“Air Force intelligence components do not engage in experimentation involving human subjects for intelligence purposes,” a new Air Force Instruction (pdf) states categorically. Except for the exceptions. “Any exception would require approval by the Secretary or Under Secretary of the Air Force and would be undertaken only with the informed consent of the subject and […]
“During calendar year 2006, the Government made 2,181 applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for authority to conduct electronic surveillance and physical search for foreign intelligence purposes,” according to the latest Justice Department report to Congress on implementation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (pdf). The court approved 2,176 applications, making substantive modifications to […]
Click on figure to open full fact sheet. For an updated stockpile estimate, go here. The Bush administration announced in 2004 that it had decided to cut the nuclear weapons stockpile “nearly in half” by 2012, but has refused to disclose the actual numbers. Yet a fact sheet published by the Federation of American Scientists […]
With one remarkable exception noted below, no one believes that congressional oversight of intelligence has served the nation well in recent years or that it has been adequate to the momentous demands of the time. While the country has been roiled by debates over detention and interrogation policies, warrantless domestic intelligence surveillance, extraordinary rendition, the […]
Across the globe from Iraq and Afghanistan to Africa to Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, U.S. Special Operations Forces are deployed to conduct unconventional warfare, psychological operations, and other activities in support of U.S. military and foreign policy objectives. In Fiscal Year 2007, U.S. Special Operations Command has total authorized manpower of 47,911 persons, according […]
Earlier this month, the National Security Agency released several brief historical essays that had been prepared for the Agency’s Cryptologic Almanac on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 2002. The essays were declassified on April 10 in response to a Mandatory Declassification Review request from Michael Ravnitzky. They include (all pdf): “Quis Custodiet Ipsos […]
On January 26, 2007, the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council approved the establishment of a National Exercise Program (NEP) that would conduct management exercises to help senior government officials prepare for national crises from terrorism to natural disasters. In a briefing last month (pdf), the Department of Homeland Security presented a proposed Five […]
The U.S. Army yesterday issued a new Field Manual on “Sensitive Site Operations” (FM 3-90.15, 25 April 2007). The document itself is restricted and the Army would not immediately provide a copy to Secrecy News. But a few blanks can nevertheless be filled in. “A sensitive site is a designated, geographically limited area with special […]
Wal-Mart, the massive retail chain, has established its own “intelligence” unit to conduct threat assessments, and to perform intelligence collection and analysis. And it has been recruiting senior personnel from U.S. intelligence agencies to staff its operation. “I’ve had a number of people contact me who have purely law enforcement / security investigative backgrounds,” wrote […]
Having spent months assessing the role of contractors in U.S. intelligence agencies, U.S. intelligence officials say they cannot disclose how many contractors there are, because that’s classified. See “Government Keeps a Secret After Studying Spy Agencies” by Scott Shane, New York Times, April 26. Veteran female intelligence officers charge that the Central Intelligence Agency deals […]
With congressional concurrence, the Congressional Research Service refuses to make its products directly available to the public. Some noteworthy new CRS reports obtained by Secrecy News include the following (all pdf). “Presidential Advisers’ Testimony Before Congressional Committees: An Overview,” updated April 10, 2007. “Information Operations, Electronic Warfare, and Cyberwar: Capabilities and Related Policy Issues,” updated […]
Presidential secrecy is best understood not as an expression of executive strength but as a sign of weakness and insecurity, according to a provocative new book on the subject. “When the president lacks diplomatic or interpersonal skill, he is likely to compensate by shielding his activities — even shielding his very self — from the […]