SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2008, Issue No. 98
October 10, 2008

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

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ARMY INTELLIGENCE VIEWS KIDNAPPING AND TERRORISM

Kidnapping and other forms of terrorist violence have developed into a significant form of asymmetric conflict, according to a new U.S. Army manual that describes the theory and practice of kidnapping with numerous case studies from recent years.

"This document promotes an improved understanding of terrorist objectives, motivation, and behaviors in the conduct of kidnapping," the 168 page manual states.

See "Kidnapping and Terror in the Contemporary Operational Environment," U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Intelligence Support Activity, 15 September 2008:

The manual on kidnapping is the sixth supplement to "A Military Guide to Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century," an Army instructional series, portions of which are labeled "for official use only." A copy of the set was obtained by Secrecy News and is available here:

SCATTERED CASTLES: IC DIRECTIVE ON PERSONNEL SECURITY

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence today released a series of policy documents governing security clearances and access to classified information for intelligence community employees.

Intelligence Community Directive 704 and five accompanying policy guidance documents set forth policy on security clearance background investigations, adjudicative guidelines, clearance revocation and appeal processes, reciprocal acceptance of security clearances, and more.

Intelligence Community Policy Guidance 704.5 identifies "Scattered Castles" as a comprehensive database of IC security clearance authorizations, which can be used to verify clearances.

With minor technical changes, the new directive and accompanying guidance appear to closely replicate the previous policy under Director of Central Intelligence Directive 6/4.

See ICD 704 and the supporting guidance, along with other IC Directives, here:

GEOEYE RELEASES FIRST HALF-METER SATELLITE IMAGE

Kutztown University, midway between Reading and Allentown, Pennsylvania, has never looked so good. Or at least not like this. The University campus was featured in the first publicly released half-meter, color satellite image produced by the GeoEye-1 satellite, launched on September 6.

"We do find the initial target selection amusing," the anonymous author of the intelligence blog Kent's Imperative wrote today, "and we are sure that there is a backstory there somewhere waiting to be told. There is something about small, out of the way Pennsylvania colleges and the intelligence community, isn't there?"

There may be, but "This image captures what is in fact the very first location the satellite saw when we opened the camera door and started imaging," said Brad Peterson, GeoEye vice president of operations.

The GeoEye-1 satellite will provide imagery for national intelligence agencies and, beginning later this fall, for commercial sale.

"Though the satellite collects imagery at 0.41-meter ground resolution, due to U.S. licensing restrictions, commercial customers will only get access to imagery that has been processed to half-meter ground resolution," according to an October 8 GeoEye news release.

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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