While the theft of a truck carrying radioactive cobalt made international headlines, this was unfortunately not the first time thieves or scavengers have exposed themselves or others to lethal radiation. Probably the most infamous case was on September 13, 1987 in Goiania, Brazil. Scavengers broke into an abandoned medical clinic and stole a disused teletherapy […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. Veterans and Homelessness, November 29, 2013 Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda): U.S. and International Response to Philippines Disaster, November 25, 2013 Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance, November 22, 2013 Legislative Actions to Repeal, Defund, or Delay […]
The President would have to prepare a written plan for responding to the possibility of an unauthorized disclosure of any CIA covert action program, according to a provision adopted last month by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The requirement was introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and was adopted by voice vote in […]
The U.S. intelligence community should continue to provide intelligence support to national leaders even in the event of a catastrophic emergency, according to a new Intelligence Community Directive. “IC elements shall develop and maintain COOP [continuity of operations] capabilities to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national intelligence and, through the support of COG [continuity of […]
The latest report from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community provides an updated (and largely redacted) snapshot of the IG’s investigative agenda. During the nine-month period from July 2012 to March 2013, the IC IG internal hotline received 70 contacts or complaints from intelligence agency personnel, as well as 77 contacts from the general […]
Recent unauthorized disclosures of classified information might have been prevented if U.S. intelligence agencies “continuously evaluated the backgrounds of employees and contractors,” according to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). In its new report on the FY 2014 intelligence authorization bill, the Committee would require intelligence agencies to “continuously determine whether their employees […]
As hoped, the P5+1 and Iran settled on a “first step” agreement to resolve concerns about Iran’s potential to develop nuclear weapons and its interest in doing so. We cannot predict how far this process will go or what the next step to establish a comprehensive, enduring agreement that puts the nuclear issue squarely in the […]
The Public Interest Declassification Board, which advises the President on classification and declassification policy, is proposing to recommend that certain historically significant topics and events be prioritized for expedited declassification. The Board has invited public input into the formulation of its recommendations for prioritization, which currently fall into five broad categories: Topics 25 Years Old […]
New and newly updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has declined to make available to the public online include the following. Mexico’s Oil and Gas Sector: Background, Reform Efforts, and Implications for the United States, November 18, 2013 U.S.-Mexico Water Sharing: Background and Recent Developments, November 19, 2013 Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines: […]
Newly published briefing slides from a Los Alamos history of the Russian nuclear weapons program include rare images and photographs of key personalities and facilities in the Russian (formerly Soviet) nuclear program. See History of the Russian Nuclear Weapon Program by Houston T. Hawkins, Los Alamos National Laboratory, November 19, 2013 (large PDF file).
A new review by the Inspector General of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that classified documents at the Agency are riddled with errors. Because the EPA has a minuscule classification program that hardly generates any classified material, it may be seen as a microcosm of the larger classification system. Only eight original classifications have […]
The Director of National Intelligence yesterday declassified and released hundreds of pages of records concerning collection under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, illuminating the origins of bulk collection of email metadata, as well as interactions with the FISA Court and Congress. “We will make the information public that we can make public, and we will […]