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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: May 2010

April 2010

• U.S. to Face Litany of Complaints at UN Human Rights Council by William Fisher, InterPress News, April 27. "Human rights groups are telling the United Nations that the United States is failing to hold corporations, including private government contractors, accountable for human rights abuses ranging from human trafficking to murder."
• Fact Sheet on the President's Export Control Reform Initiative, White House release, April 20. "Although the United States has one of the most robust export control systems in the world, it is rooted in the Cold War era and must be updated to address the threats we face today and the changing economic and technological landscape."
• Secretary Robert Gates on Export Control Reform, Department of Defense, April 20. "I want to state from the outset how critically important it is to have a vigorous, comprehensive export control system that prevents adversaries from getting access to technology or equipment that could be used against us. The problem we face is that the current system, which has not been significantly altered since the end of the Cold War, originated and evolved in a very different era with a very different array of concerns in mind."
• DOD Background Briefing on Export Control Reform, Department of Defense, April 19. "The frank and unfortunate conclusion is that the export control system itself poses a potential threat to national security. The processes and institutions on which it's based are over 50 years old, and it really was designed -- or the multiple systems that comprise it were designed for a bipolar world."
• McChrystal: Too many contractors in Afghanistan by Jamey Keaten, Associated Press, April 16. "The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said Friday that the coalition depends too much on private-sector contractors, and insisted his forces are keeping close watch on the flow of Taliban fighters who are training in Iran."
• Ex-NSA official indicted in probe of leaked secrets by Eli Lake, Washington Times, April 16. "A grand jury Thursday indicted a retired senior National Security Agency official on charges he mishandled secrets."
• Ex-NSA official charged for leaks by Josh Gerstein, Politico, April 15. "In the most serious case of its kind filed since President Barack Obama took office, a former top National Security Agency official has been charged with ten felonies in connection with a series of alleged leaks of classified information to a newspaper reporter."
• Kamm Affair Continues To Roil Israel by Nathan Guttman, Forward, April 23. "The 23-year-old former Israel Defense Forces soldier, set to go on trial May 12, is accused of leaking about 2,000 classified military documents to an investigative reporter for Haaretz."
• Former NSA Senior Executive Charged with Illegally Retaining Classified Information, Justice Department news release, April 15. "A federal grand jury in the District of Maryland has returned a 10-count indictment charging former National Security Agency (NSA) senior executive Thomas A. Drake with the willful retention of classified information, obstruction of justice and making false statements."
• U.S. prisons a growth sector, rivaling auto industry by Bryant Furlow, New Mexico Independent, April 16. "The U.S. has 5 percent of the world's population but a quarter of its of its prisoners, according to a new report on the economic impact of the corrections industry released to lawmakers Tuesday by the Congressional Research Service (CRS)."
• DHS Response to Congressional Inquiry on Inadvertent Disclosure of TSA Manual, February 7 (released April 1). "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) takes this matter seriously and takes full responsibility for the posting."
• Was Lack Of Government Transparency A Factor In Mine Deaths? by Dan Froomkin, Huffington Post, April 14. "The inspector's notes -- a particularly valuable source of information that the government used to routinely make available on request -- weren't released to members of the public or to journalists until more than a week after the mine exploded."
• Israeli Stores Stop Selling Book That Denounces Settlers by Robert Mackey, New York Times The Lede, April 12. "An Israeli bookstore chain announced on Sunday that it would stop selling 'The National Left,' a political manifesto by two Israeli authors."
• Who watches WikiLeaks? by Chris McGreal, The Guardian, April 9. "This week a classified video of a US air crew killing unarmed Iraqis was seen by millions on the internet. But for some, the whistleblowing website itself needs closer scrutiny."
• Unclassified: Obama's nuclear posture review first public one by Laura Rozen, Politico, April 8. "The Nuclear Posture Review that the Obama administration released this week is the first unclassified one the U.S. government has released."
• Inside WikiLeaks' Leak Factory by David Kushner, Mother Jones, April 6. "WikiLeaks has revealed the secrets of the Pentagon, Scientology, and Sarah Palin�and the explosive video of a US attack on civilians and journalists in Iraq. Meet the shadowy figure behind the whistleblower site."
• Military can't find its copy of Iraq killing video by Pauline Jelinek and Anne Flaherty, Associated Press, April 6. "The U.S. military said Tuesday it can't find its copy of a video that shows two employees of the Reuters news agency being killed by Army helicopters in 2007, after a leaked version circulated the Internet and renewed questions about the attack."
• The 9/14 Presidency by Eli Lake, Reason Magazine, April 6. "Barack Obama is operating with the war powers granted George W. Bush three days after the 9/11 attacks."
• ISOO Issues National Industrial Security Program Directive No. 1, Federal Register, April 6. "This amendment to Directive No. 1 provides guidance to agencies on release of certain classified information (referred to as "proscribed information") to contractors that are owned or under the control of a foreign interest and have had the foreign ownership or control mitigated by an arrangement known as an Special Security Agreement (SSA).
• Jerry Ford OKed Warrantless Wiretaps in U.S., Memo Reveals by Andrew Becker, Politics Daily, April 3. "President Gerald Ford secretly authorized the use of warrantless domestic wiretaps for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes soon after coming into office, according to a declassified document."
• Al Haramain: Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop by William Fisher, Huffington Post, April 3. "As legal experts mull over the long-term implications of last week's court decision declaring illegal the program of warrantless surveillance by the George W. Bush administration, attention now focuses on whether the Obama Justice Department will appeal the controversial ruling."
• ODNI Notice to Establish System of Records, Federal Register, April 2. "The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) provides notice that it is establishing fourteen (14) new systems of records subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a. These systems of records are maintained by the ODNI."
• ODNI Proposed Rulemaking to Exempt Records from the Privacy Act, Federal Register, April 2. "The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) proposes to exempt fourteen (14) new systems of records from the Privacy Act."

Older News: March 2010

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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated May 4, 2010