What can anyone do in response to the horrific murders of twelve persons associated with the French weekly Charlie Hebdo? One way of expressing solidarity with the victims, and opposition to the killers, would be to purchase a subscription to the satirical (often deliberately offensive) publication, whether for yourself or for a local library. In […]
The U.S. has spent $1.6 trillion on post-9/11 military operations, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other counterterrorism activities, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. “Based on funding enacted from the 9/11 attacks through FY2014, CRS estimates a total of $1.6 trillion has been provided to the Department of […]
The U.S. Department of State has blocked the publication of a long-awaited documentary history of U.S. covert action in Iran in the 1950s out of concern that its release could adversely affect ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. The controversial Iran history volume, part of the official Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, […]
The news media and private web sites are full of rumors that Russia has deployed nuclear weapons to Crimea after it invaded the region earlier this year. Many of these rumors are dubious and overly alarmist and ignore that a nuclear-capable weapon is not the same as a nuclear warhead. Several U.S. lawmakers who oppose […]
New products from the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News include the following. Selected CRS Materials on Detention and Interrogation of Terrorist Suspects and Enemy Belligerents, CRS Legal Sidebar, December 16, 2014 The SSCI Study of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program: Issues to Consider, CRS Insights, December 16, 2014 Big Deal? U.S. Changes […]
Each year millions of pages of government records are declassified that few if any members of the public will ever look at. This is an awkward fact which is not often discussed because it might call into question the whole declassification enterprise. “Statistical Records Relating to Ship Stability, 1918-67,” anyone? A new collection of declassified […]
New products from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. Legislation to Facilitate Cybersecurity Information Sharing: Economic Analysis, December 11, 2014 FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues, December 11, 2014 Analysis of H.R. 5781, California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014, December 11, 2014 […]
The release of the executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA’s post-9/11 interrogation program is, among other things, an epic act of record preservation. Numerous CIA records that might not have been disclosed for decades, or ever, were rescued from oblivion by the Senate report and are now indelibly cited and quoted, […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. Federal Inspectors General: History, Characteristics, and Recent Congressional Actions, December 8, 2014 Attorney General Nominations Since the Reagan Administration, CRS Insights, December 4, 2014 Army Active Component (AC)/Reserve Component (RC) Force Mix: Considerations and Options for […]
For the next two years, Congress wants to receive quarterly reports from the Department of Defense on how the Pentagon is responding to leaks of classified information. The reporting requirement was included in the pending National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2015 (Sec. 1052). “Compromises of classified information cause indiscriminate and long-lasting damage to United […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. Fact Sheet: Selected Highlights of H.R. 3979, the Carl Levin and Howard “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for FY2015, December 3, 2014 FY2015 Budget Requests to Counter Ebola and the Islamic State (IS), December […]
New books sent to Secrecy News for review (thanks!) but not yet read include these: Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon by Kim Zetter (reviewed in WaPo, WSJ) Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution by Richard Whittle (reviewed in WaPo, WSJ) National Security Affect from […]