President Obama yesterday issued Presidential Policy Directive 19 on “Protecting Whistleblowers with Access to Classified Information.” The directive generally prohibits official reprisals against an intelligence community employee who makes a “protected disclosure” concerning unlawful activity or “waste, fraud, and abuse.” It does not authorize disclosure of classified information outside of official channels to the press […]
The outbreak of violence by individuals who seek to harm other persons or institutions cannot be reliably predicted today, the Defense Science Board said in a new report to the Secretary of Defense. Instead, efforts to counter violence should focus on prevention and mitigation of the threat. The new DSB study on “Predicting Violent Behavior” […]
Presidential elections and the possible transition to a new Administration are potentially a period of heightened national security vulnerability, a new report from the Congressional Research Service says. The report distinguishes five phases of the presidential election period, and proposes concerns relevant to each. Thre report provides tabulated listings of US military operations during presidential […]
A Department of Defense (DOD) report on Russian nuclear forces, conducted in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence and sent to Congress in May 2012, concludes that even the most worst-case scenario of a Russian surprise disarming first strike against the United States would have “little to no effect” on the U.S. ability to […]
The trial of former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who is accused of making unauthorized disclosures of classified information, has yet to begin. But prosecutors and defense attorneys are now locked in a dispute over what classified information must be provided to the defense and can be cleared for disclosure at trial. The resolution of the […]
Military chaplains in the U.S. Army must have at least a Secret clearance. “This allow them access to the unit operations center and ensures that the chaplain is involved in the unit’s operational planning process.” A newly updated Army doctrinal publication on Religious Support, which describes the functions of chaplains, explains that “Religion plays an […]
Last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton informed Congress that U.S. national security interests required a waiver of statutory limitations on security aid to Pakistan. “The Secretary’s accompanying justification for the waiver was delivered in classified form,” a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service noted, adding that the waiver “appeared extremely difficult to […]
The National Archives has set up a new online portal that provides an overview of declassification activity in and around the Archives, with input from the National Declassification Center, the Public Interest Declassification Board, the Presidential Libraries, and the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP). The new section on ISCAP declassification decisions is of particular […]
The Department of Defense this week released a redacted version of the budget justification for the FY 2010 Military Intelligence Program (MIP). “The MIP sustains all programs, projects or activities that support the Secretary of Defense intelligence, counterintelligence, and related intelligence responsibilities and provides capabilities to meet the warfighters’ operational and tactical requirements whenever and […]
Reductions under the New START Treaty have gotten off to a very slow start . By Hans M. Kristensen More than a year and a half after the New START Treaty between the United States and Russia entered into force on January 5, 2011, one thing is clear: they are not in a hurry to […]
The Department of Defense this week established a new Defense Security Enterprise that is intended to unify and standardize the Department’s multiple, inconsistent security policies. The new security framework “shall provide an integrated, risk-managed structure to guide DSE policy implementation and investment decisions, and to provide a sound basis for oversight and evolution.” The Defense […]
The state and local fusion centers supported by the Department of Homeland Security have produced little intelligence of value and have generated new concerns involving waste and abuse, according to an investigative report from the Senate Homeland Security Committee Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. (NYT, WP) “It’s troubling that the very ‘fusion’ centers that were designed […]