A long-rumored but never before seen Chinese underground submarine base is shown for the first time in a new article written by analysts from the Federation of American Scientists and Natural Resources Defense Council. The article, published in Imaging Notes, shows newly acquired satellite images of the submarine base, three air bases, and China’s nuclear […]
More and more Americans of all political stripes are concerned that the Bush Administration has exceeded its legal authority by conducting intelligence surveillance outside of what the law permits. Anxiety over illegal surveillance is heightened by the prospect that an ideologically subservient Congress may not insist on the primacy of law, but will simply defer […]
“Is it your view that a Vice President has the authority to declassify information?” Vice President Cheney was asked yesterday by Fox News’ Brit Hume. “There is an executive order to that effect,” replied the Vice President. This was a simple answer to a straightforward question, but the matter is actually a bit more complicated. […]
The Department of Energy expects to complete the declassification review of 12.7 million pages of its 25 year old historically valuable permanent records by December 31, 2006, the Department advised the Information Security Oversight Office last month. The January 2006 Department of Energy Declassification Plan was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Michael […]
“Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the number of insiders alleging wrongdoing in government – either through whistle-blower channels or directly to the press – has surged, as have reprisals against them.” See “A surge in whistle-blowing … and reprisals” by Gail Russell Chaddock, Christian Science Monitor, February 16, 2006. “If the Bush administration’s interpretation of […]
The ABLE DANGER data mining program was the subject of a House Armed Service Committee hearing yesterday featuring testimony from Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen A. Cambone. “Members must decide for themselves what to believe from the testimony presented today — there will be some inconsistencies,” cautioned Rep. Jim Saxton, who co-chaired the […]
A recently updated report from the Congressional Research Service addresses data mining — what it is, what it can and cannot do, and some of the controversies that have arisen around it. (The CRS report was issued before recent reporting by Newsweek on the “Topsail” data mining program, and by the Christian Science Monitor on […]
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is no longer disclosing the amounts of highly enriched uranium (HEU) that are sought for export to foreign research reactors, prompting complaints that the new non-disclosure policy undermines effective oversight of the traffic in nuclear weapons-grade material. “Under prior longstanding policy the Commission publicly disclosed such information, and this enabled the […]
The Department of Energy recently approved a comprehensive manual on procedures for protecting all manner of classified or controlled information in the Department’s possession. From RD (Restricted Data) and FRD (Formerly Restricted Data) to SAPs (Special Access Programs) and SPECATs (Special Category programs), it’s all in there. (Or almost all. A complete roster of all […]
Equipped with a one million dollar budget for the current fiscal year, the Public Interest Declassification Board will hold its first meeting on Saturday, February 25. The Board, which serves a purely advisory function and does not have independent declassification authority, is chaired by L. Britt Snider, the former CIA Inspector General, and supported by […]
The challenges posed by so-called “sensitive but unclassified” information, and Administration efforts to bring order to this problematic policy area, were explored in “Government withholds ‘sensitive-but-unclassified’ information” by Lance Gay, Scripps Howard News Service, February 2, 2006. The consequences of the government’s unprecedented use of the Espionage Act to prosecute non-governmental employees for mishandling classified […]
The House Government Reform Committee held an extraordinary hearing yesterday on the vulnerabilities of national security whistleblowers who challenge what they see as agency misconduct. “Breaking bureaucratic ranks to speak unpleasant and unwelcome truths takes courage and risks invoking the wrath of those with the power and motive to shoot the messenger,” said Rep. Christopher […]