A comprehensive introduction to military operational law is presented in a new edition of the Operational Law Handbook (pdf) published by the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General. The Handbook, intended for the use of judge advocates, describes tactics and techniques for the practice of operational law. Along the way, it provides a useful survey of […]
A very disturbing report in yesterday’s Guardian details how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sealed records for two companies that manufacture and store highly enriched uranium in 2004. This was after some “protected information” regarding the Navy’s nuclear program were found on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s website. I am not sure what “protected information” is, but […]
A relatively new technology for enriching uranium known as “Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation” or SILEX is described in some fresh detail in a recent Los Alamos paper (pdf). SILEX, developed in 1992 by Australian scientists, is the rarest of birds in U.S. classification policy: It is privately generated information that is nevertheless classified […]
China and the Uniked Kingdom have started a new arms race over who has the smallest nuclear weapons arsenal. By Hans M. Kristensen Mine is smaller! No, mine is smaller!! China and the United Kingdom have started a new type of nuclear arms race for the honor to have the smallest number of nuclear weapons. […]
In compliance with a requirement imposed by Congress, the Central Intelligence Agency declassified and released the executive summary of a CIA Inspector General report (pdf) that was generally critical of CIA performance prior to September 11, 2001. From a secrecy policy point of view, the most interesting thing about the disclosure is that it was […]
In what might be seen as a response to last year’s popular Army Field Manual 3-24 on Counterinsurgency (pdf), the U.S. Air Force has issued a new publication on “Irregular Warfare” (pdf). “Irregular warfare (IW) is defined as a violent struggle among state and nonstate actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations. IW […]
Updated below Although Congress is out of session, the news that classified intelligence satellites may increasingly be used for domestic surveillance applications did not go unnoticed by congressional overseers. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), chair of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, sent a letter (pdf) to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff seeking answers to a […]
In an unusual move that may signal a new, more discriminating judicial view of the state secrets privilege, a federal appeals court has reinstated (pdf) a lawsuit which a lower court had dismissed after the government invoked the state secrets privilege. The lawsuit was originally filed in 1994 by former Drug Enforcement Administration official Richard […]
Recent reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Capital Punishment Overview: 2006-2007 Term of the Supreme Court,” July 20, 2007. “Globalization, Worker Insecurity, and Policy Approaches,” updated July 24, 2007. “Executive Branch Reorganization and Management Initiatives: A Brief Overview,” updated July […]
Spy satellites and other classified intelligence technologies are poised to play a greater role in domestic homeland security and law enforcement missions, challenging long-standing legal and policy barriers against their domestic use. The Wall Street Journal reported today that the Director of National Intelligence recently authorized access to intelligence satellite products by officials of the […]
The Missile Defense Agency has published a glossy brochure setting forth its vision of a missile defense system based in Europe. See “Proposed U.S. Missile Defense Assets in Europe” (pdf), Missile Defense Agency, June 15, 2007. Various perspectives on the missile defense program were presented in a recently updated report of the Congressional Research Service, […]
Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General released a stinging new report that details serious issues facing the National Bio-Surveillance Integration System (NBIS). NBIS was launched in 2004 with the goal of integrating all of the biosurveillance programs across the US into a single system to enhance our capability to detect agents and disease trends and […]