The agency backed the Taliban from 1994, when their Islamic hard-liners first emerged as a force, until Pakistan officially abandoned them after Sept. 11.

The agency backed a "partnership" approach to regulation, which emphasized working with railroads, rather than punishing them.

The conspicuous cooperation between senior State and Defense officials follows months of behind-the-scenes infighting in which the two agencies have backed different opposition groups.

The agency also backed quarantines and other infection control measures that crippled the economies of affected countries.

The agency started in 1958 as a response to the Sputnik launching, and backed speech-recognition technologies and antichemical warfare research long before they made headlines.

Some agencies, like L. B. Kaye International in Manhattan, are backing both horses.

Both agencies are now backing a sale of less powerful computers to Iran's electric-power system.

The agency backs his words with taxpayer money; it has contributed $7 million since 1997.

Asked why the agency backed away from it days after it was circulated, the official replied, "Who knows?"

What happens next depends solely on which agency backed the mortgage.