SECRECY NEWS – US MILITARY CASUALTY STATISTICS, AND MORE FROM CRS

A sobering compilation of statistics on injuries sustained by U.S.
military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan was updated this week by the
Congressional Research Service based in part on data that CRS gathered from
the Pentagon.

"This report includes statistics on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
traumatic brain injury (TBI), amputations, evacuations, and the
demographics of casualties," the CRS report said. "Some of these statistics
are publicly available at the Department of Defense's (DOD's) website,
whereas others have been obtained through contact with experts at DOD."

See "U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: Operation New Dawn, Operation
Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom," February 5, 2013:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS22452.pdf

Another newly updated CRS report presents an informative and diverting
account of politics in China.

"China's Communist Party dominates state and society in China, is
committed to maintaining a permanent monopoly on power, and is intolerant
of those who question its right to rule. Nonetheless, analysts consider
China's political system to be neither monolithic nor rigidly hierarchical.
Jockeying among leaders and institutions representing different sets of
interests is common at every level of the system."

See "Understanding China's Political System," January 31, 2013:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41007.pdf

And for good measure there is a CRS report on the legal foundation for
public access to government records.  See "Access to Government Information
In the United States: A Primer," January 16, 2013:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/97-71.pdf

There is no legal foundation that would guarantee public access to CRS
reports.  So they have to be obtained through alternate channels.

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
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email:  saftergood@fas.org
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