Andrei Soldatov, the Russian journalist who runs the independent web site Agentura.ru that reports on Russian intelligence and security services, was the subject of a profile last week prepared by the DNI Open Source Center. “Soldatov has regularly highlighted the increasing influence of the special services in Russian government, reported on the security services’ efforts […]
Charles Homans considers “The Last Secrets of the Bush Administration” in the latest Washington Monthly. “An accounting of the Bush years is a less daunting prospect than it seems from the outset,” he says. “If the new president and leaders on Capitol Hill act shrewdly, they can pull it off while successfully navigating the political […]
Government officials were reminded recently that as they depart from government service with the end of the current Administration, they are not permitted to take classified information with them. “Classified information is not personal property and may not be removed from the Government’s control by any departing official or employee. This includes ‘extra’copies.” That timely […]
The United States Special Operations Command has published a newly updated handbook for use by special operations forces medics in the field. “It emphasizes acute care in all its forms (including gynecology, general medicine, dentistry, poisonings, infestations, parasitic infections, acute infections, hyper and hypothermia, high altitude, aerospace, dive medicine, and sanitation.)” The document, which is […]
Newly published congressional reports and hearing volumes that caught our eye include the following (mostly pdf). “Misleading Information from the Battlefield: The Tillman and Lynch Episodes,” Report of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, September 16, 2008. “Restoring the Rule of Law,” hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Senate Judiciary Committee, September […]
Some more reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “The U.S. Financial Crisis: The Global Dimension with Implications for U.S. Policy,” November 18, 2008. “China and the Global Financial Crisis: Implications for the United States,” updated November 17, 2008. “Reporting Requirements […]
Scattered details of a little-known U.S. government database containing the DNA of suspected terrorists were gathered and reported today in the Financial Times. See “Fears over Covert DNA Database” by Stephen Fidler. The Joint Federal Agencies [or more often: Antiterrorism] Intelligence DNA Database (JFAIDD) is described in a 2007 briefing slide (pdf) as “a searchable […]
There were 5,023 invention secrecy orders in effect at the end of FY 2008, up slightly from last year’s total of 5,002. Under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, secrecy orders are applied by government agencies to patent applications that may be “detrimental to national security.” The patent is withheld, and the invention described in […]
Expectations of significant changes in government information policy continue to grow as more and more groups and individuals offer their recommendations for reform to the next administration and its transition team. Proposals for change concerning classification, freedom of information, and presidential records were developed by a cross-section of interested organizations convened by the National Security […]
Under the Freedom of Information Act, one need not be a lawyer to file a lawsuit. A clever, committed advocate can sometimes defeat a team of government lawyers and win disclosure of denied documents. On the other hand, an inept, overzealous or unlucky litigant can leave a trail of legal wreckage that will make the […]
Ideally, the change of presidential administrations would be the occasion for a transformation in the relationship between government and the public, in which government information becomes easily and rapidly accessible to all interested parties. With that possibility in mind, dozens of public interest organizations concerned with access to government information (including FAS) have collaborated to […]
The conduct of unconventional warfare is explored in depth in a major new U.S. Army Field Manual on the subject (pdf). Unconventional warfare (UW) is defined as “Operations conducted by, with, or through irregular forces in support of a resistance movement, an insurgency, or conventional military operations… This definition reflects two essential criteria: UW must […]