Today at 1pm EST HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and acting Director of the CDC Richard Besser will be webcast answering questions about Swine Flu from the American people. The webcast will be available at www.hhs.gov and questions can be emailed to hhsstudio@hhs.gov. The World Health Oraganization has now raised the Pandemic […]
The government’s use of the state secrets doctrine to shut down litigation on certain sensitive national security topics could be sharply curtailed by a new federal appeals court ruling (pdf). The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU against a company called Jeppesen DataPlan and filed on behalf of several plaintiffs who said […]
There is practically a universal consensus that the national security classification system has become dysfunctional and counterproductive. (Just what to do about it remains up in the air–more on that shortly). That consensus was articulated again earlier this month in a speech by Joan Dempsey, formerly a senior Pentagon intelligence official, a Deputy Director of […]
The U.S. Army last year blocked online public access to the Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin (MIPB), an Army intelligence journal, and moved the publication archive to the password-protected “Intelligence Knowledge Network.” (“Army Blocks Public Access to Intel Journal,” Secrecy News, March 31, 2009). But in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the […]
Vast inventories of nuclear weapons remain after the Cold War arms race ended. . By Hans M. Kristensen Russia’s nuclear forces are expected to drop well below 500 offensive strategic delivery vehicles within the next five years, less than one-third of what’s permitted by the 1991 START treaty. Unless the next U.S. Nuclear Posture Review […]
The political leadership of Cuba, which has undergone significant turnover in the past year, was profiled in a new publication this month by the DNI Open Source Center (OSC). “Raul Castro has overhauled the leadership of top government bodies, especially those dealing with the economy, since he formally succeeded his brother Fidel as president of […]
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) last week reintroduced three bills that he said were needed to limit presidential power and to restore the proper constitutional balance among the three branches of government. The first bill (S.875) would instruct courts not to rely on a presidential signing statement when interpreting the meaning of any statute. (Similar legislation […]
While official secrecy is a serious impediment to democratic vitality, the continuing decline of news gathering, reporting and editorial capacity could be a potential catastrophe. It is still unclear whether new and nascent forms of information sharing can provide a satisfactory substitute. The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy is […]
At the direction of Congress, the Congressional Research Service does not make its products directly available to the public. Recent CRS reports obtained by Secrecy News include the following (all pdf). “Legal Analysis of Religious Exemptions for Photo Identification Requirements,” April 13, 2009. “Federal Advisory Committees: An Overview,” April 16, 2009. “Piracy Off the Horn […]
Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are “widely dispersed” says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Does that include the large weapons storage complex at Sargodha? Click for image. . By Hans M. Kristensen Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed concern over the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in the light of increasing violence in the country. The […]
By Hans M. Kristensen Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Ryabkov, gave a lengthy reaction to the FAS/NRDC report From Counterforce to Minimal Deterrence during a press conference Wednesday. The transcript from the press conference shows that in response to a question that the “report [is] suggesting a possible retargeting of US missile from […]
Following an August 28, 2008 explosion at the Bayer CropScience facility in Institute, West Virginia, Bayer used official secrecy restrictions to limit public awareness of the accident and to impede investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, a congressional review found. “Bayer engaged in a campaign of secrecy by withholding critical information from local, county, […]