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Secrecy and Security News

August 2005

Newer News: September 2005

• Chain of truth by Richard A. Lovett, San Diego Union Tribune, August 31. "Open discussion is the lifeblood of science. Without it, scientists cannot easily build on each other's results or disprove them, and science stagnates. But there are times when open discussion may not be wise. Nowhere is that more likely than with anti-terrorism research, where the simple process of identifying a vulnerability might give terrorists vital information or spur them to act before a solution can be implemented."
• Troops warned on posting sensitive material on Web by Shaun Waterman, UPI / Washington Times, August 30. The U.S. Army is warning soldiers that posting photos on their Web logs may inadvertently reveal "vulnerabilities and tactics" and "needlessly place lives at risk."
• Message from NASA Headquarters - Communicating With the Public, centerwide announcement, August 29. "Effective immediately, if you receive an e-mail from a member of the public, promptly forward it to the designated e-mail address for your Center."
• Army Chief of Staff Urges Increased Vigilance on Operational Security, message to all Army leaders, August 2005. "The enemy aggressively 'reads' our open source and continues to exploit such information for use against our forces."
• DoD Orders "No Comment" on BRAC Recommendations, memo from Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, August 23. "It's important that Department of Defense personnel refrain from answering questions or providing comments regarding the Commission's recommendations."
• "State Secrets" Privilege Not So Rare by William Fisher, Inter Press Service News Service, August 15. "The state secrets privilege is a series of U.S. legal precedents allowing the federal government to dismiss legal cases that it claims would threaten foreign policy, military intelligence or national security."
• Proposed NARA Rule on Declassification of National Security Information, Federal Register, August 12. "This proposed rule would update NARA regulations related to declassification of classified national security information in records transferred to NARA's legal custody."
• A Big Chill In D.C.? Indictment of ex-AIPAC staffers triggers anxiety among lobbyists by Ron Kampeas and Matthew E. Berger, The Jewish Week, August 12. "Steven Aftergood, the federation's secrecy project director, told JTA: 'This prosecution breaks troubling new ground, and it means that anyone who works in national-security policy advocacy or as a government watchdog could be liable to prosecution. That's preposterous'."
• Report cites increased risk of terrorist attack using chemicals by Chris Strohm, GovExec.com, August 10. "The report was obtained and published by the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy."
• Arar won't back down over 'terrorist' label By Emelie Rutherford, MetroWest Daily News, August 9. "The U.S. government is increasingly invoking the secrets privilege in lawsuits against it, said Steven Aftergood at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, D.C. 'Every time this (state secrets) defense succeeds, it provides positive reinforcement to the government and encourages them to keep using it,' Aftergood said."
• National Security Watch: The hidden casualties in Iraq by Kevin Whitelaw, US News and World Report, August 8. "The new numbers come from an unclassified report that the Pentagon was required to compile by the 2005 Defense Authorization Act but that has not been released publicly. It was first obtained by David Isenberg, a security analyst, and then posted on the website of the Federation of American Scientists."
• Hiroshima Film Cover-up Exposed by Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, August 3. "In the weeks following the atomic attacks on Japan almost 60 years ago, and then for decades afterward, the United States engaged in airtight suppression of all film shot in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings."
• Appeals Court Upholds State Secrets Privilege in Discrimination Suit Against CIA, news release from attorney Mark Zaid, August 3. "The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed the dismissal of Jeffrey Sterling's discrimination lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”) based on the Government's invocation of the state secrets privilege."
• Novak Is Echoed by the Times; More Proof Plame Info was Classified; by David Corn, www.davidcorn.com, August 2. "Secrecy News newsletter...obtained a copy of the Pentagon's latest policy paper on the unauthorized disclosure of classified information."
• The scandal that wasn't by John B. Roberts II, Washington Times, August 1. "Bloggers scavenging the Internet in July for scandals about Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. thought they had red meat. On July 20, Secrecy News, a Web publication of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, reported that Judge Roberts was involved in the Iran-Contra affair."

Older News: July 2005

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