There is no way that the selected group of people could crack a half-reasonable cryptosystem in a few weeks. Real Cryptanalysts spend months and years working on cracking cryptosystems, and none of the panelists was a Real Cryptanalyst. We had all the details of DES, and it took 15 years to make a dent in it.
I knew one of the panelists, Ernie Brickell, when we were both at Bellcore. Of the five, he's probably the only one with claim to the term Real Cryptanalyst, as we usually define the term (someone with a proven track record in cracking real cryptosystems.) He is generally credited with putting the final nail into the coffin of the knapsack public-key cryptosystem. I was very disappointed when I heard that he had agreed to let himself be used for such a crass political purpose as the Clipper Committee. Other than this minor point, your statement is absolutely correct. The best known Real Cryptanalyst in civilian life, Adi Shamir, wasn't involved, and even he took fifteen years to make the first dent in DES. Phil