The Congressional Research Service has issued two new reports on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as Congress prepares to consider amendments to the Act (both pdf). “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: A Brief Overview of Selected Issues,” December 7, 2007. “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Comparison of House-Passed H.R. 3773, S. 2248 as Reported By […]
[NOTE: The Federation of American Scientists is delighted to have a Scoville Fellow this year, Ms. Katarzyna (Kasia) Bzdak. Kasia comes to FAS from Columbia University has been following the Polish language press since before the recent national elections there and submitted this report on the political status of the US missile defense deployment.] Although […]
The ability of Congress to provide an effective check on Bush Administration intelligence policy has been increasingly called into question by each succeeding departure from the norms of accepted intelligence conduct, including most recently the destruction of CIA interrogation videos. Even the Intelligence Committee leadership has expressed a disconcerting degree of self-doubt and inadequacy. “For […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Open Source Intelligence (OSINT): Issues for Congress,” December 5, 2007. “Medal of Honor Recipients: 1979-2007,” updated November 13, 2007. “Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Appropriations,” updated August 20, 2007. “Greece Update,” updated October 16, 2007. “The Republic of the Philippines: Background and U.S. […]
When the Central Intelligence Agency released several declassified histories of its clandestine services program this week, it seemed like a solid indication of progress towards opening up the historical record of U.S. intelligence. But upon closer inspection of the newly released documents, the opposite appears to be closer to the truth. It turns out that […]
The Central Intelligence Agency has recently declassified and released several additional volumes of its coveted Clandestine Services History series. These are official Agency histories prepared for internal use regarding significant episodes in the Agency’s cold war record. Scholarly access to such documents has been sporadic and subject to strict controls. The following clandestine service history […]
Updated below Filmmaker Oliver Stone is expected to visit Tehran in the near future to negotiate arrangements for a film about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian press reported last week. “We have announced that he has asked for permission to travel to Iran for direct negotiations and to plan the project,” one official told […]
The complexities of U.S. defense contracting in Iraq and some of the resulting irregularities are reviewed in a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. “Given the size and scope of the contracts in Iraq, and the challenge of managing billions of DOD-appropriated dollars, many have suggested it appropriate to inquire whether these types […]
In an unusual policy pirouette, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence yesterday published the key judgments (pdf) of a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s nuclear weapons program little more than a month after the DNI issued guidance declaring that “It is the policy of the Director of National Intelligence that KJs [key judgments] […]
The National Research Council (NRC) just released a report that finds that “a National Institutes of Health draft assessment of the risks associated with a proposed biocontainment laboratory at Boston University is “not sound and credible.”” The NRC report came in response to a request by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for technical input into the […]
According to a recent report from AP, Slovak police arrested people trying to sell highly enriched uranium to undercover agents. According to the police, the material, said to be about a kilogram of uranium, could be used for a dirty bomb. This is a replay of the Padilla case, the so-called “Dirty Bomber,” who was […]
The Central Intelligence Agency anticipates declining productivity in its declassification program, according to a newly disclosed declassification plan (pdf). Between 1995 and 2006, CIA reviewed nearly 97 million pages of 25 year old documents and released 30 million pages, the Agency reported. But that level of activity is unlikely to be sustained. “Resource constraints limit […]