In an extraordinarily brief statement, the Director of the National Intelligence Office announced that the United States has confirmed that North Korea’s large explosion last week was nuclear. How do they know and why did it take them so long to confirm?
Under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, the government may impose a secrecy order on patent applications submitted to the Patent Office whenever the disclosure of the inventions described in such applications “might be detrimental to the national security.” At the end of Fiscal Year 2006, there were 4,942 secrecy orders in effect, a slight […]
Executive Branch agencies have implemented President Bush’s December 2005 executive order 13392 on improving the processing of Freedom of Information Act requests “in a vigorous manner fully commensurate with the importance of this unprecedented Presidential initiative,” according to an enthusiastic new report to the President (pdf) from the Attorney General. The President’s order “has had […]
Last Sunday, North Korea apparently tested a nuclear explosive. The “apparently” is needed because the explosion was so small—by nuclear standards—that some have speculated that it may have been a large conventional explosion. What is the technical significance of the test, what does it mean, and what should we do now? There is no question […]
Actual or purported national security secrets are routinely published not only by mainstream news organizations and best-selling authors but also by journals of opinion on the political left and right and the occasional blog. The ability to freely traverse the boundaries of classified government information, with only rare and isolated limitations, is practically a defining […]
The use of stealth techniques and technologies to reduce the signatures of intelligence or military satellites a subject that seems to be properly classified, for the most part. But it has also left discernable traces in the public domain. Those traces were assembled by Allen Thomson in his Stealth Satellite Sourcebook (pdf), which has been […]
A newly enacted law requires the creation of a publicly searchable online database of government grants and contracts. The implications of that law and the challenges ahead were explored by the Congressional Research Service in a new report. See “The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act: Background, Overview, and Implementation Issues” (pdf), October 6, 2006. […]
The steady stream of new military doctrinal and other publications includes several items which will be of interest and importance to some Secrecy News readers. “Counterland Operations” (pdf), Air Force Doctrine Document 2-1.3, 11 September 2006, refers to the use of U.S. air and space assets against enemy land-based forces. Security for U.S. ships crossing […]
“If you would converse with me,” Voltaire is supposed to have said, “define your terms!” Several new military dictionaries make it easier to define elusive or obscure military terms. The Department of Defense has updated (for the second time this year) its massive “Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms,” Joint Publication 1-02, through 17 September […]
Updated Below The Bush Administration has issued a new National Space Policy that stresses unilateral American freedom of action in space. The new policy is intended to “enable unhindered U.S. operations in and through space to defend our interests there.” The policy affirms “the use of outer space by all nations for peaceful purposes, and […]
With the failure to stop and reverse the spread of nuclear weapons, military planners do not have the luxury of ignoring the possibility that such weapons might be used against military or civilian targets, abroad or at home. A new Department of Defense doctrinal publication (pdf) defines policies and procedures for managing “the consequences from […]
Some recent reports of the Congressional Research Service, not readily available to the public, include the following (all pdf). “Border Security: Barriers Along the U.S. International Border,” September 21, 2006. “The European Union’s Energy Security Challenges,” September 11, 2006. “Iraqi Civilian, Police, and Security Forces Casualty Estimates,” updated September 14, 2006.