The recent inadvertent disclosure of intelligence spending figures concealed in an official PowerPoint briefing does not reveal the size of the intelligence budget, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said this week (pdf). Close scrutiny of a PowerPoint slide presented by ODNI official Terri Everett (.ppt) at a conference last month turned […]
The House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing last April on the policy of “extraordinary rendition,” referring to the seizure of suspected terrorists and their transfer to a foreign country for detention and interrogation. The record of the hearing, which has just been published (pdf), features the volatile Michael Scheuer, a former CIA official involved […]
Each U.S. military service now has “combat camera” (COMCAM) units that provide a unique visual record of military operations, according to a new manual on COMCAM tactics and procedures (pdf). The photographic and motion imagery produced by military photographers “enhances the commander’s situational awareness and establishes a historical operations record.” If and when such imagery […]
Military doctrine for the planning and execution of U.S. counterdrug operations, including detection, monitoring, disruption and interdiction of illegal drug trafficking, is presented in a new publication from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. See “Joint Counterdrug Operations” (pdf), Joint Publication JP 3-07.4, 13 June 2007. The “capstone” publication for all joint military doctrine was also […]
Noteworthy new reports of the Congressional Research Service on national security, foreign policy and other topics include the following (all pdf). “Venezuela: Political Conditions and U.S. Policy,” updated June 8, 2007. “Navy Role in Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) — Background and Issues for Congress,” updated April 16, 2007. “Turkey’s 2007 Elections: Crisis of Identity […]
On Friday, the Washington Post posted an Associated Press story with a video still of a man in civilian clothes holding what appears to be an advanced SA-18 Igla man-portable air defense system (MANPADS).* To date, the only MANPADS reported to be in the arsenals of the Somali insurgents were the less sophisticated SA-7.** The […]
The structure of Army special operations forces, their capabilities and characteristic mission profiles, and the role of intelligence in supporting them are described in a newly disclosed U.S. Army field manual (pdf). There are nine distinct missions for Army special forces, including: unconventional warfare, direct action, counterproliferation, foreign internal defense, psychological operations, and “special activities,” […]
A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate would require the Director of National Intelligence to prepare an unclassified report on energy security. “American dependence on foreign oil has made our Nation less safe,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in an introductory statement. “Oil revenues have provided income for dangerous rogue states, they have sparked bloody […]
To qualify for conscientious objector status and to be granted military discharge on that basis, an individual must oppose all wars, not just a particular war. However, a conscientious objector may still embrace “spiritual warfare” between good and evil, the Department of Defense explained in a new policy instruction (pdf). “An individual who desires to […]
On Thursday 14 June, Dr. John Harvey, the Director of Policy Planning Staff of the National Nuclear Security Agency, spoke at the New America Foundation to explain the government’s plans for the future of nuclear weapons and the nuclear weapons manufacturing complex. While I disagree with him on virtually every point regarding nuclear weapons, I […]
On 6 June, the House Appropriations Committee eliminated funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead [RRW] requested by the administration. [In an earlier blog entry, I discuss why the Reliable Replacement Warhead is a misnomer.] The report language is quite damning. I believe that the nuclear policy of the United States since the end of the […]
In a report released this week by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), FAS analyst Matt Schroeder provides an unprecedented look at global efforts to counter the terrorist threat from Man-portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS). The report, which appears as an appendix in this year’s edition of the SIPRI Yearbook, goes beyond mainstream media […]