A federal court heard pre-trial arguments last week in the case of former National Security Agency official Thomas A. Drake, who is charged with unlawful retention of NSA documents. He allegedly relayed some of those documents to a Baltimore Sun reporter, who subsequently wrote stories about NSA waste and mismanagement. At last week’s hearing (pdf), […]
Members of the public enjoy unrestricted access to all reports of the Congressional Research Service, according to the Librarian of Congress, Dr. James H. Billington. “Though CRS has no direct public mission, at present the public has unfettered access to the full inventory of CRS Reports for the Congress at no cost through the office […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Military Justice: Courts-Martial, An Overview,” March 31, 2011. “The State Secrets Privilege: Preventing the Disclosure of Sensitive National Security Information During Civil Litigation,” March 28, 2011. “Rare Earth Elements in National Defense: […]
The Senate Intelligence Committee is proposing to punish leaks of classified information by authorizing intelligence agencies to seize the pension benefits of current or former employees who are believed to have committed an unauthorized disclosure of classified information. The pending proposal would “provide an additional administrative option for the Intelligence Community to deter leakers who […]
Violent instability in Central America poses a growing threat to the countries of the region, with direct and indirect consequences for the United States, according to a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. “The seven nations of Central America face significant security challenges. Well-financed and heavily armed criminal threats, fragile political and judicial […]
The challenges of conducting military operations in a mountainous environment are addressed in a new U.S. Army manual (pdf). In the mountains, “small mistakes can lead to catastrophic events,” while “technological supremacy can be negated by even the most crude and non-technical enemy actions,” the new manual said. Therefore, “Mountain combat calls for extreme physical […]
Sea-launched ballistic missiles on British ballistic missile submarines will be armed with the upgraded W76-1 nuclear warhead currently in production in the United States, according to a report from Sandia National Laboratories. According to the Labs Accomplishments from March 2011, “the first W76-1 United Kingdom trials test was performed at WETL [Weapon Evaluation Test Laboratory], […]
The Director of National Intelligence has prepared a draft intelligence directive on access by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to intelligence information, but it is “shockingly bad,” a congressional official said. The GAO is an investigative arm of Congress that performs audits and reviews in support of congressional oversight and the legislative process. But GAO […]
In its ongoing consideration of policy options for “transforming classification,” the Public Interest Declassification Board has produced three short new papers that are intended to prompt further discussion. The new papers discuss Simplifying the Declassification Review Process for Historical Records, Discretionary Declassification and Release of Contemporary National Security Information, and Regularizing the Declassification Review of […]
The first six days of Odyssey Dawn, the US war in Libya, cost an estimated $400 million, according to a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. “Using operational details provided by DOD and DOD cost factors, a ‘bottoms-up’ estimate of the cost of initial operations suggests that in the first six days of […]
Most NATO countries support withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons from Europe, only three oppose, according to interviews with NATO officials. . By Hans M. Kristensen Two researchers from the Dutch peace group IKV Pax Christi have published a unique study that for the first time provides the public with an overview of what individual NATO […]
The U.S. intelligence community will prepare a National Intelligence Estimate on the implications of the continuing decline in U.S. manufacturing capacity, said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) citing recent news reports. “Last month Forbes reported that the continued erosion of the U.S. manufacturing base has gotten so serious that the Director of National Intelligence has begun […]