Although summary accounts of several National Intelligence Estimates have recently been declassified and published, this should not become standard practice, the Director of National Intelligence declared last week. “It is the policy of the Director of National Intelligence that KJs [the Key Judgments from National Intelligence Estimates] should not be declassified,” DNI J. Michael McConnell […]
Noteworthy new publications that we haven’t had a chance to read closely yet include (all pdf): “National Strategy for Information Sharing: Successes and Challenges in Improving Terrorism-Related Information Sharing,” National Security Council, October 2007. “Army International Security Cooperation Policy,” Army Regulation AR 11-31, 24 October 2007. “A.Q. Khan’s Nuclear Wal-Mart: Out of Business or Under […]
“All of us were born kicking and fighting to live, but we have become used to the soft life…. What happens when we are faced with a survival situation with its stresses, inconveniences, and discomforts?” That question is posed in a 2002 U.S. Army Field Manual (large pdf) on survival strategies and techniques in emergency […]
As required by law, the Director of National Intelligence today disclosed (pdf) that the budget for the National Intelligence Program in Fiscal Year 2007 was $43.5 billion. The disclosure was strongly resisted by the intelligence bureaucracy, and for that very reason it may have significant repercussions for national security classification policy. Although the aggregate intelligence […]
This afternoon, a committee of the National Research Council, a research arm of the National Academy of Science, issued a report that is extremely critical of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GNEP, an administration plan to restart separating plutonium from used commercial nuclear reactor fuel, something the United States has not done for three […]
A recent article, “Achieving Nuclear Balance”, in Nonproliferation Review, by Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, Chairwoman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, includes a sobering summary of the dangerous nuclear policies of the Bush administration, including its desire for new nuclear weapons and an expansion of the roles of nuclear weapons. Congresswoman […]
Last week, Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass) visited FAS to talk about the India-US deal. Markey, who strongly supports closer ties with India, opposes the nuclear deal because it undermines the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). A transcript and video of his comments are on the FAS website. What I found most interesting about his talk was a […]
“The United States Intelligence Community (IC) has an obligation to learn from its history and its performance and to document its activities,” Director of National Intelligence J. Michael McConnell wrote in a newly disclosed Intelligence Community Directive. Towards that end, “each IC agency/organization shall establish and maintain a professional historical capability… to document, analyze and […]
Poorly considered security restrictions on unclassified research and limits on foreign scientists’ access to U.S. laboratories could erode U.S. scientific and engineering prowess, a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences concluded. “The success of U.S. science and engineering has been built on a system of information sharing and open communication, not only among […]
To submit an international arms control agreement to the U.S. Senate for ratification has not always been the Bush Administration’s first instinct. But last month the White House asked the Senate to ratify a 2005 Amendment to the 1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. “This Amendment is important in the campaign against […]
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the FAS, the Department of Homeland Security has released a December 2005 report to Congress on the status of DHS’s efforts to counter the threat from man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) to commercial airliners. The report, which Congress required as part of the Intelligence […]
Notable new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made widely available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions,” updated October 11, 2007. “U.S.-China Counterterrorism Cooperation: Issues for U.S. Policy,” updated October 10, 2007. “Mexico’s Drug Cartels,” October 16, 2007. “Burma-U.S. Relations,” updated […]