Although people have been complaining about abuse of the national security classification system for decades, such complaints have rarely been translated into real policy changes. More than half a century ago, a Defense Department advisory committee warned that “Overclassification has reached serious proportions.” But despite innumerable attempts at corrective action over the years by official […]
The House Intelligence Committee last week filed its report on the FY 2010 intelligence authorization act, including many interesting and potentially important intelligence policy provisions. Perhaps the most significant measure is the proposed creation of a statutory inspector general for the intelligence community. Other steps include a requirement to report on the number of Federal […]
Bill Leonard, the esteemed former director of the Information Security Oversight Office and the principal overseer of the government secrecy system, now has his own blog where readers may look for his views and his insights on secrecy policy as the process of classification reform gets underway in earnest. The House Judiciary Committee rebuffed a […]
More than anything else, Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a judicial conservative who has hewed closely to established precedent, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Research Service of appellate court decisions authored by President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court. “Perhaps the most consistent characteristic of Judge Sotomayor’s approach as an appellate judge has […]
At the request of the National Security Advisor, a public meeting has been scheduled for July 8 to solicit public comments and recommendations concerning proposed revisions to executive branch classification and declassification policies. The meeting was announced in a June 23 Federal Register notice. The Public Interest Declassification Board, which is hosting the July 8 […]
In February 2008, the U.S. fired a missile at an inoperable U.S. intelligence satellite that had failed shortly after launch in December 2006. The satellite was destroyed reportedly in order to prevent an intact reentry of its toxic hydrazine fuel tank. But do we know why or how it failed in the first place? “No,” […]
A new U.S. Marine Corps Order establishes Corps policy governing the disclosure of U.S. classified military information and controlled unclassified information to foreign governments. See “Disclosure of Military Information to Foreign Governments and Interests” (pdf), MCO 5510.20A, May 15, 2009. The Joint Chiefs of Staff issued new doctrinal guidance on combating weapons of mass destruction, […]
It was reported this week that the Presidents Council on Bioethics was disbanded. The Council, appointed by the Bush Administration, was often accused of taking a more ideological than scientific perspective in its reports and advice. In its place, President Obama will convene a new bioethics commission.
Last month the Director of National Intelligence transmitted to Congress the Obama Administration’s proposed language for next year’s Intelligence Authorization Act. This week, the Administration forwarded several additional proposals. To its credit, the Senate Intelligence Committee has made this material available for public review on its web site. Unsurprisingly, the proposed language would generally tend […]
The Senate on June 17 passed a bill sponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham that would exempt from the Freedom of Information Act certain photographs documenting the abuse of detainees held in U.S. custody. Senator Graham said that if the bill was not enacted into law, the Obama Administration had assured him it […]
The U.S. Air Force last month issued revised doctrine on “nuclear operations,” incorporating the conclusions of the 2001 Nuclear Posture Review. But it is nearly obsolete upon release, since a new Nuclear Posture Review that will presumably lead to a revised policy is already underway. The new Air Force doctrine may be of interest nevertheless, […]
The rise of “the wall” between intelligence and law enforcement personnel that impeded the sharing of information within the U.S. government prior to September 11, 2001 was critically examined in a detailed monograph (pdf) that was prepared in 2004 for the 9/11 Commission. It is the only one of four staff monographs that had not […]