Almost every day brings forceful reminders of the transience of all human endeavors, challenging us to consider our own mortality and to act with compassion, if we can. Paul Leventhal, a tireless advocate for the cause of nuclear non-proliferation, died this week of cancer. As president of the public interest Nuclear Control Institute, he was […]
In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) attributes the looting of Iraq’s arms depots to the “ovewhelming size and number” of these depots and “prewar planning priorities and certain assumptions that proved to be invalid.” The report finds that the US military “did not adequately secure these [conventional munitions storage] sites during and […]
Contractors accompanying U.S. military forces in Iraq or elsewhere who commit crimes may be beyond the reach of law enforcement, a recent Army publication warns (pdf), because the Defense Department has not yet updated its regulations to conform to a Congressional mandate, resulting in a “gap” in legal jurisdiction. “In November 2006, Congress expanded UCMJ […]
Declassified transcripts of dozens of closed hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1967 have now been published. The hearings feature testimony by Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms and other Johnson Administration officials on Soviet nuclear weapons policy, anti-ballistic missiles, Vietnam, the Middle East, and other topics of contemporary concern. See “Executive Sessions […]
“The humanitarian crisis many feared would take place in March 2003 as a result of the war in Iraq appears to be unfolding,” says a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. “It is estimated that in total (including those displaced prior to the war) there may be two million Iraqi refugees who have […]
The Central Intelligence Agency has released a newly declassified version of its closely-held internal history of the Berlin Tunnel Operation (pdf), which was an effort in the mid-1950s to tap into Soviet communications through a tunnel constructed in the Soviet sector of Berlin. The operation was famously compromised by a Soviet mole in British intelligence […]
A former polygrapher for the Central Intelligence Agency has filed a lawsuit (pdf) alleging that the Agency unlawfully retaliated against him for publishing a critical account of CIA polygraph programs. John Sullivan, author of the forthcoming book “Gatekeeper: Memoirs of a CIA Polygraph Examiner,” argued that his security clearance was improperly revoked in the course […]
At the request of Sen. Carl Levin, the Department of Defense has declassified most of its February 2007 Inspector General report (large pdf) on the pre-Iraq war activities of the DoD Office of Special Plans, led by Douglas Feith. “It is important for the public to see why the Pentagon’s Inspector General concluded that Secretary […]
“Congressional Access to Classified National Security Information” is the subject of a report prepared by Kate Martin of the Center for National Security Studies on the occasion of a March 30 forum on the subject sponsored by OpenTheGovernment.org and the Center for American Progress. Government attorneys defended (pdf) their contention that some evidence to be […]
An eagerly awaited book on the history of the Chinese nuclear weapons program will not be published due to objections from the Central Intelligence Agency, which said it contains classified information. A federal court last week ruled (pdf) that the CIA was within its rights to block disclosure of 23 sections of a manuscript by […]
A study (pdf) performed recently for the U.S. Department of Agriculture documented the search for geospatial information — satellite imagery, maps, aerial photography and other records — on Haiti. In so doing, the authors provided a template and a guide to accessing the wealth of worldwide geospatial data that is now in the public domain. […]
The Dual Axis Radiographic Hydro-Test facility (DARHT) at Los Alamos Laboratory was the subject of a technical assessment from the mysterious JASON defense science advisory panel. A copy of the October 2006 study, simply entitled “DAHRT,” is here (pdf). It was first reported on April 1 in the Albuquerque Journal by John Fleck, who also […]