Actual or purported national security secrets are routinely published not only by mainstream news organizations and best-selling authors but also by journals of opinion on the political left and right and the occasional blog. The ability to freely traverse the boundaries of classified government information, with only rare and isolated limitations, is practically a defining […]
The use of stealth techniques and technologies to reduce the signatures of intelligence or military satellites a subject that seems to be properly classified, for the most part. But it has also left discernable traces in the public domain. Those traces were assembled by Allen Thomson in his Stealth Satellite Sourcebook (pdf), which has been […]
A newly enacted law requires the creation of a publicly searchable online database of government grants and contracts. The implications of that law and the challenges ahead were explored by the Congressional Research Service in a new report. See “The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act: Background, Overview, and Implementation Issues” (pdf), October 6, 2006. […]
The steady stream of new military doctrinal and other publications includes several items which will be of interest and importance to some Secrecy News readers. “Counterland Operations” (pdf), Air Force Doctrine Document 2-1.3, 11 September 2006, refers to the use of U.S. air and space assets against enemy land-based forces. Security for U.S. ships crossing […]
“If you would converse with me,” Voltaire is supposed to have said, “define your terms!” Several new military dictionaries make it easier to define elusive or obscure military terms. The Department of Defense has updated (for the second time this year) its massive “Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms,” Joint Publication 1-02, through 17 September […]
Updated Below The Bush Administration has issued a new National Space Policy that stresses unilateral American freedom of action in space. The new policy is intended to “enable unhindered U.S. operations in and through space to defend our interests there.” The policy affirms “the use of outer space by all nations for peaceful purposes, and […]
With the failure to stop and reverse the spread of nuclear weapons, military planners do not have the luxury of ignoring the possibility that such weapons might be used against military or civilian targets, abroad or at home. A new Department of Defense doctrinal publication (pdf) defines policies and procedures for managing “the consequences from […]
Some recent reports of the Congressional Research Service, not readily available to the public, include the following (all pdf). “Border Security: Barriers Along the U.S. International Border,” September 21, 2006. “The European Union’s Energy Security Challenges,” September 11, 2006. “Iraqi Civilian, Police, and Security Forces Casualty Estimates,” updated September 14, 2006.
Last week President Bush signed the Fiscal Year 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which includes $40 million for the Department of Homeland Security’s Counter-MANPADS Program – a multi-year initiative launched in 2003 to evaluate the feasibility of installing anti-missile systems on commercial airliners. The appropriation is nearly 10 times higher than the amount requested by […]
Five years after September 11, the government’s capacity to share intelligence and threat information with state and local officials (not to mention the public) remains sub-optimal, some of those officials complain. “Much of the needed intelligence information is locked away from those who need it in the field or on the scene because of outdated […]
A bill introduced by Congressional Democrats would empower the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to perform financial audits and other oversight of U.S. intelligence agencies, a function that those agencies have long resisted. “Since 9/11, effective [intelligence] oversight is needed now more than ever,” said Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) in a September 28 floor statement. “However, […]
Congress adopted legislation that limits the ability of the Department of Homeland Security to withhold so-called “sensitive security information” (SSI), which is a category of restricted information related to transportation security. The 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Act would, among other things, require “the release of certain SSI information that is three years old unless the […]