“No information may remain classified indefinitely,” according to a draft of an Obama Administration executive order on national security classification policy. As a statement of principle, this may seem tame and self-evident. But until now, no Administration has been willing to make such a categorical statement about the temporal limits of national security secrecy, and […]
The government’s assertion of the state secrets privilege in a pending lawsuit brought by a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent will not be affected by the new Attorney General policy limiting the use of the privilege, the Justice Department said last week, because it is already in compliance with the new policy. In a September […]
The Department of Justice yesterday released its long-awaited new policy on the state secrets privilege, which the government uses in litigation to withhold evidence when it believes that disclosure would harm national security. The new policy, presented in a memorandum from the Attorney General, includes procedural and substantive changes to current practice. But it reserves […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Iraqi Civilian, Police, and Security Forces Casualty Statistics,” September 17, 2009. “Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status,” September 18, 2009. “Military Recruitment on High School and College Campuses: A Policy and Legal Analysis,” September 22, 2009. “The Second Amendment and Incorporation: An Overview of […]
A book published this year in Brazil on “The Physics of Nuclear Explosives” prompted concerns at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it revealed classified nuclear weapons design information and that it might signify a renewed interest by Brazil in developing such weapons. The U.S. Government also requested further details on the matter, the […]
Brazil’s nuclear energy research programs and facilities are described in two recent publications of the DNI Open Source Center. These documents have not been approved for public release, but copies were obtained by Secrecy News. “Brazil — Survey of Nuclear Agencies, Facilities” (pdf), February 9, 2009. “Brazil — Websites, Online Publications Seek to Inform Public […]
At a media roundtable last March 26 (pdf), Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair said that “I see my job as making sure that out of this almost 100,000 people and $45 billion that we spend, we get the absolute best intelligence to the President.” But speaking to reporters yesterday (pdf) about the release […]
U.S. military commanders “are responsible for the maintenance of the health of their commands to ensure mission accomplishment in the event of CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear] attacks,” a new Army Field Manual advises, while noting that “medical planners can expect, as a minimum, 10 to 20 percent casualties within a division-sized force that […]
If one were searching for an individual to represent the public interest in promoting declassification of government records, the first name that came to mind would probably not be Michael V. Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency. But improbable as it may seem, he is the latest […]
The “qui tam” statutes (such as the False Claims Act) that enable members of the public to file lawsuits on behalf of the government and to seek financial penalties have been “reviled… as a breeding ground for viperous vermin and parasites,” observes a new report from the Congressional Research Service. But they have also been […]
The vast apparatus of government secrecy persisted through the last year with only limited changes in the contours of its multi-billion dollar operations, according to the latest “secrecy report card” published by Openthegovernment.org, a coalition of organizations working for increased transparency. The new report card (pdf), prepared by Patrice McDermott and Amy Fuller Bennett, compiles […]
Pakistan was ready to test a nuclear weapon just six years after it first began to enrich uranium, according to A.Q. Khan, the architect of the Pakistani nuclear program and an infamous proliferator of nuclear weapons designs and technology. “It was 6 April 1978 when we achieved our first centrifugal enrichment of uranium,” Khan recalled […]