[NYTr] FAS Secrecy News - 10/22/07

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2007, Issue No. 104
October 22, 2007

Secrecy News Blog:  http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

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**	INTELLIGENCE BUDGET WILL BE DISCLOSED, ODNI SAYS
**	TREATMENT OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS CASUALTIES

INTELLIGENCE BUDGET WILL BE DISCLOSED, ODNI SAYS

Within a week, the Director of National Intelligence will formally
disclose the size of the National Intelligence Program budget for
fiscal year 2007, an ODNI spokeswoman said.

The anticipated disclosure marks the culmination of decades of
advocacy, debate and litigation.

Last July Congress enacted an intelligence budget disclosure
requirement over White House objections as part of a bill to implement
the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

"The Administration strongly opposes the requirement in the bill to
publicly disclose sensitive information about the intelligence budget,"
according to a February 28 statement of administration policy.

But on August 3 President Bush nevertheless signed the final bill,
which allows the (next) President to waive the disclosure requirement
on national security grounds, if necessary, starting in 2009.

The disclosure requirement states (in section 601 of H.R. 1):

"Not later than 30 days after the end of each fiscal year beginning
with fiscal year 2007, the Director of National Intelligence shall
disclose to the public the aggregate amount of funds appropriated by
Congress for the National Intelligence Program for such fiscal year."

Since fiscal year 2007 ended on September 30, the legal deadline for
budget disclosure is October 30.

Will the DNI comply?

"That's what the law requires," said Vanee Vines of the ODNI public
affairs office today, "and we're going to follow the law."

The aggregate intelligence budget (a broad term which included
"tactical" as well as "national" intelligence spending) was first
officially disclosed ten years ago, in October 1997, in response to a
Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Federation of American
Scientists. At that time, the (FY 1997) budget figure was $26.6
billion.  The last officially authorized disclosure was in March 1998,
when the budget was $26.7 billion.

TREATMENT OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS CASUALTIES

The treatment of injuries caused by chemical weapons and other chemical
agents is addressed in a new military field manual.

The manual, issued jointly by the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force,
characterizes the threat from chemical weapons, describes the diagnosis
of chemical injuries and outlines preventive and remedial measures.

See "Multiservice Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Treatment of
Chemical Agent Casualties and Conventional Military Chemical Injuries,"
FM 4-02.285, September 2007:

     http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm4-02-285.pdf

Last week, President Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential
Directive 21 on "Public Health and Medical Preparedness," which is
intended to advance "preparedness for all potential catastrophic health
events."

     http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspd/hspd-21.htm

_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.

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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
1725 DeSales St NW, 6th floor
Washington, DC  20036

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email:  saftergood at fas.org
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