At first glance, who could complain about replacing current nuclear warheads with ones that are more reliable? After all, since we have them they should work. But the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program may do no good, may do much harm, and will cost a lot if carried forward. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Reliable […]
It is often asserted or assumed that American traditions of open government and civil liberties place the United States at a disadvantage in confronting terrorism. But the opposite may be closer to the truth. “In an open society like ours… it is impossible to protect against every threat,” said President Bush in an August 24, […]
A paper by Jeffrey R. Cooper on “Curing Analytical Pathologies” (pdf) that was withheld from the CIA web site but posted on the Federation of American Scientists web site last week has now been downloaded tens of thousands of times, suggesting that there is widespread interest in a critical assessment of intelligence analysis. One of […]
Some recent reports of the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News that are not otherwise readily available in the public domain include the following. “Federal Habeas Corpus: A Brief Legal Overview” (pdf), April 26, 2006. “Federal Habeas Corpus: An Abridged Sketch” (pdf), April 28, 2006. “High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) and High Power Microwave […]
The administration has a new plan: as it prepares for production of the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) to replace most of the nuclear warheads in the operational stockpile, it will “accelerate” dismantlement of retired nuclear warheads to “assure other nations that we are not building up our stockpile.” According to this plan, Deputy Secretary of […]
A new study published by the CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence calls for a fundamental reconceptualization of the process of intelligence analysis in order to overcome the “pathologies” that have rendered it increasingly dysfunctional. “Curing Analytic Pathologies” (pdf) by Jeffrey R. Cooper has been available up to now in limited circulation in hard […]
The latest study by the JASON scientific advisory panel to be approved for public release has the forbidding title “Quantifications of Margins and Uncertainties” (pdf). The meaning of this term is somewhat elusive, as discussed in the report, but it involves a methodology for assessing the reliability of complex technical systems, and specifically the performance […]
Some notable recent reports of the Congressional Research Service include the following: “Intelligence Issues for Congress” (pdf), updated April 10, 2006. “Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses” (pdf), updated April 6, 2006. “Israel: U.S. Foreign Assistance” (pdf), updated April 26, 2006. “India-U.S. Relations” (pdf), updated April 6, 2006. “Indonesia: Domestic Politics, Strategic Dynamics, and American […]
Electronic surveillance and physical searches conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reached a new record high in 2005, according to the latest annual report to Congress on FISA. “During calendar year 2005, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) approved 2,072 applications for authority to conduct electronic surveillance and physical search,” the new annual […]
In the security policy equivalent of shutting down the government, the Defense Security Service announced Friday that it would no longer process applications from industry for new security clearances or reinvestigations of existing clearances. “Owing to the overwhelming volume of requests for industry personnel security investigations and funding constraints, the Defense Security Service has discontinued […]
There is no excuse for unauthorized disclosures of classified information, it is argued, because whistleblowers who have legitimate complaints about classified government misconduct can use official channels to convey those concerns on a classified basis. But as a practical matter, those channels are often blocked or ineffectual. That is what former National Security Agency employee […]
Some notable recent reports of the Congressional Research Service that have not been readily available to the public include the following: “China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues” (pdf), updated April 6, 2006. “Protection of Classified Information by Congress: Practices and Proposals” (pdf), updated April 5, 2006. “Navy Ship Propulsion […]