The Congressional Research Service does not make its reports directly available to the public. Recent CRS reports obtained by Secrecy News include the following (all in pdf). “Detection of Explosives on Airline Passengers: Recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and Related Issues,” updated August 9, 2006. “Defense: FY2007 Authorization and Appropriations,” updated August 7, 2006. “Defense […]
The annual financial costs attributable to the national security classification system reached a record high of $9.2 billion in 2005 according to a new report (pdf) from the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO). Classification-related costs include not merely the direct costs of classifying information, which are modest, but also the derivative costs of the personnel […]
U.S. Army policy for dealing with military personnel who assert a conscientious objection to military combat is set forth in a newly updated Army regulation (pdf). Criteria for likely approval or rejection of a conscientious objection claim are described. Claims that are insincere or “based on objection to a certain war” will “not be favorably […]
The first in a new series of Congressional Research Service reports on homeland security intelligence presents a broad introduction to the subject. “The proliferation of intelligence and information fusion centers across the country indicate that state and local leaders believe there is value to centralizing intelligence gathering and analysis in a manner that assists them […]
A new Congressional Research Service report (pdf) proposes an analytical framework for assessing the comparative strengths of U.S. conventional and nuclear forces in the context of a hypothetical future conflict with China. The authors consider “the possible role that U.S. nuclear and conventional forces might play in four stages of potential conflicts: deterrence, prior to […]
In the August 9th edition of Jane’s Defense Weekly, Deputy Editor Robin Hughes reveals alleged plans by Iran to supply Hezbollah with “a steady supply of weapons systems,” including Chinese QW-1 and its own Mithaq (or Misagh) man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). The article cites unnamed western diplomats, who also claim that Iran agreed to […]
In a favorable decision for two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who are charged with conspiracy to unlawfully gather national defense information, a federal court ruled (pdf) late last week that they did not solicit actual classified documents and that the government cannot now claim that they did. The latest decision […]
A July 31 Department of Homeland Security report to Congress on the status of defenses against shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles was removed from the Federation of American Scientists web site after DHS objected (pdf) to its publication. DHS urged that the unclassified report, marked “For Official Use Only,” be taken offline and, upon consideration, we agreed […]
Did U.S. intelligence analysts actually “replicate” the mobile biological weapons laboratories that were supposedly deployed by Saddam Hussein, as stated in the Silberman-Robb Commission report? Arms control expert Milton Leitenberg of the University of Maryland posed this question earlier this year. Based on his own investigations, he has now concluded that there was no such […]
“I have been reading [former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon’s biography for a while now, and I am going to read the book again.” So said Hizbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in an autobiographical note published last week in a Tehran magazine. In a discussion of his political objectives, he seemed to exclude the possibility of […]
The U.S. Army has updated its regulations governing unmanned aircraft system operations. See “Unmanned Aircraft System Flight Regulations” (pdf), U.S. Army Regulation 95-23, 7 August 2006.
The administration has submitted a $250M request to Congress to start work on a plutonium recycling program as part of its Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GNEP, proposal. Trying to figure out exactly what the proposal is has been like trying to nail Jell-o to the wall. Whatever criticism is raised, DOE responds that, no, […]