“The Defense Department’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is one of three aircraft programs at the center of current debate over tactical aviation, the others being the Air Force F-22A fighter and the Navy F/A-18E/F fighter/attack plane,” explains a newly updated Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. “The JSF program is a major issue in Congress […]
In the near future a federal court will decide whether the prosecution of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for allegedly mishandling classified information can proceed, or whether it must be dismissed on First Amendment grounds. It will be a fateful decision either way. If the prosecution is permitted to […]
In the event of an attack against the United States involving weapons of mass destruction, National Guard units known as WMD civil support teams (CST) would be called upon to respond. “The mission of the WMD CST is to support civil authorities at a domestic CBRNE [chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive] incident site […]
(Updated Below) “The U.S. Armed Forces disposed of chemical weapons in the ocean from World War I through 1970,” the Congressional Research Service recalled in a valuable new report (pdf). “At that time, it was thought that the vastness of ocean waters would absorb chemical agents that may leak from these weapons. However, public concerns […]
The prosecution of Thomas C. Butler, the distinguished scientist who was convicted in 2004 of exporting plague bacteria to Tanzania without proper authorization and of various contract violations, came to a final conclusion last month when the U.S. Supreme Court denied his petition (pdf) to review the matter. Yet the Butler case may endure as […]
In his 1995 executive order 12958, President Clinton directed that most historically valuable classified records be automatically declassified as they become 25 years old. The onset of this automatic declassification process was deferred repeatedly, but it was affirmed in principle by President Bush in his 2003 executive order 13292, and the initial phase of the […]
The legal issues and security procedures involved in litigating national security cases are introduced in a handbook (pdf) published by the Navy Judge Advocate General. “National Security Cases and cases involving classified information are inherently complex because they impose strict security, reporting, coordination, and approval requirements on top of the necessities of investigating, trying, defending, […]
The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) should exercise its authority to compel the Office of the Vice President to disclose how frequently it classifies and declassifies information, the Federation of American Scientists urged in a letter (pdf) to ISOO Director J. William Leonard. For the third year in a row, the Office of the Vice […]
In a victory for academic researchers, the Department of Commerce announced the withdrawal of a controversial rulemaking notice on so-called “deemed exports” that would have imposed new restrictions on access to information and technology by foreign-born scientists. A “deemed export” has taken place when a foreign national who is working in the United States gains […]
The scope of the “sensitive security information” (SSI) control category that prevents disclosure of certain kinds of transportation security-related information would be significantly curtailed by the House version of the 2007 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The House bill would mandate automatic disclosure of SSI when it becomes three years old if it is […]
The National Security Archive announced the publication of a large collection of Henry Kissinger’s Memoranda of Conversation (memcons), a detailed and candid record of his diplomatic contacts with world leaders from 1969 to 1977, edited by the Archive’s William Burr. An FBI account of “Bacteriological Warfare in the United States” was published by TheMemoryHole.org. It […]
(Updated below) Public disclosure of intelligence budget data would be required under a provision of the 2007 Intelligence Authorization Act that was reported (pdf) by the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday and disclosed today. The total amounts authorized and appropriated for the National Intelligence Program would be publicly disclosed each year starting in 2007, the Senate […]