In an unusual investigation of improper secrecy involving unclassified information, an Inspector General report last week found that a Defense Department contractor marked records as “proprietary data,” thereby restricting their dissemination, even though the records did not qualify as proprietary. Kellogg, Brown and Root Services, Inc. (KBR), a component of Halliburton, “routinely marks almost all […]
Confronted for the first time by a congressional request to review the classification of two congressional reports, the new Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) has been stymied by doubts over its own authority to proceed. The PIDB was formally created by statute in 2000 to serve as an advisory body on declassification priorities and policies. […]
Some recent products of the Congressional Research Service, not made directly available to the public, include the following (all pdf). “Pakistan-U.S. Relations,” updated October 26, 2006. “Pakistan: Chronology of Recent Events,” updated October 20, 2006. “Western Sahara: Status of Settlement Efforts,” updated September 29, 2006.
Sally Lilienthal, the founder of the Ploughshares Fund, died on 24 October at age 87. All who knew her agreed that she was a force of nature. Some who have heard about the Ploughshares Fund do not realize how it actually works. It does not have an endowment. It is, itself, a fund-raising organization that […]
Keeping secrets from the press and the public may be frustrating and occasionally illegal. But executive branch secrecy directed at Congress is actually subversive to the extent that it undermines the performance of legislative oversight. Such secrecy was on vivid display at an April 6, 2006 hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on the Department […]
Secrecy in science is the subject of a series of papers in the latest issue of the Duke University Law School journal Law and Contemporary Problems. The authors consider the consequences of secret science and “propose solutions to help balance the costs and benefits of such secrecy.” See a descriptive news release here. The full […]
The Congressional Research Service has produced its latest annual report on U.S. arms sales abroad (pdf). The CRS report, authored by Richard F. Grimmett, has become a standard reference in the field since it is based on closely held official data. “This report is prepared annually to provide Congress with official, unclassified, quantitative data on […]
The Defense Industry is laying the groundwork for yet another attempt to “reform” the US arms export control system. At a briefing held at the Heritage Foundation last week, Mark Esper of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) announced that the AIA is “fine tuning” Phase two of its campaign, which will, according to AIA’s newsletter, […]
In a report to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission last year, Department of Defense officials selectively withheld data showing that demand for certain DoD research laboratory facilities was likely to increase, not decrease, in coming years. The suppression of this information on “future excess capacity” appears to have significantly distorted the decision-making process […]
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has produced a revised edition of its “basic doctrine” which generally “explains what geospatial intelligence–or GEOINT–is, how it has evolved and how it contributes to our nation’s security.” See “Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Basic Doctrine,” Publication 1-0, September 2006 (6.2 MB PDF). The U.S. Air Force watches the skies by means of […]
Some recent reports of the Congressional Research Service which have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “The War Crimes Act: Current Issues,” updated October 2, 2006. “Honduras: Political and Economic Situation and U.S. Relations,” updated October 13, 2006. “Argentina: Political Conditions and U.S. Relations,” updated October 12, 2006. […]
In condemning the North Korean nuclear test and repeating its call for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, one of the Bush administration’s first acts ironically has been to reaffirm the importance of nuclear weapons in the region. “The United States will meet the full range of our deterrent and security commitments,” President Bush told Japan and […]