SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2017, Issue No. 27
April 18, 2017

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

HISTORY OF IRAN COVERT ACTION DEFERRED INDEFINITELY

A declassified U.S. Government documentary history of the momentous 1953 coup in Iran, in which Central Intelligence Agency personnel participated, had been the object of widespread demand from historians and others for decades. In recent years, it finally seemed to be on the verge of publication.

But now its release has been postponed indefinitely.

Last year, "the Department of State did not permit publication of the long-delayed Iran Retrospective volume because it judged the political environment too sensitive," according to a new annual report from the State Department Historical Advisory Committee (HAC). "The HAC was severely disappointed."

"The HAC was unsuccessful in its efforts to meet with [then-]Secretary Kerry to discuss the volume, and now there is no timetable for its release," the new report stated.

The controversy originally arose in 1989 when the State Department published its official history of US foreign relations with Iran that somehow made no mention of the 1953 CIA covert action against the Mossadeq government, triggering protests and ridicule.

That lapse led to enactment of a 1992 statute requiring the Foreign Relations of the United States series to present a "thorough, accurate, and reliable" documentary history of US foreign policy. The State Department also agreed to prepare a supplemental retrospective volume on Iran to correct the record. The retrospective volume is what now appears to be out of reach.

In truth, a fair amount of documentation related to the events of 1953 in Iran has been declassified and released. It is unclear how much more of significance remains to be disclosed. (Those who have read the missing volume say there is at least some new substance to it.)

But the position taken by the Obama State Department, that 60 year old policy documents are too politically sensitive to be released, is disheartening in any case.

Instead of disrupting relations with Iran, which are already fraught, an honest official U.S. account of events in 1953 might actually have elicited a constructive response. But that argument, advanced by the Historical Advisory Committee and its Chairman, Prof. Richard H. Immerman, did not get the serious consideration it deserved.

More broadly, the new annual report of the HAC did identify a few bright spots. One volume of the Foreign Relations series that was released last year met the statutory deadline for publication within 30 years of the events it describes. That hasn't happened for two decades.

Overall, however, "the declassification environment is discouraging," the HAC report found.

ARMY EXPLORES COUNTER-DRONE TECHNIQUES

Having developed and utilized unmanned aerial systems (UAS, or drones) for surveillance, targeting and attack, the US military now finds itself in the position of having to defend against the same technology.

The US Army last week issued a new manual on Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System Techniques (ATP 3-01.81, April 13, 2017).

"UASs have advanced technologically and proliferated exponentially over the past decade," the manual notes. "As technology has progressed, both reconnaissance and attack capabilities have matured to the point where UASs represent a significant threat to Army, joint, and multinational partner operations from both state and non-state actors."

The unclassified Army document describes the nature of the threat and then considers the options that are available for dealing with it. These range from various forms of attack avoidance ("Operate at night or during limited visibility") to active defense, such as surface-to-air weapons.

"Defending against UAS is a difficult task and no single solution exists to defeat all categories of the... threat," the manual says.

Last week, the Islamic State released video footage of one of its drones dropping a bomb on an Iraqi target, Newsweek reported.

SHARING CLASSIFIED INFO WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS

Disclosing classified information to foreign government personnel is ordinarily forbidden, and may constitute espionage. But sometimes it is permitted, even to non-allies.

"National Disclosure Policy Committee (NDPC) policy prohibits the release of classified information [to] a foreign government without an explicit authorization, such as an Exception to United States (U.S.) National Disclosure Policy (ENDP), and an information sharing agreement," explained VADM James D. Syring, director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, in response to a congressional question last year.

Such Exceptions are occasionally requested, however, and granted.

"The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) submitted three requests for Exception to United States National Disclosure Policy (ENDP) from 2007-2011 seeking authority to disclose classified information to the Russian Federation (RF) relating to three ballistic missile defense flight test events," VADM Syring said.

"In each case, authority granted by the NDPC was limited to oral and visual disclosure only under controlled conditions. The RF sent attendees to two of the three test events (in 2007 and 2010). No invitations were extended for the third event (in August 2011), and no disclosure occurred. MDA has not submitted any further requests for ENDP for the RF."

"MDA has not sought ENDP [Exceptions] for release of any information to the People's Republic of China," he added.

The exchange between VADM Syring and Rep. Mike Rogers appeared in a newly published hearing volume on The Missile Defeat Posture and Strategy of the United States -- The Fiscal Year 2017 President's Budget Request, House Armed Services Committee, April 14, 2016. The same volume notably includes discussion of "left of launch" approaches to countering ballistic missile threats.

At its best, congressional oversight can be a powerful engine of disclosure that matches or exceeds what the Freedom of Information Act or other mechanisms can offer. (The FOIA does not permit requesters to ask questions, only to request records.) Hearings of the House Armed Services Committee regularly generate new information on military policy, especially in the published hearing records.

Another newly published HASC hearing containing some nuggets of interest is National Security Space: 21st Century Challenges, 20th Century Organization, September 27, 2016.

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

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