The implications of the expanded use of “national security letters” by the FBI and other agencies to compel disclosure of business record information will be explored in a hearing tomorrow before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
For an introduction to the subject see “National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations: Legal Background and Recent Amendments” (pdf), Congressional Research Service, updated March 28, 2008.
Next week on April 30, Sen. Russ Feingold will chair a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on “Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government.”
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.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.