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The U.S. nuclear war plan that entered into effect in March 2003 included new executable strike options against regional states seeking weapons of mass destruction. (click on image to download PDF-version) By Hans M. Kristensen The 2001 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and White House guidance issued in response to the terrorist attacks against the United […]
A federal court authorized issuance of subpoenas to more than a dozen current and former government officials to testify in the case of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who are accused of unauthorized receipt, transmission and disclosure of classified information. According to the defense, the testimony of the subpoenaed officials […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Nuclear Weapons in U.S. National Security Policy: Past, Present, and Prospects,” October 29, 2007. “National Strategy for Combating Terrorism: Background and Issues for Congress,” November 1, 2007. “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities — Background and Issues for Congress,” updated […]
Broad classification restrictions on the disclosure of historical intelligence information are making it difficult or impossible to accurately represent the record of U.S. foreign policy, an official advisory committee warned in a report (pdf) to the Secretary of State last summer. By law, the Department of State is obliged to publish “a thorough, accurate and […]
Although summary accounts of several National Intelligence Estimates have recently been declassified and published, this should not become standard practice, the Director of National Intelligence declared last week. “It is the policy of the Director of National Intelligence that KJs [the Key Judgments from National Intelligence Estimates] should not be declassified,” DNI J. Michael McConnell […]
Noteworthy new publications that we haven’t had a chance to read closely yet include (all pdf): “National Strategy for Information Sharing: Successes and Challenges in Improving Terrorism-Related Information Sharing,” National Security Council, October 2007. “Army International Security Cooperation Policy,” Army Regulation AR 11-31, 24 October 2007. “A.Q. Khan’s Nuclear Wal-Mart: Out of Business or Under […]
“All of us were born kicking and fighting to live, but we have become used to the soft life…. What happens when we are faced with a survival situation with its stresses, inconveniences, and discomforts?” That question is posed in a 2002 U.S. Army Field Manual (large pdf) on survival strategies and techniques in emergency […]
As required by law, the Director of National Intelligence today disclosed (pdf) that the budget for the National Intelligence Program in Fiscal Year 2007 was $43.5 billion. The disclosure was strongly resisted by the intelligence bureaucracy, and for that very reason it may have significant repercussions for national security classification policy. Although the aggregate intelligence […]
This afternoon, a committee of the National Research Council, a research arm of the National Academy of Science, issued a report that is extremely critical of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GNEP, an administration plan to restart separating plutonium from used commercial nuclear reactor fuel, something the United States has not done for three […]
A recent article, “Achieving Nuclear Balance”, in Nonproliferation Review, by Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, Chairwoman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, includes a sobering summary of the dangerous nuclear policies of the Bush administration, including its desire for new nuclear weapons and an expansion of the roles of nuclear weapons. Congresswoman […]
Last week, Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass) visited FAS to talk about the India-US deal. Markey, who strongly supports closer ties with India, opposes the nuclear deal because it undermines the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). A transcript and video of his comments are on the FAS website. What I found most interesting about his talk was a […]