China’s new DF-21C missile launcher shows itself in Western China. Image: GoogleEarth . By Hans M. Kristensen The latest Pentagon report on Chinese military forces recently triggered sensational headlines in the Indian news media that China had deployed new nuclear missiles close to the Indian border. The news reports got it wrong, but new […]
When Wikileaks published tens of thousands of classified U.S. military records concerning the war in Afghanistan last July, did it commit a criminal act under U.S. law? That was the question posed by a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. In the end, the CRS report tentatively concludes that “although unlawful acquisition of […]
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence last week released Intelligence Community Directive 701 (pdf), entitled “Security Policy Directive for Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information,” dated March 14, 2007. The directive sets forth procedures and requirements for identifying and reporting suspected unauthorized disclosures of classified information that are likely to cause damage to national […]
Some new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “The Freedom of Information Act and Nondisclosure Provisions in Other Federal Laws,” September 13, 2010. “The Role of Trade Secrets in Innovation Policy,” August 31, 2010. “Regulating Coal Combustion Waste Disposal: Issues […]
The possible near-term declassification of historical intelligence satellite programs was examined by Dwayne Day in “A Paler Shade of Black,” The Space Review, September 20. The author also noted the pending Fundamental Classification Guidance Review that is supposed to purge obsolete classification requirements from the system. An initiative led by Public Citizen to gain release […]
“Pakistan is in the midst of a catastrophic natural disaster that has precipitated a humanitarian crisis of major proportions,” a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service observes. The widespread flooding that has displaced millions of Pakistanis also represents a political crisis that “may undermine the already waning legitimacy of the civilian government” and […]
An apparent spike in Islamist terrorist plots by American citizens and residents is examined in another new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. “This report describes homegrown violent jihadists and the plots and attacks that have occurred since 9/11.” The report uses the term “jihadist” to refer to “radicalized individuals using Islam as an […]
The indictment of former Los Alamos physicist Leo Mascheroni and his wife Marjorie Mascheroni on charges of attempting to sell classified nuclear weapons information to a foreign government includes a garbled account of nuclear weapons technology, potentially casting doubt on the credibility of the allegations against the couple, the New York Times disclosed. In the indictment (at p. […]
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has issued a new solicitation to industry and academia in an attempt “to discover new technologies to support declassification.” Researchers are invited (pdf) to submit ideas for innovative approaches to declassification that will support the National Declassification Center in achieving its goals. Can technology actually make a difference in […]
The theory and practice of national security classification policy in the late cold war years are exemplified and explored in back issues of Classification Management, the journal of the National Classification Management Society (NCMS), which is the professional society of classification officers and other security professionals. Several back issues of the journal are now available […]
A new volume of the State Department’s official Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series on the war in Vietnam, published this month, embodies both the strengths and the weaknesses of the government document declassification program. The new FRUS volume presents an exceptionally vivid and interesting account of the Nixon Administration’s conduct of the […]
A former Los Alamos nuclear weapons scientist, Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni, and his wife, Marjorie Mascheroni, were charged with conspiracy to communicate classified nuclear weapons information with the intent to injure the United States and conspiracy to develop an illict atomic bomb after they allegedly offered to provide assistance to a supposed Venezuelan nuclear weapons program. […]