Secrecy News – SENATE PUTS BRAKES ON DEFENSE CLANDESTINE SERVICE

The Senate moved last week to restrain the rapid growth of the Defense
Clandestine Service, the Pentagon's human intelligence operation.

Under a provision of the FY2013 defense authorization act that was
approved on December 4, the Pentagon would be prohibited from hiring any
more spies than it had as of last April, and it would have to provide
detailed cost estimates and program plans in forthcoming reports to
Congress.

"DoD needs to demonstrate that it can improve the management of
clandestine HUMINT before undertaking any further expansion," the Senate
Armed Services Committee wrote in a report on the new legislation.

        http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_cr/ndaa-dcs.html

Longstanding problems with defense human intelligence cited by the
Committee include:  "inefficient utilization of personnel trained at
significant expense to conduct clandestine HUMINT; poor or non-existent
career management for trained HUMINT personnel; cover challenges; and
unproductive deployment locations."

The Committee noted further that "President Bush authorized 50 percent
growth in the CIA's case officer workforce, which followed significant
growth under President Clinton. Since 9/11, DOD's case officer ranks have
grown substantially as well. The committee is concerned that, despite this
expansion and the winding down of two overseas conflicts that required
large HUMINT resources, DOD believes that its needs are not being met."

Instead of an ambitious expansion, a tailored reduction in defense
intelligence spending might be more appropriate, the Committee said.

"If DOD is able to utilize existing resources much more effectively, the
case could be made that investment in this area could decline, rather than
remain steady or grow, to assist the Department in managing its fiscal and
personnel challenges," the Senate Committee wrote.

The Washington Post published a revealing account of Pentagon plans to
expand the size and reach of the defense human intelligence program in "DIA
sending hundreds more spies overseas" by Greg Miller, December 1.

Along with overhead surveillance, bolstering human intelligence has been
the focus of one of two major defense intelligence initiatives, said Under
Secretary of Defense (Intelligence) Michael G. Vickers last October.  The
Defense Clandestine Service "enable[s] us to be more effective in the
collection of national-level clandestine human intelligence across a range
of targets of paramount interest to the Department of Defense," he said.

The latest issues of the U.S. Army's Military Intelligence Professional
Bulletin, released under the Freedom of Information Act, are available here
(in some very large pdf files):

        http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/army/mipb/index.html

"A Short History of Army Intelligence" by Michael E. Bigelow of US Army
Intelligence and Security Command, dated July 2012, is available here:

        http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/army/short.pdf

Newly updated doctrine from the Joint Chiefs of Staff includes Information
Operations, JP 3-13, 27 November 2012:

        http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/jp3_13.pdf

and Joint Forcible Entry Operations, JP 3-18, 27 November 2012:

        http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/jp3_18.pdf

The defense authorization bill approved by the Senate last week also
called upon the Pentagon to expedite the domestic use of unmanned aerial
systems (UAS) and their integration into National Airspace System (NAS).

"While progress has been made in the last 5 years [in integrating UASs
into domestic airspace], the pace of development must be accelerated," the
Senate Armed Services Committee said in its report on the bill.  "Greater
cross-agency collaboration and resource sharing will contribute to that
objective."

"Without the ability to operate freely and routinely in the NAS, UAS
development and training -- and ultimately operational capabilities -- will
be severely impacted," the Senate Committee said.

        http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_cr/ndaa-uas.html

OPEN SOURCE TECHNOLOGIES FOR ARMS CONTROL

Members of the public are invited to develop and submit ideas to an essay
contest on the potential uses of open source information and technology to
support international arms control initiatives.

The State Department is sponsoring the contest in partnership with the
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and the Moscow-based
Center for Policy Studies.

        http://cns.miis.edu/stories/121206_open_source_esssay_contest.htm

"The contest aims to harness the ingenuity of American and Russian
citizens to think creatively about innovative ways to use open source
information and communication technologies for arms control verification,
compliance monitoring, and monitoring of sensitive facilities," the CNS
said in its announcement.

While an essay contest is not a momentous undertaking, this one does seem
to represent a wholesome awareness that the underlying realities of
national security are changing in fundamental ways.  It follows that
national security policies -- including classification policies and public
engagement -- need to adapt accordingly.  

"Diplomacy today is very different than it was at the dawn of the nuclear
age," the State Department said. "More often diplomacy is happening in the
open, and at quicker speeds."

"The astonishing advancements in information and communication
technologies include new tools and capabilities that could help support
arms control transparency and compliance.  This essay contest aims to
encourage more public participation, discussion and thought on arms
control," the State Department said.

There is already an impressive history of public participation in arms
control efforts, notably including the work of Thomas Cochran and the
Natural Resources Defense Council in demonstrating seismic monitoring for
verification of a low-threshold nuclear test ban.

IRAN'S BALLISTIC MISSILE PROGRAM, AND MORE FROM CRS

Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service
that Congress has not made publicly available include the following.

Iran's Ballistic Missile and Space Launch Programs, December 6, 2012:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/R42849.pdf

Syria's Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress, December 5, 2012:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/R42848.pdf

Egypt: Background and U.S. Relations, December 6, 2012:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33003.pdf

In Brief: Next Steps in the War in Afghanistan? Issues for Congress,
December 6, 2012:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42137.pdf

Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians, December 6, 2012:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41084.pdf

Detention of U.S. Persons as Enemy Belligerents, December 4, 2012:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42337.pdf

Right to Work Laws: Legislative Background and Empirical Research,
December 6, 2012:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42575.pdf

_______________________________________________
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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
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