“Pakistan — a key U.S. ally in global efforts to combat Islamist militancy — is in urgent need of an estimated $4 billion in capital to avoid defaulting on its sovereign debt.” See “Pakistan’s Capital Crisis: Implications for U.S. Policy” (pdf), Congressional Research Service, November 7, 2008. A new Pentagon manual (pdf) issued by Under […]
The possibilities for significant changes in government secrecy policy are starting to attract official attention as the presidential transition process begins. “I know things are going to change,” one executive branch official with national security classification responsibility said this morning. “The folks that are inbound have a keen appreciation for the kind of things that […]
The National Reconnaissance Office has released a heavily redacted version of the Fiscal Year 2008 Congressional Budget Justification Book for the National Reconnaissance Program. It provides a few intriguing glimpses of the intelligence agency in transition. “Ten years ago, a user might be satisfied with an image or a signal intercept; now users demand fused, […]
On 4 November 2008, Mozambique ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) which bans all nuclear explosions on Earth, the CTBT Organization announced in a news release. The Treaty has now been ratified by 146 nations, and signed by 180. “To enter into force, however, the Treaty must be signed and ratified by the […]
The national security classification system at the Department of Homeland Security is “broken,” and one of the top ten challenges facing the next Secretary of Homeland Security is to fix it, according to a recent report (pdf) from the Homeland Security Advisory Council. “The federal security clearance process and classification system is broken and is […]
When an Army aircraft is flying in a zone where detonation of a nuclear explosive is anticipated, one of the pilots would be well advised to wear a patch over one eye to protect against flash blindness from the nuclear burst. “This practice allows vision in this eye in case blindness occurs to the unprotected […]
Information that would reveal a violation of the law may be properly classified as long as it is not deliberately classified for the purpose of concealing the violation, a federal judge indicated this week. That view, in a ruling (pdf) against the ACLU by DC District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, all but nullifies one of […]
By Ivan Oelrich and Hans M. Kristensen Only one week before Barack Obama is expected to win the presidential election, Defense Secretary Robert Gates made one last pitch for the Bush administration’s nuclear policy during a speech Tuesday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. What is the opposite of visionary? Whatever, that’s the word […]
A range of presidential transition policy issues — including records management, budget preparation and the role of executive orders — is explored in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. See “Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving Outgoing and Incoming Administrations” (pdf), October 23, 2008. Other noteworthy new CRS reports obtained by Secrecy News that were […]
The Director of National Intelligence today disclosed the 2008 budget for the National Intelligence Program: $47.5 billion. That figure does not include spending for the Military Intelligence Program, which is at least another $10 billion. The disclosure marks only the fourth time that the intelligence budget has been officially disclosed. The aggregate intelligence budget figure […]
The Director of National Intelligence issued a directive (pdf) this month that will make it easier for a person whose spouse or immediate family is not a U.S. citizen to gain a security clearance for access to intelligence information. The new policy lowers a barrier that has long impeded intelligence agency hiring of qualified area […]
Could terrorists use Twitter, the instant messaging and micro-blogging service? Presumably so, just as they could use credit cards and can openers. The potential use of Twitter and other communications technologies by terrorists is considered in a new draft Army intelligence paper, based on a review of jihadist web sites and other public sources. The […]