recruit people with such access who hope to blackmail.”

Gambling addiction has long been considered a vice that can endanger security authorizations as it is a risk to their financial stability and personal integrity. Excessive betting can lead to debt, which can make people vulnerable to coercion, bribery or exploitation by opponents seeking access to classified information. Problem behaviors – such as a fraud, secret or desperate desire to restore losses – can potentially undermine the reliability and reliability required to maintain a security permit.

But those who support the plan for the casino complex reject such allegations. They claim that there are already several other casinos in the area and that building another one in Tysons will not change security dynamics. This is what the US Senator Sourtar said Washington Postwho reported the offered casino last week: “We already have a huge slot for 45 minutes west in West Virginia, [an] Mgm [casino] just above the river [in Maryland] and sports games on every phone in the state. “

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: January 27, 2025 | Permanent