In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the FAS, the Defense Department has released its contribution to the Fiscal Year 2007 edition of the Annual Military Assistance Report required by Section 655 of the Foreign Assistance Act. The “Section 655” report, as it is known, contains information on five major security […]
Updated below By resisting congressional requests for documents, the Bush Administration has effectively diminished Congress’s oversight power, as the review of government policy is often replaced by lengthy contests over access to records. In the final six months of the current Administration, for example, the Senate Judiciary Committee still finds itself unable to gain access […]
The Bush Administration’s use of presidential signing statements to indicate disapproval of enacted legislation has generated confusion and has undermined congressional oversight of national defense policy, the House Armed Services Committee said in a report this week (pdf). One problem is that the Bush White House often fails to articulate the basis of its objections […]
The Government of Iraq yesterday signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits all nuclear explosive testing. “We welcome the decision by Iraq to sign the CTBT,” Tibor Toth, the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said in a statement. “This is particularly significant given the multitude of […]
A newly disclosed National Security Presidential Directive on space exploration (pdf) illustrates the broad topical scope of such directives, as well as their practical limitations. The Bush Administration directive, issued in 2004, ambitiously called for “a sustained and affordable human and robotic program to explore the solar system and beyond” and even a “human presence […]
Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Russia-Georgia Conflict in South Ossetia: Context and Implications for U.S. Interests,” August 13, 2008. “Stability in Russia’s Chechnya and Other Regions of the North Caucasus: Recent Developments,” August 12, 2008. […]
A new documentary collection (pdf) provides a glimpse of the Aerospace Data Facility at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, which is an operational hub for intelligence support to the U.S. military. “The Aerospace Data Facility is a DoD information processing, analysis, relay, and test facility supporting the U.S. Government and its allies,” according […]
A new report from the Senate Judiciary Committee examines the use of the state secrets privilege by the executive branch and describes the intent of new legislation to strengthen judicial review of its use in civil litigation. The 53 page report summarizes the latest legal scholarship on the state secrets privilege, as well as the […]
The Director of National Intelligence last week issued a new directive (pdf) defining the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the U.S. intelligence community (IC). The CIO will be responsible for “developing, maintaining, and facilitating the implementation of a sound and integrated information technology architecture for the IC” and will also “oversee IC […]
With the establishment of its Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center (DCHC) on August 3, the Defense Intelligence Agency now has new authority to engage in offensive counterintelligence operations that seek to thwart foreign intelligence activities. If defensive counterintelligence is checkers, then offensive counterintelligence is chess. Unlike defensive counterintelligence, offensive counterintelligence is intended to “make […]
When a military judge ruled last month that Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, could be tried for war crimes, the first footnote in his July 14 opinion (pdf) was to a Congressional Research Service report. (Hamdan was convicted yesterday for material support of terrorism.) But Military Judge Keith J. Allred, […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “The U.S. Secret Service: An Examination and Analysis of Its Evolving Missions,” July 31, 2008. “Terrorism and Security Issues Facing the Water Infrastructure Sector,” updated July 28, 2008. “FY2009 National Defense Authorization […]