“Far too often, court-approved secrecy agreements hide vital public health and safety information from the American public, putting lives at stake,” observed Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI). “The secrecy agreements even prevent government officials or consumer groups from learning about and protecting the public from defective and dangerous products.” “Legislation that I’ve introduced… seeks to restore […]
In what might seem like an April Fool’s Day indulgence but isn’t, the New York Times today probed further into the emblems that circulate officially or unofficially around classified Defense Department programs. The emblems and patches, gathered by author Trevor Paglen, “reveal a bizarre mix of high and low culture where Latin and Greek mottos […]
The U.S. Marine Corps has agreed to restore public access to unclassified doctrinal documents on its web site. The official Marine Corps doctrine web site remains inaccessible. But in response to a Federation of American Scientists request (pdf) under the Freedom of Information Act, the Marine Corps said that all releasable contents would soon be […]
Last month the Director of National Intelligence issued a new Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) on “Technical Surveillance Countermeasures” (pdf) (TSCM). TSCM “represents the convergence of two distinct disciplines — counterintelligence and security countermeasures,” the directive explained. Its purpose is “to detect and nullify a wide variety of technologies used to gain unauthorized access to classified […]
To its credit, the Defense Intelligence Agency promptly withdrew an official DIA history that mistakenly described the 1981 Israeli attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor in the 1980s as an attack on Iran. As soon as the error became public, DIA replaced the entire document with an updated account. In an email message yesterday to […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Enlargement Issues at NATO’s Bucharest Summit,” March 12, 2008. “The NATO Summit at Bucharest, 2008,” March 24, 2008. “Selected Federal Homeland Security Assistance Programs: A Summary,” updated January 31, 2008. “Selected Laws Governing the Disclosure of Customer Phone Records by Telecommunications Carriers,” […]
[NOTE: The Federation of American Scientists is delighted to have a Scoville Fellow this year, Ms. Katarzyna (Kasia) Bzdak. Kasia reads the Polish language press and, in particular, follows the ongoing political debate about the US missile defense deployment in Poland. This is her second blog entry on the subject; the first was written before […]
Updated below In a memorable TV interview with former Secretary of State James Baker, prankster “Ali G” (Sasha Baron Cohen) wondered about the possibility of confusing “Iran” and “Iraq.” “Do you think it would be a good idea if one of them changed their name to make it very different sounding from the other one?” […]
Close examination of several recent volumes of the State Department’s Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series has turned up errors and questionable editorial judgments. The record of conversations between Chinese Prime Minister Chou En-lai and Henry Kissinger that was published in FRUS last month failed to include what is arguably among the more […]
The Homeland Security Council (HSC), a White House agency that advises the President on homeland security policy, has become one of the darkest corners of the U.S. Government. The Council was established by President Bush shortly after September 11, 2001 and it was chartered as an agency within the Executive Office of the President in […]
Legislation pending in the Russian Duma [parliament] would impose new Russian government controls on online content, according to an analysis of Russian news reports from the DNI Open Source Center. Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the Duma, was quoted as saying: “We know that the Internet is all too often used as an instrument for destabilization […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Satellite Surveillance: Domestic Issues,” March 21, 2008. “The Next Generation Bomber: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress,” March 7, 2008. “U.S. Nuclear Cooperation With India: Issues for Congress,” updated February 12, […]