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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: January 2006

December 2005

• US intelligence service bugged website visitors despite ban by Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, December 30. "The intelligence service at the centre of the row over eavesdropping tracked visitors to its website, despite US government regulations."
• Implementation of the President’s Executive Order “Improving Agency Disclosure of Information”, OMB Memorandum, December 30. "This memorandum highlights actions required of agencies by the Executive Order and provides contact information if your agency has questions about the order."
• Experts ponder Bush's rationale: Some wonder why law wasn't changed instead of circumvented by administration by Matthew B. Stannard, San Francisco Chronicle, December 20. "While wartime necessity has historically granted presidents enormous leeway even in the face of congressional and legal obstacles, Sofaer warned that the rationale is open to abuse."
• U.S. sees softening in Hezbollah TV, United Press International, December 19. "Al-Manar continues its negative treatment of the United States but has dropped the more incendiary anti-U.S. material seen in the past," states a report on the TV station from the U.S. Open Source Intelligence Center, obtained and posted on the Web by the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.
• Bush, administration defend domestic spying by Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, December 19. "The president argues that since 9/11, spying on Americans who may have contacts with terrorists is not only necessary but legal."
• Spying and Lying by Katrina van den Heuvel, The Nation, December 18. "The question of how this Administration threatens the workings of a free press, a cornerstone of democracy, remains a central one. Every week brings new evidence of White House attempts to delegitimize the press's role as a watchdog of government abuse, an effective counter to virtually unchecked executive power."
• Bush order surprises watchdog group by Aliya Sternstein, Federal Computer Week, December 16. "Open government advocates say President Bush's Dec. 14 executive order fails to address the cause of problems in accessing government information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)."
• President's Message to the Congress of the United States on Information Sharing, White House release, December 16. "The robust and effective sharing of terrorism information is vital to protecting Americans and the Homeland from terrorist attacks. To ensure that we succeed in this mission, my Administration is working to implement the Information Sharing Environment (ISE)."
• White House Memorandum on the Information Sharing Environment, December 16. "Ensuring the appropriate access to, and the sharing, integration, and use of, information by Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies with counterterrorism responsibilities, and, as appropriate, private sector entities, while protecting the information privacy and other legal rights of Americans, remains a high priority for the United States and a necessity for winning the war on terror."
• Watchdogs Protest Pentagon's "Mission Creep" by William Fisher, Inter Press Service News Agency, December 15. "At a time when domestic intelligence collection by the military is surging, the nation desperately needs an independent oversight body to exercise checks and balances."
• Pentagon Statement on Domestic Intelligence Surveillance, December 14. "There is nothing more important to the U.S. military than the trust and good will of the American people. The Department of Defense values that trust and goodwill and consequently views with the greatest concern any potential violation of the strict DoD policy governing authorized counter-intelligence efforts and support to law enforcement."
• Burr's bill loses steam as critics gain traction by Tim Funk, Charlotte Observer, December 12. "Now the legislation is under fire from groups who say Burr would create a new federal outfit -- the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency, or BARDA -- and then wrap it in secrecy."
• Firms get scrutiny over CIA captures by Farah Stockman, Boston Globe, December 11. "Private American contractors who help the CIA capture terrorism suspects abroad and transfer them to secret jails are increasingly becoming the target of investigations in Europe and at home."
• National Guard Official Warns Against NorthCom Bid for "Complete Authority", email message from MG Timothy Lowenberg, October 31. "Although usually couched in terms of "support for governors", the NORTHCOM proposals would bring about a fundamental change in the emergency governance of states impacted by large scale disasters. Some might liken this to a policy of domestic regime change."
• Government Secrecy: Is Too Much Kept From the Public? by Kenneth Jost, CQ Researcher, December 2, 2005. A comprehensive survey of current issues in government secrecy (24 pages, 1 MB PDF file). For permission to distribute or to purchase hardcopies, contact Julie Miller at JMiller@CQPress.com or (202)729-1827.
• How the CIA Blew Its Prisons Cover by Josh Gerstein, New York Sun, December 8. "While Secretary of State Rice fends off questioning in Europe over CIA-run air flights of prisoners in the war on terror, some analysts outside the CIA are asking how the flights were exposed so easily."
• 'Earmarking' has grown in Congress by Toby Eckert, Copley News Service, December 3. "Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's admission that he accepted bribes from defense contractors has renewed scrutiny of the growing power that lawmakers have to steer business to favored companies and causes."
• Pentagon's 'Black Budget' Veils Contracting Shenanigans by David Wood, Newhouse News, December 1. "The super-secret part of the defense budget -- the classified, or 'black' budget -- hides some $28 billion in spending. Government auditors and even senators have to get special clearance to see the details."

Older News: November 2005

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