A new government-wide policy on “controlled unclassified information” (CUI) is still more than a year away from implementation, but not because of any lack of attention or interest. To the contrary, it is the subject of rather intensive policy deliberation, officials say, and is not “languishing” as Secrecy News stated on May 11. CUI refers […]
Noteworthy new additions to the literature of U.S. Army Field Manuals include the following (all pdf). “Security Force Assistance,” FM 3-07.1, May 2009 (on support to foreign security forces). “Legal Support to the Operational Army,” FM 1-04, April 2009 (including detainee and stability operations, but excluding the law of armed conflict). “Visual Information Operations,” FM […]
A new report from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee discusses what is known about Iran’s potential for developing nuclear weapons, as well as what is suspected or imagined. “There is no sign that Iran’s leaders have ordered up a bomb,” the report notes. “But unclassified interviews… make clear that Iran has moved closer to completing […]
A federal court last week rejected most of the objections raised by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to publication of a 500-page manuscript critical of the FBI counterterrorism program that was written by retired FBI Special Agent Robert G. Wright. The manuscript had been submitted for pre-publication review in October 2001. “This is a sad […]
Three and a half years have passed since President Bush called for the establishment of a standardized government-wide format for the handling of “controlled unclassified information” (CUI) that would replace the dozens of different, incompatible controls on what had been known as “Sensitive But Unclassified” (SBU) information. More than a year has passed since President […]
The CIA Historical Review Panel, an advisory group which is composed of academic historians and political scientists, provides the CIA with recommendations on its declassification policies and priorities. The role of the Panel was described lately by its chairman, Prof. Robert Jervis, in the latest issue of Passport (pdf, at pp. 10-13), the newsletter of […]
Today Science Magazine is reporting that the Army has banned all pathogen research at one of its labs at the Armed Forced Institute of Pathology (AFIP) in Washington, DC. This decision was made December 2, 2008 as a result of an earlier failed Biological Surety Inspection, and not made public. Science reports that “officials found […]
The White House should intervene to block the impending release of certain photographs showing detainees abused by U.S. military personnel, Senators Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham wrote in a letter to President Obama yesterday. Release of the photos is expected by May 28 in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the […]
Questions of secrecy and disclosure are increasingly prominent in congressional interactions with the executive branch, particularly on the part of Republican members of Congress. House Republicans wrote (pdf) to Defense Secretary Gates this week to complain about what they called “a disturbing trend of restricting budget and inspection information within the Department of Defense.” They […]
The U.S. Army yesterday issued a revised and updated safety policy for microbiology and biomedical laboratories. The new policy “prescribes the technical safety requirements for the use, handling, transportation, transfer, storage, and disposal of infectious agents and toxins (IAT) rated at biosafety level 2 (BSL–2) and above.” It applies to “all U.S. Army activities and […]
The Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) was enacted in 1980 to provide a mechanism for handling classified information that was likely to arise in criminal trials. The Act provided for the identification of such information, provisions for establishing its relevance and admissibility, and for introducing unclassified substitutions that could be openly discussed at trial. The […]
New reports from the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News include the following (all pdf): “Sending Mail to Members of the Armed Forces at Reduced or Free Postage: An Overview,” April 27, 2009. “State, Foreign Operations Appropriations: A Guide to Component Accounts,” March 30, 2009. “Foreign Operations Appropriations: General Provisions,” April 30, 2009. “Taiwan-U.S. […]