Update (February 22, 2007): DTRA announces that Divine Strake has been canceled. The controversial Divine Strake explosion has been delayed again, this time “at least several months into calendar year 2007,” according to a statement distributed in Congress by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. “We have stood down the experiment site and the workforce that […]
Today the Federation of American Scientists launched ReallyReady.org, a comprehensive emergency preparedness website that addresses the inaccuracies and incomplete information on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) preparedness site, Ready.gov. ReallyReady was developed in two months by FAS intern Emily Hesaltine for the price of a domain name. In comparison, it took millions of dollars […]
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed overwhelming, 359 to 68, a bill that sets out procedures for nuclear trade with India (the link includes the House floor debate and the text of the bill, about a third of way down). It is an entirely different bill than that proposed by the White House. The […]
Some intriguing new details of U.S. intelligence policy were disclosed in two reports on the implementation of the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 that were issued yesterday by the House Intelligence Committee and by the Director of National Intelligence. Beyond broad conclusions on the status of intelligence reform, each report voiced numerous passing observations of […]
Reciprocity in security clearances — meaning the acceptance by one agency of a security clearance granted by another agency, and vice versa — has been an elusive security policy goal for well over a decade. But lately it has become the subject of increased attention. “The Director [of National Intelligence] has done little to ensure […]
The Freedom of Information Act “continues to be a valuable tool for citizens to obtain information about the operation and decisions of the federal government,” the Government Accountability Office reported at a July 26 House hearing. “Since 2002, agencies have received increasing numbers of requests and have also continued to increase the number of requests […]
The Department of Defense has published a new manual (pdf) on the conduct of “technical intelligence” operations, or TECHINT. Technical intelligence here refers to the collection, analysis and exploitation of captured enemy materiel and documentation. TECHINT serves to maintain U.S. technological advantage on the battlefield and helps to counter adversary weapons systems and operations. TECHINT […]
The French magazine Défense Nationale asked me to submit an article about the new U.S. National Military Strategy published by the Bush administration in March 2006 and how it relates to the so-called preemption doctrine announced by the administration in 2002. The article is included in the July 2006 issue which focuses on the nuclear […]
The Pentagon is considering acquiring up to four types of Reliable Replacement Warheads (RRW), twice as many as reported so far, according to an overview discovered by the Federation of the American Scientists on a Pentagon web site. The Department of Energy told Congress in April that Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National […]
In a rare victory for public access to intelligence agency records, a federal court yesterday ordered (pdf) the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to process its FY 2006 budget request for release under the Freedom of Information Act. Judge Reggie B. Walton of the D.C. District Court granted a motion filed by the Federation of American […]
New reports from the Congressional Research Service, not readily available to the public, include these. “Intelligence Issues for Congress” (pdf), July 12, 2006. “Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah: The Current Conflict” (pdf), July 21, 2006.
At Thursday’s hearing on the sale of 36 F-16 aircraft to Pakistan, Assistant Secretary of State John Hillen endured tongue-lashings from several members of the House International Relations Committee (HIRC), who objected to the manner in which his bureau has managed the $5.1 billion arms package. Of particular concern was the administration’s unilateral decision to […]