The U.S. Air Force this month issued new guidance on “Geospatial-Intelligence (GEOINT).” See Air Force Instruction 14-132, August 10, 2012. The Instruction mandates that “All GEOINT activities will be conducted in compliance with applicable laws, policies, and directives. They will be conducted in a manner that ensures legality and propriety and that preserves and respects […]
New reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made available to the public include the following. Japan’s Possible Entry Into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Its Implications, August 24, 2012 The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meetings in Vladivostok, Russia: A Preview, August 16, 2012 501(c)(3) Organizations: What Qualifies as “Educational”?, August 21, 2012 […]
Arms transfers from the United States to other nations increased significantly over the past year, and exceeded previous levels, according to new data reported by the Congressional Research Service. “In worldwide arms transfer agreements in 2011 — to both developed and developing nations — the United States dominated, ranking first with $66.3 billion in such […]
U.S. government guidance on the targeting of nuclear weapons is perhaps the most tightly held of all national security secrets, and “fewer than twenty” copies of the President’s instructions on the subject are extant within the entire Department of Defense. Following a November 2011 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH) […]
If the former Navy SEAL who co-authored a new book about killing of Osama bin Laden signed a non-disclosure agreement for access to “sensitive compartmented information” (i.e., classified intelligence information), then he was obliged to submit his manuscript to the government for prepublication review even if he believed that it contained no classified information. A […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has not made available to the public include the following. Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice, and Recent Developments, August 21, 2012 Congress’s Contempt Power and the Enforcement of Congressional Subpoenas: Law, History, Practice, and Procedure, updated August 17, 2012 Iraq: Politics, […]
STRATCOM Commander estimates that China has “several hundred” nuclear warheads. . By Hans M. Kristensen The commander of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) has rejected claims that China’s nuclear arsenal is much larger than commonly believed. “I do not believe that China has hundreds or thousands more nuclear weapons than what the intelligence community has been […]
New reports from the Congressional Research Service on diverse topics of current interest are provided below. Pursuant to congressional policy, CRS is prohibited from making these documents directly available to the public. The Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters: The Use of the Military to Execute Civilian Law, August 16, 2012 Turkmenistan: Recent Developments and […]
A federal court yesterday dismissed a lawsuit which alleged that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had engaged in unlawful surveillance of Muslim residents of southern California. The court granted the Obama Administration’s claim that the state secrets privilege precluded litigation of the case. The plaintiffs in the case contended that the FBI had “conducted an […]
Recent products of the Congressional Research Service that CRS has not been authorized to release to the public include the following. Gun Control Legislation, August 3, 2012 El Salvador: Political, Economic, and Social Conditions and U.S. Relations, August 13, 2012 Honduran-U.S. Relations, July 25, 2012 Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances, July 24, 2012 […]
New reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been released to the public include the following. Wiretapping, Tape Recorders, and Legal Ethics: An Overview of Questions Posed by Attorney Involvement in Secretly Recording Conversation, August 9, 2012 The Speech or Debate Clause: Constitutional Background and Recent Developments, August 8, 2012 FY2013 National Defense […]
By Hans M. Kristensen It’s been a busy week with two talks; the first to the U.S. Strategic Command’s Deterrence Symposium on August 9, and the second to the Public Policy and Nuclear Threats “boot camp” workshop at the University of California San Diego on August 10. STRATCOM asked me to talk on the question: […]