The U.S. Army today restored public access to the Reimer Digital Library, as it had promised to do in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Federation of American Scientists. At first glance, the site appears to be complete. Or at least as complete as it was before it was closed to […]
Using open sources and a wiki-based approach, students at Mercyhurst University prepared an unofficial “intelligence estimate” on the role of Non-State Actors in Sub-Saharan Africa in the next five years. The exercise in collective, collaborative analysis was coordinated by Mercyhurst Professor Kristan J. Wheaton, who described the background to the activity in his blog.
The distinguished scientist Frederick Seitz who died this week was not only an accomplished physicist, global warming skeptic and tobacco industry-funded medical researcher, as obituaries in the New York Times and Washington Post observed. He was also an early, incisive critic of government secrecy. In 1969-70, Dr. Seitz chaired the Defense Science Board Task Force […]
U.S. intelligence agencies could do more to incorporate commercial satellite capabilities into the U.S. intelligence satellite architecture, an advisory panel told the Directors of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in a study last year. The report (pdf) laid out several scenarios for integrating commercial capabilities into the government’s “National […]
I.F. Stone (1907-1989), the celebrated journalist and iconoclast who was renowned for his independence, is being remembered in the service of the values he embodied. The Nieman Foundation at Harvard University today announced the establishment of an I.F. Stone Award for journalistic independence, integrity and courage. A richly detailed new website devoted to I.F. Stone […]
Noteworthy new or updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI),” updated February 4, 2008. “Botnets, Cybercrime, and Cyberterrorism: Vulnerabilities and Policy Issues for Congress,” updated January 29, 2008. “Executive Order 13,438: Blocking Property of Certain Persons […]
The Government Accountability Office maintains an office at the National Security Agency but it remains unused since no one in Congress has asked GAO to perform any oversight of the Agency, the head of GAO disclosed last week. Despite multi-billion dollar acquisition failures at NSA and the Agency’s controversial, possibly illegal surveillance practices, Congress has […]
A Central Intelligence Agency employee who supported Agency declassification activities was killed in a traffic accident late last year. Perhaps befitting a CIA classification official, his name has not been publicly acknowledged by the Agency. “The CIA expressed its sadness concerning a CIA member’s death,” according to a brief notice in the December 2007 minutes […]
Although there is no foolproof system of preventing unauthorized disclosures of classified information (“leaks”), there are a variety of new technical tools that can deter such disclosures or facilitate identification of those who compromise information security, according a 2002 CIA Task Force Report that was released last year under the Freedom of Information Act. See […]
President Bush issued Executive Order 13462 last week redesignating the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) as the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB), and modifying the Board’s functions and interactions with the executive branch. The Order appeared to diminish the Board’s autonomy and to further reduce its influence, which has been negligible in recent years. […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Issues and Arguments,” February 28, 2008. “Fusion Centers: Issues and Options for Congress,” updated January 18, 2008. “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: A Brief Overview of Selected Issues,” updated February 8, 2008. “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Comparison of […]
Noteworthy new publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons and Missiles: Status and Trends,” updated February 20, 2008. “Water Infrastructure Needs and Investment: Review and Analysis of Key Issues,” updated January 23, 2008. “Russian Energy Policy toward Neighboring Countries,” updated January 17, 2008. “North American Oil […]