ODNI Public Affairs: “Osama bin Laden’s handwritten will left millions for jihad. But even in the period shortly before his death, bin Laden placed the utmost importance on portraying his fraying organization as a united enterprise—while his lieutenants privately wrestled with their growing schism from al- Qa’ida in Iraq. As the tenth anniversary of the… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Defense
Paper – Rethinking Armageddon
Center for Strategic and Budget Assessment – includes link to the paper and the slides: “The First Nuclear Age was characterized by the Cold War era bipolar international system and a corresponding bipolar nuclear competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. While a few other states, such as Great Britain and France, also… Continue Reading
GAO reports on DHS HR IT failures
Homeland Security: Oversight of Neglected Human Resources Information Technology Investment Is Needed, GAO-16-253: Published: Feb 11, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 25, 2016: “DHS’s human resources administrative environment includes fragmented systems, duplicative and paper-based processes, and little uniformity of data management practices, which according to DHS, are compromising the department’s ability to effectively carry out its… Continue Reading
Dept. of Energy Notice – Protection of Human Subjects in Classified Research
Via Steven Aftergood – Secrecy News – “The Department of Energy last month issued new guidance on the conduct of classified scientific research involving human subjects. While all human subject research is governed by federal regulations, the new DOE policy imposes several additional requirements whenever such research is to be performed on a classified basis.… Continue Reading
GAO reports on huge costs to modernize National Nuclear Security Administration
Department of Energy: Observations on Efforts by NNSA and the Office of Environmental Management to Manage and Oversee the Nuclear Security Enterprise, GAO-16-422T: Published: Feb 23, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 23, 2016. “The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)—a separately organized agency within DOE—continues to face several ongoing challenges in modernizing the… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – Department of Energy, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Unaccompanied Children
Department of Energy: Observations on Efforts by NNSA and the Office of Environmental Management to Manage and Oversee the Nuclear Security Enterprise, GAO-16-422T: Published: Feb 23, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 23, 2016. Nuclear Nonproliferation: Preliminary Observations on IAEA’s Role in Verifying the Iran Agreement, GAO-16-417: Published: Feb 12, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 23, 2016. Unaccompanied… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – Hardrock Mining, Health Care Fraud, Military Enlisted Aides, Unaccompanied Children, DOD Service Acquisition, Military Base Closures
Hardrock Mining: BLM and Forest Service Have Taken Some Actions to Expedite the Mine Plan Review Process but Could Do More, GAO-16-165: Published: Jan 21, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 22, 2016. Health Care Fraud: Information on Most Common Schemes and the Likely Effect of Smart Cards, GAO-16-216: Published: Jan 22, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 22,… Continue Reading
Rethinking Counterterrorism in the Age of ISIS
Aziz, Sahar F., Rethinking Counterterrorism in the Age of ISIS (February 18, 2016). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2734341 Nations engage in preventive counterterrorism primarily through military and security tactics. Rather than address the underlying social, political, and economic conditions that produce politically-motivated violence, they misguidedly focus on the symptom — international terrorism. Moreover, the… Continue Reading
FY2017 Defense Budget Request: In Brief
FY2017 Defense Budget Request: In Brief – Lynn M. Williams, Analyst in U.S. Defense Budget Policy; Pat Towell, Specialist in U.S. Defense Policy and Budget. February 12, 2016. “The Administration’s FY2017 budget request includes $619.5 billion for national defense of which $590.6 billion is for the Department of Defense (DOD). Of the DOD total, $523.9… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – Missile Defense, Transportation Security
Missile Defense: Assessment of DOD’s Reports on Status of Efforts and Options for Improving Homeland Missile Defense, GAO-16-254R: Published: Feb 17, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 17, 2016: “Although DOD’s reports described the benefits of the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) ongoing efforts to improve homeland missile defense, GAO found that MDA faces risks and challenges pursuing… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – DOD Counterfeit Parts, Defense Logistics, International Remittances, Medicaid Nonemergency Transportation
Counterfeit Parts: DOD Needs to Improve Reporting and Oversight to Reduce Supply Chain Risk, GAO-16-236: Published: Feb 16, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 16, 2016. Defense Logistics: Enhanced Policy and Procedures Needed to Improve Management of Sensitive Conventional Ammunition, GAO-16-202: Published: Feb 16, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 16, 2016. International Remittances: Actions Needed to Address Unreliable… Continue Reading
Kickstarter seeks to make CIA Records Search Tool accessible to researchers
Michael Franco – cnet: “Currently, more than 11 million pages of declassified CIA documents are publicly available via an electronic database called CREST, or the CIA Records Search Tool. While some of these documents — like a batch of UFO related files the CIA cleverly calls its X-Files — are available online, many can only… Continue Reading
