[NYTr] FAS Secrecy News -- 12/26/2007
All the News That Doesn't Fit
nytr at blythe-systems.com
Wed Dec 26 16:19:21 EST 2007
SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2007, Issue No. 126
December 26, 2007
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
Support Secrecy News: http://www.fas.org/static/contrib_sec.jsp
** "DEEMED EXPORTS" AND THE STIRRINGS OF A NEW SECURITY POLICY
** CIA: 50 YEAR OLD BUDGET DATA WOULD DAMAGE NATIONAL SECURITY
** SELECTED CRS REPORTS
"DEEMED EXPORTS" AND THE STIRRINGS OF A NEW SECURITY POLICY
U.S. government regulations that limit disclosures of certain
scientific and technical information to foreign nationals -- known as
"deemed exports" -- are obsolete and need to be replaced, according to
a new advisory committee report.
More broadly, however, the new report reflects the growing realization
that government secrecy policies have become counterproductive and need
to be recalibrated to adapt to evolving technological and geopolitical
realities.
"In this new world order, a nation that attempts to build a 'wall'
around its scientific and technologic communities simply denies itself
the opportunity to fully benefit from the vast body of knowledge being
accumulated elsewhere - and thereby virtually assures itself of an
inferior competitive position in the knowledge world," the report
states.
"With the important exception of a very few highly sensitive military
areas, the United States is better served to partner in the global
creation of knowledge than to attempt to protect the lesser body of
knowledge that can be generated through purely domestic research
efforts."
"Stated otherwise, protecting what we know is in most instances not the
primary concern; participating in creating that body of scientific and
technical knowledge that is not known is the concern."
While secrecy -- "protecting what we know" -- may still be the first
instinct of those seeking to preserve the technological advantages
enjoyed by the United States, the advisory committee concluded that
this approach is no longer well-founded, if it ever was.
"The United States in the latter half of the 20th century was
preeminent in many, probably most, fields of scientific and engineering
endeavor. Today, the United States is but one among a number of nations
or groups of nations competing for leadership across the spectrum of
scientific and engineering disciplines. Just a few examples where other
nations have already established leadership positions include polymer
composites (Germany), 3D optical memories (Japan), bulk metallic glass
(Japan), biostatistics/multivariate statistics (France), population
biology (UK), adaptive dynamics (Germany/Switzerland), theoretical
biology (Netherlands), and solar energy (Japan/Germany). Any nation
today seeking to remain at the forefront of science and technology must
be an active participant in the global science and technology community
if it is to be successful."
"In the evolving environment, unlike the recent past, denial of access
to United States-possessed knowledge can often be circumvented simply
by obtaining it from others."
"The seemingly inescapable conclusion from these evolving circumstances
is that the erection of high 'walls' around large segments of the
nation's science and engineering knowledge base has become not only
increasingly impracticable, but that attempts to build such walls are
likely to prove counterproductive - not only to America's commercial
prowess but also, in balance, to America's ability to defend itself."
"That is, the nation will be better served, in balance, by seeking to
accelerate its own technical prowess than by seeking to deny potential
enemies access to broad ranges of knowledge."
Though focused specifically on "deemed exports" and disclosures of
scientific information to foreign persons, this analysis has obvious
implications for the national security classification system and other
restrictive information security policies.
The advisory committee, chaired by Norman Augustine, the former CEO of
Lockheed Martin, was composed of various luminaries from academia, the
commercial sector and the national security community. Its findings
were first reported by Paul Basken in the Chronicle of Higher Education
on December 21.
See "The Deemed Export Rule in the Era of Globalization," submitted to
the Secretary of Commerce, December 20, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/deemedexports.pdf
"Yes, disclosing information may cause damage," said William Leonard of
the Information Security Oversight Office in a valedictory interview
with Newsweek this week. "But you know what, withholding that
information may even cause greater damage... And I don't think we
[have] sufficiently taken that into account."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/81883/
CIA: 50 YEAR OLD BUDGET DATA WOULD DAMAGE NATIONAL SECURITY
If a new information security policy emerges, it's not likely to come
from the Central Intelligence Agency, which still adheres to the
coldest of cold war secrecy policies.
Due to CIA classification restrictions, a new State Department
documentary collection on The Intelligence Community, 1950-1955 suffers
from significant, basic omissions.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/truman/c24687.htm
"Between the fiscal years ended June 30, 1947 and 1955 the total budget
has increased from approximately [dollar figures not declassified]," the
official history states (in document 192, the Doolittle report).
Similarly, "The number of civilian employees of the Agency under
personnel ceilings has increased from [number not declassified] at June
30, 1947, to an estimated [number not declassified] for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1955."
Thus, the official government history of U.S. intelligence from
1950-1955 does not include either the budget or the size of the CIA.
Instead, this half-century old information remains classified, which
indicates that CIA thinks its disclosure would damage national
security.
That, of course, is too silly to require refutation. All it means is
that CIA's views on classification policy can safely be ignored by
anyone who is not legally obliged to comply with them.
Fortunately, a good deal of the historical CIA budget information that
was withheld from the State Department volume can be found in David M.
Barrett's book "The CIA and Congress" (University Press of Kansas,
2005) at pages 154-156.
*
Secrecy News was too hasty in writing the December 20 headline that
"Foreign Relations in the U.S. [was] Not Published in 2007." That
turned out to be wrong.
On December 21, 2007 the State Department published two print volumes
of the Foreign Relations of the United States series, along with an
electronic document collection.
In addition to the Intelligence Community volume, the State Historian's
Office released a FRUS volume on "Greece, Cyprus, Turkey 1973-1976"
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/xxx/index.htm
and an online collection of documents on South Asia, 1973-1976.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/e8/index.htm
It is possible to detect signs of haste in the new publications as
well. For example, the South Asia online collection includes two
documents (Chapter 3, documents 56 and 61) dated April 27, 1973 and
August 1, 1973 that are attributed to Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger. But Kissinger did not assume the role of Secretary of State
until September 22, 1973.
SELECTED CRS REPORTS
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that
have not been made readily available to the public include the
following.
"U.S. Arms Sales: Agreements with and Deliveries to Major Clients,
1999-2006," December 20, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RL34291.pdf
"Overview of Education Issues and Programs in Latin America," December
19, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS22778.pdf
"Nuclear Weapons: The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program," updated
December 18, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL32929.pdf
"Intelligence Estimates: How Useful to Congress?," updated December 14,
2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RL33733.pdf
"North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: Latest Developments," updated December
5, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL34256.pdf
"Franking Privilege: Historical Development and Options for Change,"
December 5, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34274.pdf
_______________________________________________
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
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood at fas.org
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