New FRUS Volume Declassified After Four Year Review
The latest volume of the State Department’s Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series documents U.S. Mideast policy before, during and immediately after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. It was published this month following a four year declassification review that lasted from 2006 to 2010.
Among numerous topics of historic and current interest, the 1200 page volume (pdf) touches glancingly on the issue of Israel’s nuclear weapons program.
“Do Egypt and Israel have the capability to make nuclear weapons?” asked Sen. Mike Mansfield at a November 27, 1973 White House meeting (page 993). “Israel has the capability to make small numbers,” answered Henry Kissinger. “Not Egypt.” (This exchange was also noted by Amir Oren in Ha’aretz on July 22).
The late Admiral Noel A. Gayler, the former NSA director and advocate of nuclear disarmament who died July 14, is included on the list of “Persons” in the new FRUS volume though his name does not appear elsewhere in the text.
Life-extending the existing Minuteman III missiles is the best way to field an ICBM force without sacrificing funding for other priorities.
To improve program outcomes, federal evaluation officers should conduct “unmet desire surveys” to advance federal learning agendas and built agency buy-in.
A federal agency takes over 100 days on average to hire a new employee — with significantly longer time frames for some positions — compared to 36 days in the private sector.
At least 40% of Medicare beneficiaries do not have a documented AHCD. In the absence of one, medical professionals may perform major and costly interventions unknowingly against a patient’s wishes.