Updated below In an historic step, the U.S. Government will formally reveal the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal. Until now, the shifting size of the nuclear arsenal had only been declassified from 1945 up to 1961. Current stockpile figures were the subject of more or less informed speculation. The pending disclosure was […]
A federal court ruled (pdf) last year that the Department of Energy was obliged to disclose certain records concerning the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) in Idaho after they were requested under the Freedom of Information Act by a public interest group, Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free. The court said that the exemptions to the FOIA claimed […]
The Chief Justice of the United States has appointed Judge Martin L.C. Feldman of the Eastern District of Louisiana to a seven-year term on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, effective May 19, 2010. He replaces Judge George P. Kazen, whose term on the Court ends this month. Judge Feldman’s appointment to the FISA Court has […]
The pending prosecution of former National Security Agency official Thomas A. Drake, who was alleged to be a source of classified information in a series of newspaper articles about the NSA, will present “novel” legal issues for the court to consider, prosecutors and defense attorneys said in a joint motion last week. “The indictment raises […]
Incidents of fratricide in the U.S. war on terrorism increased in recent years, according to a new report (pdf) from the U.S. Army. “Fratricide” — the unintended killing or injury of friendly forces — “is a harsh reality during combat operations,” the study states. “Over the course of 2004-2007, the number of fratricide incidents increased, […]
Although the U.S. Constitution assigned the power to declare war to Congress, the use of armed forces has often been initiated by the President without congressional authorization. The enactment of the War Powers Resolution in 1973 was an attempt by Congress to reassert its constitutional role and to regulate military action by the executive branch. […]
The Department of Defense denied security clearances to 8,065 individuals in 2008, according to a recent congressional hearing volume. “These numbers represent a small percentage of the total number of security clearance investigations. The vast majority of investigations are adjudicated favorably.” See “Security Clearance Reform: Moving Forward on Modernization,” Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs […]
The threat of German submarines laying explosive mines off the east coast of the United States was a source of alarm during World War I, but the residual hazards had diminished within a few years of the war’s end, according to a comprehensive survey (large pdf) published by the U.S. Navy in 1920. “The reports […]
“The problem we face,” said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates last week, “is that the current system, which has not been significantly altered since the end of the Cold War, originated and evolved in a very different era with a very different array of concerns in mind.” He was talking about the U.S. export control […]
China’s interest in the use of airships — balloons, blimps and various other lighter-than-air aircraft — was discussed in a new report (pdf) from the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC). Airships have been used in China for disaster relief, since they were able to reach distant areas when ordinary transportation was impaired, and […]
The U.S. State Department is inviting members of the public to present their concerns about human rights in the United States as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, in which the human rights records of all UN Member States are to be reviewed. “In the pursuit of a transparent and effective UPR process, […]
New technologies could be used to improve internet security but the impact of those technologies on personal privacy is classified information, the director of the National Security Agency told Congress last week. “How could the Internet be designed differently to provide much greater inherent security?” the Senate Armed Services Committee asked Lt. General Keith Alexander, […]