SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2009, Issue No. 91
November 18, 2009

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

LEGAL ISSUES SURROUNDING MILITARY COMMISSIONS

The role of military commissions in adjudicating the cases of suspected terrorist detainees at Guantanamo and elsewhere was critically examined in two House Judiciary Subcommittee hearings last July, the records of which have just been published.

"My concern remains," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who chaired the hearings, "that we may be creating a system in which we try you in Federal court if we have strong evidence, we try you by military commission if we have weak evidence, and we detain you indefinitely if we have no evidence."

"That is not a justice system," Rep. Nadler said.

See "Legal Issues Surrounding the Military Commissions System," House Judiciary Committee, July 8, 2009:

and "Proposals for Reform of the Military Commissions System," House Judiciary Committee, July 30, 2009:

2010 ARMY WEAPON SYSTEMS HANDBOOK

The U.S. Army has published the latest edition of its Army Weapon Systems handbook, cataloging dozens of Army weapons with descriptive information, status updates, contractor relationships, and images.

"The systems listed in this book are not isolated, individual products," the introduction says. "Rather, they are part of an integrated investment approach to make the Army of the future able to deal successfully with the challenges it will face."

"We have received extraordinary funding support through wartime Overseas Contingency Operations funds, but they have only enabled us to sustain the current fight. We look forward to continued Congressional support to achieve our broad modernization goals."

See "2010 Army Weapon Systems Handbook":

******************************

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

See also "Reducing Government Secrecy: Finding What Works" by Steven Aftergood, Yale Law and Policy Review, vol. 27, no. 2, Spring 2009:
      http://www.fas.org/sgp/eprint/aftergood.pdf

The Secrecy News blog is at:
      http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
     http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/subscribe.html

To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to:
      http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/unsubscribe.html

OR email your request to saftergood@fas.org

Secrecy News is archived at:
      http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html

SUPPORT the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation here:
      http://www.fas.org/sgp/donate.html