SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2008, Issue No. 112
November 20, 2008

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

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DON'T REMOVE GOV'T RECORDS, DEPARTING OFFICIALS ARE TOLD

Government officials were reminded recently that as they depart from government service with the end of the current Administration, they are not permitted to take classified information with them.

"Classified information is not personal property and may not be removed from the Government's control by any departing official or employee. This includes 'extra'copies."

That timely warning was issued by William J. Bosanko, the director of the Information Security Oversight Office, which oversees the national security classification system.

"This prohibition applies to all cleared officials and employees, regardless of type or level of position," Mr. Bosanko wrote in a November 17 ISOO memorandum to senior executive branch agency officials.

Document removal is among the most pernicious forms of secrecy, as it is often undetected and irreversible.

SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES MEDICAL HANDBOOK UPDATED

The United States Special Operations Command has published a newly updated handbook for use by special operations forces medics in the field.

"It emphasizes acute care in all its forms (including gynecology, general medicine, dentistry, poisonings, infestations, parasitic infections, acute infections, hyper and hypothermia, high altitude, aerospace, dive medicine, and sanitation.)"

The document, which is not yet available in soft copy, replaces a 2001 edition and may be purchased from the Government Printing Office Bookstore.

An earlier Army special forces medical handbook dated 1982 and obtained by Secrecy News is now "a relic of sentimental and historical interest only," wrote Dr. Warner Anderson, a U.S. Army Colonel (ret.) and former associate dean of the Special Warfare Medical Group. It advocates "treatments that, if used by today's medics, would result in disciplinary measures," he told us last year. These include such unlikely remedies as drinking kerosene, eating cigarettes, and using live maggots to consume rotting tissue.

Slightly related is this report from the Congressional Research Service on "Military Medical Care: Questions and Answers," updated October 31, 2008.

SOME NEW CONGRESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

Newly published congressional reports and hearing volumes that caught our eye include the following.

"Misleading Information from the Battlefield: The Tillman and Lynch Episodes," Report of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, September 16, 2008.

"Restoring the Rule of Law," hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Senate Judiciary Committee, September 16, 2008 (a second volume is to follow).

"An Amendment and Three Protocols to the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention," Report of the Committee on Foreign Relations, September 11, 2008.

"Argentina: Rudderless," Report to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, September 9, 2008:

FINANCIAL CRISIS, MIDNIGHT RULEMAKING, AND MORE FROM CRS

Some more reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following.

"The U.S. Financial Crisis: The Global Dimension with Implications for U.S. Policy," November 18, 2008.

"China and the Global Financial Crisis: Implications for the United States," updated November 17, 2008.

"Reporting Requirements in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008," updated November 13, 2008.

"The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and Current Financial Turmoil: Issues and Analysis," October 31, 2008.

"Russia's Economic Performance and Policies and Their Implications for the United States," updated November 5, 2008.

"'Political' Activities of Private Recipients of Federal Grants or Contracts," October 21, 2008.

"Defense: FY2009 Authorization and Appropriations," updated November 3, 2008.

"Federal Evacuation Policy: Issues for Congress," November 12, 2008.

"Homeland Emergency Preparedness and the National Exercise Program: Background, Policy Implications, and Issues for Congress," November 10, 2008.

"Midnight Rulemaking: Considerations for Congress and a New Administration," November 18, 2008.

TIME OUT

Secrecy News will resume publication the first week of December.

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

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