Poindexter to Quit Pentagon Post Amid Controversy

[gristy]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Retired Adm. John Poindexter will resign his position at the Pentagon after a research project he was overseeing was condemned by Congress as an "egregious error of judgment."

A senior defense official said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Poindexter realized that "it would be difficult" for him to continue in his job after the flap over a plan to establish a futures market that would have allowed traders to profit by correctly predicting assassinations and terrorist strikes in the Middle East. (Related story: Pentagon cancels threat-bet program.)

He said Rumsfeld did not ask for his resignation but that Poindexter was "working through the details" and "expects to offer" it within a few weeks.

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