[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 07/11/12
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 11:53:17 -0400 (EDT)
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Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:08:21 -0400
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: saftergood@xxxxxxx
Subject: Secrecy News -- 07/11/12
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SECRECY NEWS
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from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy Volume 2012, Issue No. 66 July
11, 2012
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Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
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** FUNDAMENTAL CLASSIFICATION REVIEW YIELDS UNCERTAIN RESULTS
** ARTICLE V CONVENTIONS TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION, AND MORE FROM CRS
** PENTAGON: IRAN SEEKS TO "FORCE A DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION TO HOSTILITIES"
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FUNDAMENTAL CLASSIFICATION REVIEW YIELDS UNCERTAIN RESULTS
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The executive branch has just completed a two-year review of its
classification guidance that was ordered by President Obama as a way to
combat overclassification of government information. The Review was
intended "to ensure the guidance reflects current circumstances and to
identify classified information that no longer requires protection and can
be declassified" (as per section 1.9 of executive order 13526).
The early results of the Fundamental Classification Guidance Review, which
formally concluded on June 27, make it clear that something out of the
ordinary occurred and that some changes have been made, but the significance
of those changes remains uncertain.
The single most dramatic outcome of the Review is that the Department of
Defense, which is the largest classifying agency, eliminated more than 400
of its 2000 classification guides. Each guide is a compilation of detailed
classification instructions for an individual program or topical area.
Those cancelled guides can no longer be used to authorize the classification
of information.
"Approximately 20% of DoD's non-compartmented SCGs [security classification
guides] have either been eliminated or identified for retirement," the
Pentagon said in its final report on the Fundamental Review.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/dod/fcgr-final.pdf
The Air Force eliminated 44 guides (out of 306 extant), the Army eliminated
72 guides (out of 417), and the Navy eliminated 248 guides (out of 988), the
DoD report showed.
Unfortunately, the practical effect of these startling reductions is hard to
assess, and it may well be less substantial than the impressive numbers
would suggest. To the extent that the cancelled guides pertain to programs
that have been terminated, their elimination will have no effect whatsoever.
Likewise, to the extent that their contents may have been incorporated into
or are duplicative of other guides which have not been cancelled, the result
is a wash.
In some cases, it is certain that no declassification resulted from the
process. Thus, the Joint Staff, DARPA, and DTRA all state explicitly that
none of their information was declassified as a result of the Fundamental
Review, since it was all deemed to be properly classified.
In other cases, however, some declassification is known to have occurred due
to the Review. The National Reconnaissance Office, for example, downgraded
several categories of classified NRO information and declassified two of
them: "the identification of a contractor as an NRO satellite vehicle
contractor" and "the 'fact of' real-time command and control telemetry."
http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/intel/nro-class.pdf
Even such narrow modifications can produce measurable changes in disclosure
policy. In 2008, the "fact of" NRO radar satellite reconnaissance was
declassified, which led to the release this week of an extensive body of NRO
material about the QUILL synthetic aperture radar satellite, which flew in
1964.
http://www.nro.gov/foia/declass/QUILL.html
But the general lack of clarity concerning the results of the Fundamental
Review is something of a disappointment. Moreover, it is not consistent
with the guidance that was provided to agencies last January by the Director
of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), John P. Fitzpatrick.
"To the greatest extent possible," Mr. Fitzpatrick wrote then, the final
reports of the Fundamental Review "should be informative as to how much
information that was classified is no longer classified as a result of the
review. The report should also provide the best estimate of how much
information that would normally have been classified in the future will now
not become classified."
The DoD Report, at least, did not fulfill that instruction.
Mr. Fitzpatrick said yesterday that he was still reviewing the reports of
the Fundamental Review, which will all be posted on the ISOO website, and
that he would discuss them at a later date.
Even in agencies where declassification did not take place, the improved
quality of the classification guidance that resulted from the Review appears
to have had a salutary effect on the classification system.
According to the latest ISOO Annual Report to the President, the number of
original classification decisions -- or newly generated secrets -- actually
decreased by a sizable 43% from 2010 to 2011. The number of original
classifications last year was lower than it has been since 1996.
"The primary reason for this is a greater utilization of classification
guides and greater adherence to executive order guidance on the
incorporation of original decisions into classification guides," the ISOO
report said.
ARTICLE V CONVENTIONS TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION, AND MORE FROM CRS
The Congressional Research Service has just produced a second report
concerning "Article V Conventions" by which state legislatures can try to
initiate amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
"The Article V Convention for proposing amendments was the subject of
considerable debate and forethought at the Constitutional Convention [in
1787]," the new report says. "The founders clearly intended it as a balance
to proposal of amendments by Congress, providing the people, through their
state legislatures, with an alternative means to consider amendments,
particularly if Congress was unable or unwilling to act on its own. Since it
is one of the few provisions of the Constitution that has never been
implemented, however, the Article V Convention presents many questions for
Congress."
See "The Article V Convention for Proposing Constitutional Amendments:
Historical Perspectives for Congress," July 10, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42592.pdf
The earlier Article V report on Contemporary Issues for Congress, noted
yesterday, is here:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42589.pdf
Other new and updated CRS reports that have not been made readily available
to the public include the following.
Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response, July 9, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33467.pdf
Higher Education Tax Benefits: Brief Overview and Budgetary Effects, July
10, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41967.pdf
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, July 10, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42593.pdf
Yesterday, Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-NJ) introduced
a resolution in the House of Representatives that make non-confidential CRS
reports publicly available on a congressional website. If the resolution is
approved, the public would have authorized access to most CRS reports and
would no longer have to rely on unauthorized access. See "New Bill Would
Open CRS Reports to Public" by Daniel Schuman of the Sunlight Foundation:
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/07/10/
PENTAGON: IRAN SEEKS TO "FORCE A DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION TO HOSTILITIES"
Iran continues to develop its military capabilities, including ballistic
missiles, nuclear weapons-related technologies, and unconventional forces,
according to a new Department of Defense report to Congress.
The Pentagon assessment was first reported yesterday in "Iran's Ballistic
Missiles Improving, Pentagon Finds" by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News.
http://www.bloomberg.com/archive/news/2012-07-10/
The report itself appears to stress that while developing offensive
capabilities, Iran's military posture is essentially defensive in character.
"Iran's military doctrine remains designed to slow an invasion; target its
adversaries' economic, political, and military interests; and force a
diplomatic solution to hostilities while avoiding any concessions that
challenge its core interests," the report says.
Similarly, "Iran's unconventional forces are trained according to its
asymmetric warfare doctrine and would present a formidable force while
defending Iranian territory."
A copy of the new Pentagon Annual Report on Military Power of Iran, dated
April 2012 but transmitted to Congress late last month, is available here:
http://www.fas.org/man/eprint/dod-iran.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/
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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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