SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2007, Issue No. 4
January 11, 2007

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

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REPORT: MILITARIZATION OF U.S. EMBASSIES AROUSES SUSPICION

The growing military presence at U.S. embassies abroad is arousing suspicion among some foreign officials and producing friction between civilian foreign service officers and military personnel, according to a new staff report from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"There is evidence that some host countries are questioning the increasingly military component of America's profile overseas," the report found. "Some foreign officials question what appears to them as a new emphasis by the United States on military approaches to problems that are not seen as lending themselves to military solutions."

"For the most part, ambassadors welcome the additional resources that the military brings and they see strong military-to-military ties as an important ingredient in a strong bilateral relationship. Nonetheless, State and USAID personnel often question the purposes, quantity, and quality of the expanded military activities in-country."

"One ambassador lamented that his effectiveness in representing the United States to foreign officials was beginning to wane, as more resources are directed to special operations forces and intelligence. Foreign officials are 'following the money' in terms of determining which relationships to emphasize, he reported."

"Left unclear, blurred lines of authority between the State Department and the Defense Department could lead to interagency turf wars that undermine the effectiveness of the overall U.S. effort against terrorism. It is in the embassies rather than in Washington where interagency differences on strategies, tactics and divisions of labor are increasingly adjudicated."

See "Embassies as Command Posts in the Anti-Terror Campaign," Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff report, December 15, 2006:

NEW LEGISLATION AND CONGRESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

A recent Presidential signing statement on the Postal Reform Act "has resulted in considerable confusion and widespread concern about the President's commitment to abide by the basic privacy protections afforded sealed domestic mail," said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). "For some, it raised the specter of the Government unlawfully monitoring our mail in the name of national security."

To mitigate such concerns, Senator Collins yesterday introduced a proposed resolution to "reaffirm the fundamental constitutional and statutory protections accorded sealed domestic mail." See:

The Federal Agency Data Mining Reporting Act of 2007 was introduced by Senators Russ Feingold (D-Wisc) and John Sununu (R-NH) to require agencies to report to Congress on their data mining activities. See:

The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded its review of the ABLE DANGER program with a letter report finding that, contrary to claims advanced by former Rep. Curt Weldon and others, the program "never produced a chart with Mohammed Atta's photograph or name prior to the 9/11 attacks." See:

There are still "unanswered questions" about former national security advisor Samuel R. Berger's unauthorized removal of classified records from the National Archives, according to a House Government Oversight Committee minority staff report. See "Sandy Berger's Theft of Classified Documents: Unanswered Questions," January 9, 2007:

"Catching Terrorists: The British System versus the U.S. System" was the subject of a September 14, 2006 hearing of a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee hearing. See:

NRO BUDGET BOOK FOR FY 2006 (REDACTED)

A redacted version of the National Reconnaissance Office Congressional Budget Justification Book for Fiscal Year 2006 was released to the Federation of American Scientists last week in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and in compliance with a court order.

The more intelligible portions of the document are now posted here:

Jargon-heavy and formulaic, the redacted volume will nevertheless be of interest to close students of the NRO.

"The NRO develops and operates unique and innovative space reconnaissance systems and conducts intelligence related activities essential for U.S. national security."

DOD DOCTRINE ON RECOVERING CAPTURED MILITARY PERSONNEL

The recovery of American personnel who are lost or captured in the course of military operations abroad is the subject of a new Department of Defense doctrinal publication.

"The President of the United States can choose to exercise military, diplomatic, or civil options, or a combination thereof, to recover isolated personnel" and each of these options has been utilized over the past two decades, the report notes.

The practices and procedures for locating missing personnel and for planning and executing their recovery are discussed.

See "Personnel Recovery," Joint Publication 3-50, January 5, 2007 (283 pages, 2.5 MB PDF):

MORE FROM CRS

Some recent products of the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News and not readily available in the public domain include the following:

"Maritime Security: Potential Terrorist Attacks and Protection Priorities," January 9, 2007:

"The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework," updated December 21, 2006:

"Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004: 'Lone Wolf' Amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act," updated December 19, 2006:

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

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