“The United States Intelligence Community (IC) has an obligation to learn from its history and its performance and to document its activities,” Director of National Intelligence J. Michael McConnell wrote in a newly disclosed Intelligence Community Directive. Towards that end, “each IC agency/organization shall establish and maintain a professional historical capability… to document, analyze and […]
Poorly considered security restrictions on unclassified research and limits on foreign scientists’ access to U.S. laboratories could erode U.S. scientific and engineering prowess, a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences concluded. “The success of U.S. science and engineering has been built on a system of information sharing and open communication, not only among […]
To submit an international arms control agreement to the U.S. Senate for ratification has not always been the Bush Administration’s first instinct. But last month the White House asked the Senate to ratify a 2005 Amendment to the 1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. “This Amendment is important in the campaign against […]
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the FAS, the Department of Homeland Security has released a December 2005 report to Congress on the status of DHS’s efforts to counter the threat from man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) to commercial airliners. The report, which Congress required as part of the Intelligence […]
Notable new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made widely available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions,” updated October 11, 2007. “U.S.-China Counterterrorism Cooperation: Issues for U.S. Policy,” updated October 10, 2007. “Mexico’s Drug Cartels,” October 16, 2007. “Burma-U.S. Relations,” updated […]
A new publication (pdf) from the Joint Chiefs of Staff defines military doctrine regarding “peace operations.” Peace operations utilize “all instruments of national power with military missions to contain conflict, redress the peace, and shape the environment to support reconciliation and rebuilding and facilitate the transition to legitimate governance. Peace operations include peacekeeping, peace enforcement, […]
Much of what is publicly known regarding the abuse of detainees held in U.S. custody did not emerge from congressional investigations — there were no such investigations — or from other conventional means of oversight. Instead, a large portion of the public record on interrogation policy was uncovered through an unusually effective Freedom of Information […]
The U.S. Government was acquiescent in Pakistan’s acquisition of nuclear weapons technology over a period of decades, according to a new book on the subject. The activities of individual members of Pakistan’s nuclear procurement network in the United States are examined in detail by investigative reporters David Armstrong and Joseph Trento in “America and the […]
Within a week, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will formally disclose the size of the National Intelligence Program budget for fiscal year 2007, an ODNI spokeswoman said. The anticipated disclosure marks the culmination of decades of advocacy, debate and litigation. Last July Congress enacted an intelligence budget disclosure requirement over White House […]
The treatment of injuries caused by chemical weapons and other chemical agents is addressed in a new military field manual (pdf). The manual, issued jointly by the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, characterizes the threat from chemical weapons, describes the diagnosis of chemical injuries and outlines preventive and remedial measures. See “Multiservice Tactics, Techniques, […]
It’s an impossible job, and perhaps it was meant to be. The Director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) has “responsibility for security classification, safeguarding and declassification policy and oversight throughout the Executive Branch of the United States Government.” Ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound is preferred but not required. Except […]
“It is an abuse of the classification process to withhold from Congress and the people of the United States broad assessments of the extent of corruption in the Iraqi Government.” Remarkably, that complaint was endorsed Tuesday by a large majority of the House of Representatives, which voted 395-21 to condemn the Administration’s restrictions on disclosure […]