In an unusually informative new report to Congress, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) advised that he “is making substantial progress in the implementation of the [Intelligence Reform Act of 2004]. The DNI outlined the actions he has taken to integrate the U.S. intelligence bureaucracy and alluded in passing to several new initiatives he has […]
“I do think we overclassify, and I think it’s because we got bad habits,” said Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the nominee to be the new Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. See the full transcript of his May 18 confirmation hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence here (pdf).
Several noteworthy new reports of the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News that are not otherwise readily available in the public domain include the following. “Nuclear Command and Control: Current Programs and Issues” (pdf), May 3, 2006. “Iraqi Civilian, Police, and Security Forces Casualty Estimates” (pdf), May 8, 2006. “Social Unrest in China” (pdf), […]
The military subculture that pursues the development of fabulous, physically impossible weapons concepts at taxpayer expense is the subject of a new book by defense reporter Sharon Weinberger called “Imaginary Weapons.” Weinberger introduces the hafnium bomb, a hypothetical weapon that would supposedly harness the energy released from a nuclear transition within a hafnium isomer. It […]
The government’s acquisition of telephone records of tens of millions of Americans, as reported last week in USA Today, raises a host of thorny legal issues. In a new report (pdf), the Congressional Research Service performed a preliminary assessment of those issues. “The factual information available in the public domain with respect to any such […]
The widespread use of “Sensitive But Unclassified” (SBU) control markings is a major impediment to information sharing inside and outside of the federal government, according to testimony (pdf) last week from Thomas E. McNamara, the program manager for the Information Sharing Environment, who reports to the Director of National Intelligence. “More than 60 different marking […]
As well established as the practice of intelligence analysis may be, researchers continue to ask elementary questions about what analysis is, how it is done, and how it can be done better. “Intelligence analysis involves a complex process of assessing the reliability of information from a wide variety of sources and combining seemingly unrelated events. […]
A “Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence,” published this month, is the third in a new series of reference works on major intelligence services, following volumes on British and U.S. intelligence. “Mossad,” the name of the Israeli foreign intelligence service, is probably the best known Hebrew word after “shalom,” the preface suggests. The new Dictionary, written […]
FAS has posted a new a Congressional Research Service report on Avian Influenza and two Biosecurity reports from the military. We also launched a revised chemical weapons resource website. Congressional Research Service Report entitled “US and International Responses to Global Threat of Avian Flu” from May 1, 2006. It provides an up-to-date account of global […]
The Counterintelligence Office of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would be abolished under new legislation and its functions would be reintegrated into the Department of Energy. The action would mark a striking reversal of one of the key intelligence reforms adopted following a series of security lapses at the Department of Energy national laboratories […]
Some notable new directives from the Department of Defense on defense and intelligence policy include the following. “DoD Intelligence Interrogations, Detainee Debriefings, and Tactical Questioning” (pdf), DoD Directive 3115.09, Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence), 3 November 2005, change 1, 10 May 2006. “DoD Law of War Program” (pdf), DoD Directive 2311.01E, May 9, 2006. “Minimum […]
Some recent reports of interest from the Congressional Research Service include the following. “U.S. and International Responses to the Global Spread of Avian Flu: Issues for Congress” (pdf), updated May 1, 2006. “U.S. Policy Regarding the International Criminal Court” (pdf), updated April 26, 2006. “Russia” (pdf), May 8, 2006.