We attended Defense Secretary Cohen's talk today at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City on "Security in a Grave World." While not included in the prepared text, Secretary Cohen remarked in the Q&A on terrorism and encryption policy that Americans will have to decide how much privacy they will be willing to give up for protection against terrorism, and cited the FBI's similar views on the threat of encryption use by terrorists. Afterwards I had an informative chat with Kenneth Bacon, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, to ask about interviewing Secretary Cohen on Echelon, the global electronic intercept and surveillance system operated by the National Security Agency. Mr. Bacon said the Department will not comment on such matters. I acknowledged that was the case heretofore, but with intense European interest in Echelon, I asked if would it be possible for Secretary Cohen to give a statement on the topic. I noted that Secretary Cohen in his talk today had listed international cooperation as a principal need of US defense policy, and that Echelon had raised considerable suspicion of US interception and surveillance prowess which could inhibit international trust and cooperation. I also asked Mr. Bacon if Secretary Cohen could discuss as well the possibility of further declassification of secret technology, as with the Skipjack encryption algorithm, to enhance US economic security and for protection against information espionage. Mr. Bacon said that others in the Department would be more appropriate to discuss such topics in detail then Secretary Cohen. I asked if anyone except the Secretary had authority to discuss Echelon and declassification of secret technology. Mr. Bacon would not answer that but suggested I send a letter proposing such topics for discussion and the Department will respond.