At the request of the FBI, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ordered a Verizon subsidiary to surrender the telephone records of its U.S. business customers to the National Security Agency for at least a three month period beginning last April 25. The startling disclosure was reported last night by Glenn Greenwald of the Guardian. A […]
The latest updates from the Congressional Research Service include the following items. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): An Overview, June 4, 2013 International Climate Change Financing: The Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), June 3, 2013 International Environmental Financing: The Global Environment Facility (GEF), June 3, 2013 Iraq: Politics, Governance, and Human Rights, June 3, 2013 […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The Swedish International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) today published the 2013 issue of the SIPRI Yearbook. I’m coauthor of the chapter on worldwide nuclear weapons arsenals. The yearbook is translated into Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Ukrainian, providing a unique source of nuclear weapons information to regions where such information is either […]
The Inspector General at each government agency that classifies national security information is required by the Reducing Over-Classification Act of 2010 to review the agency’s classification program as part of an effort to combat overclassification. Those reviews are now underway. But if properly performed, they could put the Inspectors General at odds with senior officials […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that CRS is not authorized to release to the public include the following. Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues, May 30, 2013 “This report provides an overview of major legal issues likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the […]
By Hans M. Kristensen China and North Korea are developing nuclear-capable cruise missiles, according to U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). The new Chinese and North Korean systems appear on a slide in a Command Briefing that shows nuclear modernizations in eight of the world’s nine nuclear weapons states (Israel is not shown). The […]
The Pentagon’s reliance on contractors to support military operations has now become so extensive that some argue it should be… even more extensive! These advocates “believe that DOD should be prepared to effectively award and manage contracts at a moment’s notice, anywhere in the world, in unknown environments, and on a scale that may exceed […]
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court issued an order on Friday directing the Department of Justice to respond no later than June 7 to a motion filed on May 23 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The order was signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton, presiding judge of the surveillance court. EFF had asked the Court […]
The Senate passage of Resolution 65 on May 22, 2013, some argue, draws the United States closer to military action against Iran. In October 2012, amid concerns that surprisingly little research addressed the potential broad outcomes of possible U.S.-led actions against Iran, researchers at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) assembled nine renowned subject matter […]
When the Central Intelligence Agency prepared its famous 1973 compilation of dubious and illegal Agency activities known as the “Family Jewels,” it included several instances in which reporters were tracked or monitored in order to identify their sources. While these activities were technically “approved” by senior Agency officials, they also “conflict[ed] with the provisions of […]
William Z. Slany, the former Historian of the Department of State and a champion of efforts to declassify the secret history of U.S. foreign policy, passed away earlier this month. Dr. Slany served in the State Department’s Office of the Historian for 42 years, and was The Historian for the last 18 of those years, […]
In a startling expansion of the Obama Administration’s war on leaks, a federal agent sought and received a warrant in 2010 to search the email account of Fox News correspondent James Rosen on grounds that there was probable cause the reporter had violated the Espionage Act by soliciting classified information from a State Department official. […]