CRS on Terrorist Financing, Army Officer Shortage
A new Congressional Research Service report provides a resume of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program that was recently described in news stories.
See “Treasury’s Terrorist Finance Program’s Access to Information Held by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)” (pdf), July 7, 2006.
News reports on the program elicited furious criticism of the New York Times and other publications from those who believed classified information had been improperly and damagingly disclosed.
But “closely similar” accounts were publicly presented years ago in open congressional hearings, the Washington Post reported today.
See “Watching Finances Of Terror Suspects Discussed in 2002” by Walter Pincus, Washington Post, July 14.
Another new CRS report describes the erosion of the U.S. Army officer corps.
“The Army currently projects an officer shortage of nearly 3,000 in FY2007, with the most acute shortfalls in ‘senior’ captains and majors with 11 to 17 years of experience.”
See “Army Officer Shortages: Background and Issues for Congress” (pdf), July 5, 2006.
With summer 2025 in the rearview mirror, we’re taking a look back to see how federal actions impacted heat preparedness and response on the ground, what’s still changing, and what the road ahead looks like for heat resilience.
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.