SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
May 31, 2001

US NUCLEAR FORCE STRUCTURE

Several studies of U.S. nuclear force structure performed for the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) between 1991 and 1996 have been partially declassified under the Freedom of Information Act and published by the Nautilus Institute, a Berkeley-based policy research organization.

"These force structure studies provide a rare glimpse into the secret corridors of the nuclear priesthood," according to a Nautilus introduction. "As such they are essential for the public's ability to understand and assess the Bush Administration's nuclear posture review expected to be completed in 2001."

A review of the six studies by Nautilus researcher Hans M. Kristensen found that the military had a predominant influence on force structure planning. "It is striking to see in these documents just how much of STRATCOM's analysis and recommendations actually became national policy," Mr. Kristensen said. "It appears that no one in the civilian part of the administrations had the expertise to challenge this nuclear super-command."

Copies of the six declassified studies and Mr. Kristensen's report, released May 30, can be found here:

CORRUPTION IN SECURITY SERVICES

"The problems of crime and corruption are all the more acute when they directly involve" military and other national security agencies, said U.S. Ambassador Victor Jackovich. "This is not only because these are important pillars of the state. It is also because these are the very institutions that are charged with the task of safeguarding the security of everyone else in the state."

Ambassador Jackovich spoke at the Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity at the Hague, Netherlands on May 29.

Though his remarks were principally directed at the new democracies of eastern Europe and elsewhere, they are not without relevance for the United States.

"Government oversight ... over national security, military and law enforcement agencies must be strengthened...."

"Elected officials should be held accountable to the public through transparency of their transactions and their acquisition of personal wealth.... This presupposes an active and objective media, as well as a vibrant and involved network of citizens associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)."

The text of Ambassador Jackovich's speech on "Corruption Within Security Forces: A Threat to National Security" is posted here:

DRAFT REPORT ON ECHELON

The European Parliament has officially released a slightly updated draft report, dated 18 May 2001, "on the existence of a global system for the interception of private and commercial communications (ECHELON interception system)."

A copy of the latest draft (a 780 kB PDF file) is posted here:

The final report is still pending.

AN IRAQI VIEW OF THE IRAN NUCLEAR THREAT

Tehran Radio announced today that Iran had successfully flight tested a new missile known as the Fateh-110. The range of the solid-fueled surface-to-surface missile was not specified.

"We have long-standing concerns about Iran's proliferation behavior, including its missile development and weapons of mass destruction programs," said U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Mary Ellen Countryman, according to a Reuters report.

That is one U.S. concern that is shared by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

"The growing Iranian nuclear program poses a threat not only to pan-Arab security but also to the entire Arab existence," according to an Iraqi overview of Iran's nuclear program published this week in the Baghdad newspaper Al-Thawrah. The article, translated by the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service, is posted here:

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy.

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