Judge Reggie B. Walton was appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court by the Chief Justice of the United States effective May 19, Secrecy News has learned. The FIS Court, established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, is composed of eleven District Court judges who are responsible for authorizing government requests for electronic […]
Historians and other researchers may continue to access archival records at Los Alamos National Laboratory, officials said last week. But they also affirmed strict new limits on such access. A story in Secrecy News (May 3) describing new restrictions on researchers was based on a misunderstanding by Lab personnel, Department of Energy and Lab officials […]
The FAS has acquired, via a Freedom of Information Act request, additional information about a cache of “22 surface-to-air missiles” discovered by Coalition Forces north of Baghdad on 4 January 2006. According to the responsive document – a redacted entry from a database maintained by Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) – the missiles were SA-13 “Gopher” surface-to-air […]
An unclassified catalog of U.S. Air Force aircraft, weapons, and other systems — from the A-10 Thunderbolt to the Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser — is presented in a new Air Force publication. See The Air Force Handbook 2007 (326 pages, 17 MB PDF file).
Some noteworthy new (or newly acquired) reports of the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations,” May 17, 2007. “U.S.-Funded Assistance Programs in China,” May 18, 2007. “North Korean Provocative Actions, 1950-2007,” updated April 20, 2007. “North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?,” updated April 6, 2007. “The North […]
The Department of Defense did a poor job of investigating and addressing reports of detainee abuse committed in Iraq by U.S. military personnel, according to a newly declassified report (pdf) of the DoD Inspector General. “Allegations of detainee abuse were not consistently reported, investigated, or managed in an effective, systematic, and timely manner,” the IG […]
According to the Director of National Intelligence, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978, the law that regulates domestic intelligence surveillance, desperately needs to be updated to accommodate the latest technologies. “Technology and threats have changed, but the law remains essentially the same,” wrote DNI Mike McConnell in a Washington Post op-ed on May […]
Some recently updated reports of the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Congressional Oversight Manual,” updated May 1, 2007. “China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues,” updated May 9, 2007. “Sea-Based Ballistic Missile Defense — Background and Issues […]
Updated Below More than five years after it was completed, the Department of Energy last year finally released a landmark historical account of U.S. production of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from 1945 to 1996. Conceived a decade ago as a bold initiative to set a new standard for international transparency and government accountability, the HEU […]
U.S. Government plans to establish a new military command to be known as AFRICOM with responsibility for U.S. military forces in Africa are described in a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. “As defined by the Department of Defense, AFRICOM’s mission will be to promote U.S. strategic objectives by working with African states […]
Delay and dysfunction in the personnel security clearance system are an old story, and the Government Accountability Office has been describing and updating that story for at least two decades, including new congressional testimony today (pdf) focusing on Department of Defense (DOD) contractors. “DOD is responsible for about 2.5 million security clearances issued to servicemembers, […]
New guidance on declassification marking (pdf) of documents and materials originating in Department of Defense special access programs was issued by the new Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence) James R. Clapper, Jr. on April 26. A Joint Chiefs of Staff publication presents doctrine on “barrier, obstacle, and mine warfare.” The document, newly updated, “greatly expands […]