On August 1, the Pacific island nation of Palau became the 139th country to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that would ban all nuclear explosions. Among states that possess nuclear weapons, only France, Russia and the United Kingdom have ratified the Treaty. To enter into force, the CTBT Organization explained in an August 7 […]
A newly updated U.S. Army regulation on information assurance defines standards and procedures for protecting classified and unclassified information in automated information systems. See “Information Assurance” (pdf), AR 25-2, August 3, 2007. Meanwhile, a new U.S. Navy Instruction establishes policy on monitoring of Navy communications for internal security purposes. See “Communications Security (COMSEC) Monitoring of […]
Recent reports of the Congressional Research Service on various foreign affairs topics include the following (all pdf), obtained by Secrecy News. CRS does not makes its reports directly available to the public. “Iraq: Oil and Gas Legislation, Revenue Sharing, and U.S. Policy,” updated July 25, 2007. “Gangs in Central America,” updated August 2, 2007. “Afro-Latinos […]
The much anticipated “deal” between the United States and India for the transfer of nuclear technology and equipment was released over the weekend. It is a sobering read and tells us much about the administration’s thinking. In summary, there isn’t much of a deal here at all, India gets what it wants.
Updated below One day after President Bush signed into law a bill that requires public disclosure of the national intelligence budget, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment to prevent that requirement from taking effect. The budget disclosure provision appeared in legislation enacting the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which was passed by Congress last […]
A federal court last week accepted a Central Intelligence Agency argument that the date on which former covert officer Valerie Plame Wilson’s employment at the CIA began should remain classified even though it is irrevocably in the public domain. The date in question appeared in a seemingly unclassified letter sent by CIA to Ms. Wilson […]
The Open Government Act, a bipartisan bill to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act, passed the Senate on August 3 after objections from a lone Senator were finally overcome. Senators Pat Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) successfully shepherded the legislation, which is intended to expedite agency responsiveness to FOIA requests and improve the freedom […]
Earlier this year, the Department of Defense released two annual reports on the status of its chemical and biological defense efforts (both pdf): “Department of Defense Chemical and Biological Defense Program,” Annual Report to Congress, April 2007. “Report on Activities and Programs for Countering Proliferation and NBC Terrorism,” Counterproliferation Program Review Committee, Volume I, Executive […]
Recent reports of the Congressional Research Service on the 2008 budget appropriation cycle obtained by Secrecy News include the following (all pdf). “Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Appropriations,” updated July 17, 2007. “Federal Research and Development Funding: FY2008,” updated July 26, 2007. “Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies: FY2008 Appropriations,” July 20, 2007. “Financial Services and […]
The espionage statutes concerning classified information could be employed against journalists who publish such information without authorization, a Justice Department official told Congress recently, elaborating on remarks made last year by Attorney General Gonzales. Those statutes, “on their face, do not provide an exemption for any particular profession or class of persons, including journalists,” wrote […]
Director of National Intelligence J.M. McConnell has issued new Intelligence Community Directives on standards for intelligence analysis and on document exploitation. “Analysts and managers should provide objective assessments informed by available information that are not distorted or altered with the intent of supporting or advocating a particular policy, political viewpoint, or audience,” the DNI instructed. […]
The U.S. Army Ranger Handbook, updated last year, provides an introduction to this branch of Army special operations forces, with a mixture of history, lore, doctrine, operational guidance and survival tips. “Tell the truth about what you see and what you do,” advised a historic Ranger document from 1759, reprinted in the current Handbook. “There […]