Only the President of the United States may authorize the use of riot control agents in war, even for defensive purposes, according to official U.S. military doctrine (pdf), although the Secretary of Defense may authorize their use for the protection or recovery of nuclear weapons. So it was anomalous to say the least when employees […]
Noteworthy new publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf): “China’s ‘Soft Power’ in Southeast Asia,” January 4, 2008. “How Crime in the United States Is Measured,” January 3, 2008. “Democracy Promotion: Cornerstone of U.S. Foreign Policy?,” December 26, 2007.
In a report (pdf) issued today, a Presidential advisory board proposed dozens of steps to promote a more rational, uniform and productive process for declassification of historical records. Declassification policy must “take into account the interest of ordinary citizens in having as ‘thorough, accurate, and reliable’ a record of their country’s history as soon as […]
In a recently declassified 1983 directive (pdf), President Reagan ordered steps to improve the security of government communications. “Mobile and fixed communications systems used by key U.S. Government officials in the Nation’s capital and surrounding areas are especially vulnerable to intercept and exploitation by foreign intelligence services,” the President wrote. National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) […]
By Hans M. Kristensen China’s entire fleet of approximately 55 general-purpose submarines conducted a total of six patrols during 2007, slightly better than the two patrols conducted in 2006 and zero in 2005. The 2007 performance matches China’s all-time high of six patrols conducted in 2000, the only two years since 1981 that Chinese submarines […]
[updated to clarify paragraph on Tonkin Gulf Incident] During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese intelligence units sometimes succeeded in penetrating Allied communications systems, and they could monitor Allied message traffic from within. But sometimes they did more than that. On several occasions “the communists were able, by communicating on Allied radio nets, to call in […]
A Russian satellite tracking facility in Siberia called the Altay Optical Laser Research Center is profiled in a newly updated document collection (pdf). A proposed expansion of the facility calls for a high-resolution satellite imaging telescope with an aperture of 3.12 meters and angular resolution of 0.044 arc seconds. “This is diffraction-limited performance, indicating serious […]
Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public online include these (all pdf). “Obstruction of Justice: an Overview of Some of the Federal Statutes that Prohibit Interference with Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Activities,” December 27, 2007. “Obstruction of Congress: a Brief Overview of […]
The lines of authority governing Department of Defense employees at U.S. embassies abroad, including policy and intelligence personnel, are set forth in a new DoD directive. See “Department of Defense Operations at U.S. Embassies” (pdf), DoD Directive 5105.75, December 21, 2007.
The Director of National Intelligence last year affirmed the Administration’s support for ratification of the Law of the Sea Convention. But a minority in Congress expressed concern that the Convention would impede U.S. intelligence collection. “The overwhelming opinion of Law of the Sea experts and legal advisors is that the Law of the Sea Convention […]
Attorneys at the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel violated the executive order on classification and damaged oversight of the secrecy system last year when they refused to process a request from the Information Security Oversight Office for an interpretation of the order, according to a complaint filed yesterday (pdf) by the Federation of American […]
The Director of National Intelligence has issued a new performance management policy (pdf) that will require regular evaluations of the performance of all U.S. intelligence community employees. The new policy will include “the evaluation of IC employees on their results (in other words, ‘what’ they achieve)” as well as “the manner in which they achieved […]