Contrary to allegations by some military officers and members of Congress, the Top Secret Department of Defense intelligence analysis program known as ABLE DANGER “did not identify Mohammed Atta or any other of the 9/11 terrorists before the 9/11 attack,” a review by the Department of Defense Inspector General concluded (9.2 MB PDF). Rep. Curt […]
Some recent reports of the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Science and Technology Policy: Issues for the 109th Congress,” updated September 1, 2006. “Navy Ship Names: Background For Congress,” updated September 1, 2006. “Legal Developments in International Civil Aviation,” updated August 25, […]
David T. Lykken, a psychologist who did pioneering research and public education on the limits and abuses of polygraph testing, died last week at age 78. With exceptional clarity he demonstrated that the polygraph is not a “lie detector” but simply a recorder of physiological responses to verbal stimuli. And, he explained, there is no […]
When the U.S. Army established a password-protected internet portal called Army Knowledge Online a few years ago, it swallowed up untold thousands of unclassified records that had previously been publicly available on the world wide web, and then ceased to be. One such item was the Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin (MIPB), a quarterly Army journal […]
Commercial vendors will happily sell you almost any Congressional Research Service report issued in the last decade, making CRS secrecy profitable for some but otherwise pointless. Yet Congress has stubbornly told the CRS not to make its reports directly available to the taxpaying public, who have already paid for them once. Some recent CRS reports […]
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) has endorsed a proposal to task the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) to review the recent Intelligence Committee reports on pre-war intelligence to determine if they were properly declassified. He acted in response to harsh criticism from Senate Democrats alleging that the Bush Administration had abused its classification […]
The use of secret U.S. prison facilities abroad, first reported by Dana Priest in the Washington Post in November 2005, has since been confirmed by President Bush and has become the focus of controversy in the U.S. and elsewhere. A new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service synthesizes what is now publicly known about […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee set the stage for further congressional debate over warrantless electronic surveillance by reporting out competing bills that are mutually contradictory. A bill (S. 2453) sponsored by Committee Chairman Arlen Specter would sharply diminish judicial oversight of intelligence surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and expand unilateral presidential authority. On the […]
The House of Representatives approved a bill to establish a publicly searchable database of federally-funded grants and contracts. The Senate adopted the measure last week, and the White House indicated that the President would sign it. “This bill would require the Office of Management and Budget to create a Web site listing all grant awards […]
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Minority Leader, proposed an amendment that would require the declassification of certain classified portions of a Senate Intelligence Committee report regarding pre-war intelligence on Iraq. Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Carl Levin charged last week that portions of the controversial report had been withheld from public disclosure in order […]
Some notable recent reports of the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News that are not otherwise readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Federal and State Quarantine and Isolation Authority,” updated August 16, 2006. “Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Historical Background and Legal Implications,” updated […]
The U.S. Navy announced today that the “Sea Shadow” (IX-529), an experimental naval craft, and the Hughes Mining Barge (HMB-1), which was originally developed as part of the CIA’s 1974 Project Jennifer to help raise a sunken Soviet submarine, are available for donation to a suitable museum or organization. “Ex-SEA SHADOW is contained inside HMB-1…. […]