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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: March 2007

February 2007

• Statement of Administration Policy on Senate Homeland Security Bill S. 4, February 28. "The Administration strongly opposes the requirement in the bill to publicly disclose sensitive information about the intelligence budget."
• Historical Research in the Files of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Federal Register, February 28. "This proposed rule would identify and update the policies and procedures for the programs that permit U.S. citizens to perform historical research in records created by or in the custody of the Office of the Secretary of Defense."
• Groups Oppose Amendment to Criminalize Disclosures of Classified Information, letter to Congress, February 27. "The purpose and effect of this proposed amendment appears to be to chill the press and other members of the public who receive and share information 'concerning efforts by the United States to identify, investigate, or prevent terrorist activity'."
• An Admonition on Intelligence by Walter Pincus, Washington Post, February 26. "In one of his last moves as director of national intelligence before leaving for the State Department, John D. Negroponte signed off on a new and unusually detailed policy directive that sets out common principles for intelligence analysis for the nation's 16 spy agencies."
• Bush budget contains many secrets by Lisa Mascaro, Las Vegas Sun, February 25. "As military spending has come to dominate the Bush budget since the 9/11 attacks, the amount of money being funneled to the black budget has risen sharply."
• Remarks to the Public Interest Declassification Board by Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists, February 24. "I would like to suggest for your consideration a few concrete steps that could be taken to improve classification and declassification policy."
• Information, Please: Watchdog Groups, Some Lawmakers Say Congressional Reports Should Be Made Public by Elizabeth Williamson, Washington Post, February 20. "Legislators request 6,000 Congressional Research Service reports a year, on weapons systems and farm subsidies, prescription prices and energy use."
• National Archives to Host Public Interest Declassification Board Meeting Feb. 24, news release, February 15. "The meeting will include a briefing by select representatives of the Public on their experiences with the declassification system and a presentation by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) staff."
• Navy changes policy on contractors, encrypted communications by Patience Wait, Government Computer News, February 14. "The U.S. Navy issued a new instruction Feb. 7 revising policy and expanding the procedures to allow authorizing release of communications security material to contractors."
• Truth and Credibility by Al Kamen, Washington Post, February 14. "The Pentagon's new "Polygraph and Credibility Assessment Program" is a whole new way to see if someone is lying, by combining lie detectors with 'credibility assessment' -- CA for short."
• Cheney Tangles With Agency on Secrecy by Chitra Ragavan, U.S. News and World Report, February 8. "An important legal ruling is pending over Vice President Cheney's refusal to disclose statistics on document classification and declassification activity."
• Cheney Doesn't Share by Dan Froomkin, White House Watch, Washington Post, February 7. "Another memorable scene of the inner workings of the Bush White House unfolded yesterday in the federal courthouse where former vice presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby is on trial. This one is particularly significant because it gives credence to the widespread view that Vice President Cheney oversees his own intensely secretive, highly defensive and sometimes ruthless operation within the White House."
• American Library Association Seeks Nominations for James Madison Award to recognize those individuals that have championed, public access to government information and the public's right to know. "If you know a person or group that fits the description, and would like to nominate that person or group, please send your nomination to Miriam Nisbet."
• Broadening the Bush Library Debate by Scott Jaschik, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 6. "Now scholars are hoping to use the SMU debate to start a new campaign against the executive order — and they are asking SMU to turn down the library as long as the executive order stays in place."
• SMU pressed to fight Bush's secrecy by Todd J. Gillman, Dallas Morning News, February 5. "Archivists and historians are urging Southern Methodist University to reject the Bush presidential library unless the administration reverses an executive order that gives former presidents and their heirs the right to keep White House papers secret in perpetuity."
• Army Special Forces: Stealthy, Deadly and Now Handy With a Llama by Al Kamen, Washington Post, February 5. "Secrecy News, which got a copy of the manual, says it has 'not been approved for public release'."
• Pentagon ignored generals' advice in calling for fort to close by John R. Poitras, Asbury Park Press, February 4. "As president of the American Federation of Government Employees local that represents more than 5,000 Fort Monmouth employees, I was troubled by a recent report by the Federation of American Scientists regarding the deliberations of the Base Realignment and Closing Commission regarding the fort."
• Army manual on using horses, mules in combat slammed by animal rights group by Michael Roston, RAWSTORY, February 1. "A recently revealed manual written for the US Army's Special Forces extensively details techniques for managing pack animals like horses and donkeys in combat operations around the world. A major animal rights group has slammed the contents of the document for encouraging cruelty against animals."
• DOD issues electronic-warfare doctrine by Patience Wait, Government Computer News, February 1. "The Federation of American Scientists has posted a new publication issued by the Joint Chiefs of Staff covering joint-forces doctrine for electronic warfare."

Older News: January 2007

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