SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2014, Issue No. 42
June 25, 2014

Secrecy News Blog: http://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

IRAQ CRISIS AND U.S. POLICY, AND MORE FROM CRS

The implications of the conflict in Iraq for U.S. policy were examined in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. See Iraq Crisis and U.S. Policy, June 20, 2014.

The CRS report notably includes open source reporting and translations from the DNI Open Source Center. This sort of material had been routinely available to the public for decades until the CIA cut off public access to it last December 31.

CIA's own open source intelligence effort leaves something to be desired. The CIA World Factbook continues to report that Syria's population is around 17.9 million, while every other authoritative source puts it at between 22-23 million. (Secrecy News, 06/06/14).

The CRS report on the Iraq crisis was reported in the Washington Times on June 24.

A related CRS report (which also includes citations to the Open Source Center), newly updated, is Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response, June 24, 2014.

Other new and updated CRS reports that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following.

Wartime Detention Provisions in Recent Defense Authorization Legislation, June 23, 2014:

Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Institutions: A Constitutional Analysis, June 23, 2014:

High-Frequency Trading: Background, Concerns, and Regulatory Developments, June 19, 2014:

The National Science Foundation: Background and Selected Policy Issues, June 5, 2014:

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS): Is It a Health Emergency?, June 4, 2014:

Progress in Combating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): U.S. and Global Efforts from FY2006 to FY2015, May 28, 2014:

Legislation to Approve the U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement, June 19, 2014:

Membership in the United Nations and Its Specialized Agencies, June 19, 2014:

El Salvador: Background and U.S. Relations, June 23, 2014:

The Project BioShield Act: Issues for the 113th Congress, June 18, 2014:

The U.S. Secret Service: History and Missions, June 18, 2014:

ARMY PROHIBITS RETALIATION FOR REPORTING A CRIME

The Secretary of the Army last week issued a directive specifying that retaliating against someone for reporting a crime is itself a crime.

"No Soldier may retaliate against a victim, an alleged victim or another member of the Armed Forces based on that individual's report of a criminal offense," the new Directive states. See Prohibition of Retaliation Against Soldiers for Reporting a Criminal Offense, Army Directive 2014-20, June 19, 2014.

Prohibited forms of retaliation include adverse personnel actions and ostracism, as well as "acts of cruelty, oppression or maltreatment."

The directive implements a requirement that was enacted by Congress in the 2014 defense authorization act (section 1709) as part of a legislative response to instances of sexual assault in the military.

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

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