[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 02/14/12
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:28:53 -0500 (EST)
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Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:13:31 -0500
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: saftergood@xxxxxxx
Subject: Secrecy News -- 02/14/12
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SECRECY NEWS
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from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2012, Issue No. 13
February 14, 2012
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Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
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** PENTAGON DISCLOSES MILITARY INTEL BUDGET REQUEST
** US-CHINA MILITARY CONTACTS, AND MORE FROM CRS
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PENTAGON DISCLOSES MILITARY INTEL BUDGET REQUEST
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From a secrecy policy point of view, the Administration's FY 2013 budget
proposal that was released yesterday contained one surprise: The Department
of Defense disclosed the amount of its request for the Military Intelligence
Program (MIP). This is something that the Pentagon has never done before
and indeed had refused to do.
"The Department of Defense released today the military intelligence program
(MIP) requested top line budget for fiscal 2013," the DoD said in a February
13 news release. "The total request, which includes both the base budget
and Overseas Contingency Operations appropriations, is $19.2 billion."
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2012/02/mip-2013.html
This disclosure is noteworthy from several points of view, and not only
because it represents a sizable drop from the recent peak MIP budget of $27
billion in FY2010.
Significantly, the Pentagon was not obliged or compelled to release this
information. In the FY2010 Intelligence Authorization Act (section 364),
Congress mandated that the President "shall disclose to the public" the
amount of the budget request for the National Intelligence Program (NIP).
And that NIP budget request -- $52.6 billion for FY 2013 -- was also
disclosed yesterday by the Director of National Intelligence, for the second
year in a row.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2012/02/nip-2013.pdf
But Congress was silent on public disclosure of the MIP request, and DoD was
under no legal obligation to release it.
Moreover, DoD had explicitly refused to divulge its MIP budget request as
recently as two months ago. In response to a FOIA request for release of
last year's MIP request, the Pentagon wrote on December 7, 2011 that the
size of the MIP budget request "is currently and properly classified." See
"DoD Says Military Intel Budget Request is Classified," Secrecy News,
December 14, 2011.
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2011/12/mip_request_denied.html
So what happened between then and now? Something all too rare in the world
of secrecy policy: DoD classification officials reconsidered their position
and changed their mind. An impartial assessment of the matter evidently led
to the conclusion that disclosure of the MIP budget request would not damage
national security and therefore should not be classified.
The ongoing Fundamental Classification Guidance Review is an effort to
systematically promote similar "impartial assessments" of all other aspects
of national security classification.
The disclosure of the MIP budget request now goes on a short but weighty
list of declassification "firsts" that have occurred in the Obama
Administration, including routine publication of the NIP, MIP and aggregate
intelligence budgets, disclosure of the size of the U.S. nuclear weapons
stockpile, and a handful of other revelations.
Yesterday's news release announcing the MIP total request stated that "No
other MIP budget figures or program details will be released, as they remain
classified for national security reasons." However, DoD budget materials
that were released yesterday indicated that the new MIP budget request
included $4.5 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, a reduction from
$5.8 billion in the current fiscal year.
US-CHINA MILITARY CONTACTS, AND A LOT MORE FROM CRS
New and newly updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that
Congress has not made readily available to the public include the following.
U.S.-China Military Contacts: Issues for Congress, February 10, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32496.pdf
China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities --
Background and Issues for Congress, February 8, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf
Military Base Closure: Socioeconomic Impacts, February 7, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS22147.pdf
Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges, February 13,
2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/R40240.pdf
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Countries: Comparative Trade and Economic
Analysis, February 8, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42344.pdf
Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests,
February 10, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33407.pdf
U.S. Sanctions on Burma, February 7, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41336.pdf
Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, February 6,
2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL30588.pdf
Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (CVN) Homeporting at Mayport: Background and
Issues for Congress, February 9, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/R40248.pdf
Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for
Congress, February 9, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RS20643.pdf
Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for
Congress, February 3, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RL32109.pdf
Iran Sanctions, February 10, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS20871.pdf
Internet Governance and the Domain Name System: Issues for Congress,
February 9, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42351.pdf
Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data, February 8, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42346.pdf
Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, February 7, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41153.pdf
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_______________________________________________
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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation
of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
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Support the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation:
http://www.fas.org/member/donate_today.html
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_______________________
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Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@xxxxxxx
voice: (202) 454-4691
twitter: @saftergood
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Other related posts:
- » [net-gold] Secrecy News -- 02/14/12 - David P. Dillard
