[Intelforum] Secrecy News -- 08/02/06 (IF)

Wed Aug 2 14:11:06 EDT 2006

SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2006, Issue No. 85
August 2, 2006

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

Support Secrecy News:
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**	OF LEAKS AND WHISTLEBLOWERS
**	MISSILE DEFENSE DEPLOYMENTS "SECRET FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES"
**	HOUSE BILL WOULD OPEN UP INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT
**	SOME RECENT CONGRESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS
**	DOD ANNUAL REPORT ON COUNTERPROLIFERATION
**	STEALTH SATELLITE SOURCEBOOK
**	CRS ON INDIA AND PAKISTAN

OF LEAKS AND WHISTLEBLOWERS

Senator Christopher Bond (R-Missouri) introduced legislation today
to criminalize the unauthorized disclosure of classified
information.

"We need to send a message that leaks will not be tolerated and
give prosecutors a modern and appropriate tool to go after those
who do leak," he said.

The new Bond bill is identical to the controversial anti-leak
legislation sponsored by Senator Richard Shelby in the FY 2001
Intelligence Authorization Act that was vetoed by President
Clinton in November 2000.

See "Bond Legislation Targets Intelligence Leaks," August 2:

     http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2006/08/bond080206.html

Meanwhile, a new U.S. intelligence policy on unauthorized
disclosures of classified information is pending, the Director of
National Intelligence said last week in a progress report.

"The DOJ and ODNI are ... working closely on leaks issues," he
wrote.  "In March 2006 the ODNI issued policies to consolidate IC
reporting of leaks and is now preparing to issue a Community-wide
directive on [unauthorized] disclosures."  See (at page 8):

     http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/prog072706.pdf

The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition disclosed last week
that former NSA employee Russell Tice had been summoned to appear
before a grand jury investigating the unauthorized disclosure of
classified information.  See related background, including a copy
of the grand jury summons, on the Coalition web site here:

     http://www.nswbc.org/

Mr. Tice and other national security whistleblowers testified
before the House Committee on Government Reform last February, and
the record of that hearing has just been published.

See "National Security Whistleblowers in the post-9/11 Era: Lost in
a Labyrinth and Facing Subtle Retaliation," February 14, 2006:

     http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_hr/whistle.html

MISSILE DEFENSE DEPLOYMENTS "SECRET FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES"

The names of foreign countries that are being considered for
deployment of U.S. missile defense systems are unclassified but
nevertheless should be kept secret, the Missile Defense Agency
ordered last year.

"There are many operational and political sensitivities that
require varying levels of protection as we consider possible
deployments," wrote MDA Deputy Director Gen. Marvin K. McNamara.

"Therefore, I am requiring that potential host nations being
studied or considered by MDA for operational deployments not be
identified by country or city name in any form on Unclassified
computer systems....."

The November 22, 2005 MDA memorandum on "Protection of Information
Regarding Operational Deployments" was obtained by Nick
Schwellenbach of the Project on Government Oversight and is
available here:

     http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/dod/mda112205.pdf

In an email message also obtained by POGO, an MDA security manager
paraphrased the policy this way: "Information regarding
operational deployments should be treated as 'Secret' for
political purposes and, for that reason, the information is to be
sent encrypted or by SIPRNET."

What is at issue here, explained Victoria Samson of the Center for
Defense Information, is the location of the third site for the
Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, which is still under
conideration.

But not everyone got the word.

In a March 20, 2006 briefing by MDA Director Gen. Trey Obering,
obtained by Ms. Samson, three countries are identified as possible
candidates for the third ground-based site: the United Kingdom,
the Czech Republic, and Poland.  See "Missile Defense Program
Update" (at slide 35):

     http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/dod/mda032006.pdf

Official controls on unclassified information have mushroomed in
recent years.  An interagency task force that conducted an
inventory of so-called Sensitive But Unclassified control markings
recently identified 164 distinct marking systems for controlling
unclassified information, according to Grace Mastalli, who
co-chaired the task force.

HOUSE BILL WOULD OPEN UP INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT

A bipartisan bill introduced in the House would require the House
Intelligence Committee to disclose information on intelligence
activities to other congressional committees, as long as such
disclosure did not reveal sensitive intelligence sources or
methods.

"In order to exercise proper oversight, House committees need all
pertinent information and, unfortunately, that process isn't
functioning as it was intended to," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ),
who introduced the bill.

"We should not have to rely on the morning paper to learn about
secret government programs, particularly when we sit on committees
that are charged with overseeing such programs," said Rep. Adam
Schiff (D-CA), a co-sponsor.

See the "Intelligence Oversight Act" (H.R. 5954) here:

     http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_cr/hr5954.html

In a move that may enhance its legislative prospects, the bill has
been referred to the House Rules Committee rather than to the
House Intelligence Committee, UPI's Shaun Waterman reported.

SOME RECENT CONGRESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

Some noteworthy congressional documents that have recently been
published include the following.

"The Need to Know: Information Sharing Lessons for Disaster
Response," House Committee on Government Reform, March 30, 2006:

     http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2006/infoshare.html

"Plane Clothes: Lack of Anonymity at the Federal Air Marshal
Service Compromises Aviation and National Security," House
Judiciary Committee investigative report, May 25, 2006:

     http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2006/plane.pdf

"The Terrorist Threat from Shoulder-Fired Missiles," House
Committee on International Relations, March 30, 2006:

     http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_hr/manpads.pdf

DOD ANNUAL REPORT ON COUNTERPROLIFERATION

The Department of Defense recently published its annual report on
counterproliferation, an overview of U.S. government programs to
detect, prevent and counter the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.

See "Report on Activities and Programs for Countering Proliferation
and NBC Terrorism, Counterproliferation Program Review
Committee," Volume I, Executive Summary, May 2006:

     http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/nbcterror2006.pdf

See also the related "Department of Defense Chemical and Biological
Defense Program, Annual Report to Congress," March 2006 (8.5 MB
PDF):

     http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cbdp2006.pdf

STEALTH SATELLITE SOURCEBOOK

Published sources on stealthy satellites were compiled in "A
Stealth Satellite Sourcebook" by independent researcher Allen
Thomson, available here:

     http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/track/stealth.pdf

An earlier compilation on the French GRAVES space surveillance
system, also by Mr. Thomson, may be found here:

     http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/track/graves.pdf

CRS ON INDIA AND PAKISTAN

New reports of the Congressional Research Service, not readily
available to the public, include the following:

"India-U.S. Relations," updated July 31, 2006:

     http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33529.pdf

"Pakistan-U.S. Relations," updated July 27, 2006:

     http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33498.pdf

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

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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web:    www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email:  saftergood at fas.org
voice:  (202) 454-4691