Prosecutors will be permitted to secretly present certain recorded surveillance data to a jury in the forthcoming trial of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) who are accused of unauthorized receipt and disclosure of classified information, a federal judge ruled (pdf) last week. Although the closely watched AIPAC case will […]
A recently revised Defense Department regulation (pdf) provides new detail on the preparation of the annual intelligence budget request, and on the documentation needed to support it. The U.S. intelligence budget is comprised of two spending “aggregations”: the National Intelligence Program (NIP) and the Military Intelligence Program (MIP). (This configuration replaced the former National Foreign […]
Notable new reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Renditions: Constraints Imposed by Laws on Torture,” updated October 12, 2007. “Director of National Intelligence Statutory Authorities: Status and Proposals,” November 2, 2007. “Burma and Transnational Crime,” October 25, 2007. “The Army’s Future Combat System (FCS): Background and Issues for Congress,” updated […]
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The U.S. nuclear war plan that entered into effect in March 2003 included new executable strike options against regional states seeking weapons of mass destruction. (click on image to download PDF-version) By Hans M. Kristensen The 2001 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and White House guidance issued in response to the terrorist attacks against the United […]
A federal court authorized issuance of subpoenas to more than a dozen current and former government officials to testify in the case of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who are accused of unauthorized receipt, transmission and disclosure of classified information. According to the defense, the testimony of the subpoenaed officials […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Nuclear Weapons in U.S. National Security Policy: Past, Present, and Prospects,” October 29, 2007. “National Strategy for Combating Terrorism: Background and Issues for Congress,” November 1, 2007. “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities — Background and Issues for Congress,” updated […]
Broad classification restrictions on the disclosure of historical intelligence information are making it difficult or impossible to accurately represent the record of U.S. foreign policy, an official advisory committee warned in a report (pdf) to the Secretary of State last summer. By law, the Department of State is obliged to publish “a thorough, accurate and […]
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 […]