Iran

Mitigating risks of bio research, implications of Israeli strike on Iran, fissile materials and much more.

From the Blogs

• Military Intelligence and the Human Terrain System: Secrecy News has obtained the latest issue of the Army’s Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin which is devoted to the Human Terrain System (HTS),  a U.S. Army program to conduct social and cultural studies in support of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bulletin provides theoretical and practical accounts from HTS personnel in the field.

• New Policy on Mitigating Risks of Bio Research: In a new U.S. government policy released by the National Institutes of Health, certain types of life science research involving “high consequence pathogens and toxins” would be subject to new review and risk mitigation procedures which might include classification of the research or termination of the funding.

• Back to the Basics- Producing Fissile Materials: Fissile materials have been in the news recently in regards to Iran’s uranium enrichment program, North Korea’s continuing nuclear weapons program and the recent Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul. Dr. Y discusses what fissile materials are, how they are produced and why they are a security problem on the ScienceWonk blog.

• “Power and Constraint” and Mutual Frustration: Steven Aftergood writes about a new book by Jack Goldsmith, Power and Constraint, which concludes that constitutional government is alive and well in the United States. Goldsmith, a former head of the Bush Administration’s Office of Legal Counsel, disputes the widely accepted view that traditional checks and balances have been diminished by the war on terrorism.

• Implications of an Israeli Strike on Iran and More from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained recently released CRS reports on topics such as the implications of Israel attacking Iranian nuclear targets, foreign assistance to North Korea and the growing emphasis on Asia as a focus for U.S. national security planning.

FAS Roundup: March 5, 2012

Syria and WMD, Chinese ICBMs spotted, DoD responds to nuclear targeting questions, why sanctions on Iran won’t work and much more.

From the Blogs

• DoD Responds to Questions on Nuclear Targeting: Are U.S. nuclear forces on hair trigger alert? Not exactly, a Department of Defense official told Congress. “Although it is true that portions of the U.S. nuclear triad are capable of rapid execution upon authorization from the President, a robust system of safeguards and procedures are in place to prevent the accidental or unauthorized launch of a U.S. nuclear weapon,” said James N. Miller, Jr., Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

• Chinese Mobile ICBMs Seen in Central China: Hans Kristensen writes that recent satellite images show that China is setting up launch units for its newest road-mobile Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in central China. Several launchers of the new DF-31/31A appeared at two sites in the eastern part of the Qinghai province in June 2011; which is part of China’s slow modernization of its small (compared with Russia and the United States) nuclear arsenal.

• Court Says Agency Classification Decision is Not “Logical”: DC District Judge Richard W. Roberts did an astonishing thing that federal courts almost never do: He probed into the decision to classify a government document and concluded that it was not well-founded, in an opinion that was published this week. He ordered the agency to release the document under the Freedom of Information Act.

FAS Roundup: January 9, 2012

New defense strategy, U.S. Army communications security, the collision course between Iran and the U.S., new CRS reports and much more.  

From the Blogs

• Army Red Teams Test Communications Security: Steven Aftergood writes about the newly revised Army regulation which prescribes the use of “red teams” that are assigned to try and penetrate the security of military communications, as if they were hackers or opposition forces.

• A New Defense Strategy: A New Nuclear Strategy?: The Obama administration presented a new defense strategy that it says is needed to realign U.S. military forces and doctrine with the reductions in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the new fiscal constraints created by the financial crisis. Hans Kristensen writes that it is important that the commitment in the new defense strategy to maintaining a nuclear deterrent does not overshadow the equally important commitment to reducing the size and role of nuclear forces.

• JASON on Producing Tritium for Fusion Reactors: If nuclear fusion were ever to become a practical method of generating electrical energy, there would be a continuing requirement to produce significant quantities of tritium for fusion reactor fuel. The JASON scientific advisory panel was asked by the DOE to assess the feasibility of large scale tritium production; the findings were presented in a new report obtained by Secrecy News.

• Director of National Intelligence Cuts Jobs and Secrets in 2011: Steven Aftergood writes that with the reduction in the workforce at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), there has also been a decline in the level of ODNI classification activity, which dropped by 17.3% from the year before.

• The Big Picture: Keeping Radiation Risks in Perspective: A dentist in the UK was sued for taking panoramic x-rays of some of his patients. Nobody claimed to have been injured, but some patients were concerned about being put at needless risk. Are we so focused on radiation safety and radiological risk reduction that we have lost sight of the larger picture?

• Periods of War, and More from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained new CRS reports on topics such as key issues of the Keystone XL Pipeline Project, super PACS, and growing income inequality. Note: The next issue of Secrecy News will be published the week of January 16, 2012.

FAS Roundup: December 26, 2011

New CRS reports, letter to President Obama regarding Iran, U.S. electric power grid vulnerability to severe weather  and much more.  

From the Blogs

• Congress Approves 2012 Intelligence Authorization: Steven Aftergood writes that before the House and Senate passed the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, there was a conspicuous absence of public debate on any issue of intelligence policy. No dissenting views were expressed.  Nor was there any discussion of or insight into current intelligence controversies.

• U.S. Arms Sales and More from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained new CRS reports regarding arms sales and Pakistan.

•  JASON on Severe Space Weather and the Electric Grid: The U.S. electric power grid is vulnerable to damage from severe electromagnetic solar storms and remedial measures should be taken to reduce that vulnerability, a new study from the JASON scientific advisory panel concluded.

• Libya and War Powers: Steven Aftergood writes that the U.S. government acknowledges that U.S. military forces were involved in “armed conflict” this year in Libya, but it does not acknowledge that they were engaged in “hostilities.”

FAS Roundup: December 5, 2011

Dormant civil liberties oversight board, podcast highlighting Iran’s nuclear program, new CRS reports and more. 

From the Blogs

• Civil Liberties Oversight Board Still Dormant: The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight board was supposed to provide independent oversight of U.S. counterterrorism policies. But, it remains dormant as its members have not been named or confirmed.

• In the 1950s, Dr. Mary Jean Scott Silk joined the Federation of American Scientists. She worked at Brookhaven National Laboratories from 1952 to 1958 and graduated from John Hopkins University with a doctorate in nuclear physics in 1958. In a Q+A with Dr. Scott Silk on the FAS in a Nutshell Blog, she discusses her involvement with FAS in its early years, her work at Brookhaven and future nuclear threats. 

• New CRS Reports: The history, missions and operations of the nine U.S. military combatant commands (COCOMs) are detailed in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. Additionally, Secrecy News has obtained new  reports regarding the expanding role of women in combat, secret sessions of Congress, and legislation to authorize and require military detention of suspected terrorists.

• New Intelligence Directive on Congressional Notification: Steven Aftergood writes that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has issued a new Intelligence Community Directive on “Congressional Notification” that generally encourages “a presumption of notification” to Congress regarding significant intelligence activities.