The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released a heavily redacted version of its Congressional Budget Justification Book for Fiscal Year 2009 in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Although most of the substance of the document has been withheld, a number of details of interest (to some) have […]
“Under the Federal criminal justice system, the prosecutor has wide latitude in determining when, whom, how, and even whether to prosecute for apparent violations of Federal criminal law,” says the U.S. Attorneys’ Manual. “The prosecutor’s broad discretion in such areas as initiating or foregoing prosecutions, selecting or recommending specific charges, and terminating prosecutions by accepting […]
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have been studying the ways that information, ideas and behaviors propagate through social networks in order to gain advance warning of cyber attacks or other threatening behavior. The initial problem is how to explain the disparate consequences of seemingly similar triggering events. Thus, in 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published […]
There is a “large inventory” of classified nuclear weapons components “scattered across” the nation’s nuclear weapons complex and awaiting disposal, according to an internal Department of Energy contractor report last year. But “there is no complex-wide cost-effective classified weapon disposition strategy.” And as a result, “Only a small portion of the inventory has been dispositioned […]
The existence of multiple, overlapping and inconsistent definitions of the term “homeland security” reflects and reinforces confusion in the homeland security mission, according to a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. “Ten years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. government does not have a single definition for ‘homeland security.’ [Instead,] […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made available to the public include the following. Desalination and Membrane Technologies: Federal Research and Adoption Issues, January 8, 2013 The Corporation for Public Broadcasting: Federal Funding and Issues, January 8, 2013 DNA Testing in Criminal Justice: Background, Current Law, Grants, and […]
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), which authorizes intelligence surveillance activities, acknowledged in 2007 that it has issued “legally significant decisions that remain classified and have not been released to the public.” In 2010, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice undertook to declassify those Court rulings, but since […]
The Director of National Intelligence issued a directive last month prescribing procedures for major system acquisitions by elements of the intelligence community. The directive defines a multi-phase process for identifying critical needs, evaluating alternative paths to meet those needs, and so forth. See Intelligence Community Directive 115, “Intelligence Community Capability Requirements Process,” December 21, 2012.
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service which Congress has directed CRS not to release to the public include the following. Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations, January 4, 2013 The “Fiscal Cliff” and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, January 4, 2012 Proposals to Change the […]
Updated below Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security is believed to employ more than 30,000 intelligence officers and support personnel, making it “one of the largest and most active intelligence agencies in the Middle East,” according to a new report from the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. “The Ministry of Intelligence and […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has not made available to the public include the following. Army Drawdown and Restructuring: Background and Issues for Congress, January 3, 2013 U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress, January 3, 2013 The Unified Command Plan and Combatant Commands: Background and […]
Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has not made publicly available include the following. Defense Acquisitions: How DOD Acquires Weapon Systems and Recent Efforts to Reform the Process, January 2, 2013 U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Current Conflicts, December 28, 2012 The Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) […]