Robert Steele, the longtime proponent of a robust open source intelligence program, has a new web site which notably includes an archive of intelligence-policy related documents, several of which I had missed. The collection is accompanied by his own occasionally tart commentary.
The Open Society Institute (which supports the FAS Project on Government Secrecy) announces that it will host a Constitution Day event on September 15 in New York City featuring Daniel Ellsberg and John Dean who will discuss “the dangers of excessive government secrecy and the critical role played by whistleblowers in maintaining democratic values.”
The U.S. Intelligence Community is still pondering its role in cybersecurity and the potential need for new legal authorities, DNI Dennis C. Blair told Congress in May. “We have more work to do in the Executive Branch before I can give you a good answer,” he wrote in a newly released letter (pdf) to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
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.