The U.S. government acknowledges that U.S. military forces were involved in “armed conflict” this year in Libya, but it does not acknowledge that they were engaged in “hostilities.” Earlier this year, State Department legal advisor Harold H. Koh attempted to parse these distinctions, which have significant legal consequences, and to deflect some pointed questions from […]
New reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include these (both pdf): “U.S. Arms Sales: Agreements with and Deliveries to Major Clients, 2003-2010,” December 16, 2011. “Pakistan: U.S. Foreign Aid Conditions, Restrictions, and Reporting Requirements,” December 15, 2011.
Congress has given the U.S. military a green light to conduct offensive military activities in cyberspace. “Congress affirms that the Department of Defense has the capability, and upon direction by the President may conduct offensive operations in cyberspace to defend our Nation, allies and interests,” said the FY 2012 defense authorization act that was adopted […]
Congress ordered the Secretary of Defense to establish an information security program for detecting “unauthorized access to, use of, or transmission of classified or controlled unclassified information.” The provision was included by the FY2012 defense authorization act that was approved in conference this week (section 922). The insider threat detection program, conceived as a response […]
In an abrupt reversal, the Central Intelligence Agency said that it will process a Freedom of Information Act request for documents pertaining to the establishment of Open Source Works, the CIA’s in-house open source intelligence organization. Intelligence historian Jeffrey Richelson had requested the charter of Open Source Works under the Freedom of Information Act, only […]
The amount of money that the Pentagon requested for the Military Intelligence Program (MIP) in FY2012 — around $25 billion — is classified and will not be disclosed, the Department of Defense said last week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for the figure. The MIP budget request number “is currently and […]
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Updated below Open Source Works, which is the CIA’s in-house open source analysis component, is devoted to intelligence analysis of unclassified, open source information. Oddly, however, the directive that established Open Source Works is classified, as is the charter of the organization. In fact, CIA says the very existence of any such records is a […]
There are more than 50 federal statutes that pertain to some aspect of cybersecurity, according to the Congressional Research Service. Those statutes, and the potential impact on them of several pending legislative proposals, are described in a new CRS report. See “Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions,” December 7, 2011.
The U.S. State Department insists that the publication of many thousands of classified diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks does not alter their classification status. In response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union for 23 of the cables, the Department of State this week released redacted versions of 11 […]
The Congressional Research Service gained a new Director this week, but it has recently lost several of its most experienced and accomplished analysts. Librarian of Congress James Billington appointed Mary B. Mazanec to be the new CRS Director of the Congressional Research Service. She has been serving as acting Director since the retirement of her […]
A new report from the Congressional Research Service explores ongoing legal debates over the tracking of private cell phones and vehicles by law enforcement agencies. “It is undeniable that… advances in technology threaten to diminish privacy,” the CRS report says. “Law enforcement’s use of cell phones and GPS devices to track an individual’s movements brings […]