From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood.nul>
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:08:03 -0500
Fwd Date: Thu, 09 Dec 2004 07:59:47 -0500
Subject: Secrecy News - 12/08/04


SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2004, Issue No. 109
December 8, 2004


**	INTELLIGENCE REFORM BILL APPROVED IN HOUSE
**	2005 INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION CONFERENCE REPORT
**	SOME NEW CRS PRODUCTS
**	ISLAMIC RULINGS ON WARFARE
**	GLENDA JACKSON, MP CONFRONTS IRAQ WAR SECRECY


INTELLIGENCE REFORM BILL APPROVED IN HOUSE

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 is
on its way to becoming law, having been passed by the House of
Representatives on December 7 by a vote of 336-75.

The full ramifications of the intelligence reform package are
unknown and perhaps unknowable, given the enormous size of the
legislation and its frequent opacity.

With respect to secrecy policy, there were several notable
developments.

The Act's rejection of intelligence budget disclosure - despite
the unanimous recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and the
endorsement of the full Senate - is a setback that tends to
reinforce the arbitrary and excessive secrecy that the 9/11
Commission found in the intelligence bureaucracy.

On the more positive side, the Act revivifies the dormant Public
Interest Declassification Board, formally established four years
ago but never convened, and assigns it the additional task of
"reviewing" congressional requests for declassification of
particular records. Though the Board will have no independent
authority to speak of, it may turn out to serve as a useful
forum for adjudicating classification disputes.

Perhaps the most important secrecy-related feature of the
Intelligence Reform Act is what is not in it: the authority to
create an entirely autonomous new classification system for
intelligence. As noted by Kate Martin of the Center for National
Security Studies, previous versions of the Act appeared to grant
such authority to the Director of National Intelligence, with
potentially fearful consequences.

But with the assistance and timely intervention of Senator
Patrick Leahy (D-VT), that bullet has been dodged:

"The conference report does not expand authority under which
information is classified, which is pursuant to Executive Order
or other Presidential directive, but rather directs the DNI to
establish and implement guidelines for the intelligence
community for the purpose of such classification of
information," according to the conference report explanatory
statement.

The text of the conference report on the intelligence reform
bill (House Report 107-796, 770KB) is here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_rpt/h108-796.html

A 26-page summary of the conference report prepared by the
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_rpt/s2845-summ.pdf

The December 7 House floor debate and vote on the measure is
here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/h120704.html


2005 INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION CONFERENCE REPORT

The conference report on the intelligence authorization for
fiscal year 2005 (which began October 1) has finally been
completed. A copy of the document (House Report 108-798) is
posted here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_rpt/h108-798.html

Senators Rockefeller, Levin, Wyden and Durbin declined to sign
the conference report because they objected to "continued
funding of a major [classified] acquisition program that they
believe is unnecessary and the cost of which they believe is
unjustified," the report notes obliquely at the end.


SOME NEW CRS PRODUCTS

"Port and Maritime Security: Potential for Terrorist Nuclear
Attack Using Oil Tankers," December 7, 2004:

http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RS21997.pdf

"Intelligence Community Reorganization: Potential Effects on DOD
Intelligence Agencies," updated December 6, 2004:

http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32515.pdf

"Homeland Security Advisory System: Possible Issues for
Congressional Oversight," updated November 12, 2004:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/RL32023.pdf

"Emergency Communications: The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and
All-Hazard Warnings," updated November 12, 2004:

http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32527.pdf

"Continuity of Operations (COOP) in the Executive Branch:
Background and Issues for Congress," updated November 8, 2004:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/RL31857.pdf

"Potential Military Use of Airships and Aerostats," updated
November 11, 2004:

http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RS21886.pdf


ISLAMIC RULINGS ON WARFARE

A new study published by the US Army War College identifies
central themes pertaining to war in Islamic theology, argues
that they have been misinterpreted by Islamist militants, and
proposes an interpretation of key texts that the authors say
could serve to inform an ideological opposition to Islamist
militancy.

See "Islamic Rulings on Warfare" by Youssef H. Aboul-Enein and
Sherifa Zuhur, US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute,
October 2004:

http://www.fas.org/man/eprint/islamic.pdf


GLENDA JACKSON, MP CONFRONTS IRAQ WAR SECRECY

Official investigation into the decision to go to war in Iraq
seems to have fizzled out in the United States, along with such
other inconvenient matters as Bush Administration policy on
torture. But in the United Kingdom, at least, the origins of the
Iraq war are still something of a live issue.

According to a recent article in the New Statesman, British
Attorney General Lord Goldsmith was pressured by the US
government in 2003 to advise the British government that
unilateral military action in Iraq would be legal even without
specific authorization from the United Nations.

Lord Goldsmith had initially been a skeptic on this point, the
Statesman article said, but his mind was changed by a February
2003 meeting with John B. Bellinger III of the National Security
Council. The White House telephone directory identifies Mr.
Bellinger as Senior Associate Counsel to the President and NSC
Legal Adviser.

See "The law chief who bowed to Blair" by John Kampfner, New
Statesman, November 22:

http://www.jkampfner.net/articles/ns221104.html

Exactly what did Mr. Bellinger of the NSC tell Lord Goldsmith in
2003 to change his mind?

That's what Glenda Jackson, the brilliant actress who is now a
Member of Parliament for the Labour Party, wanted to know.

She posed the question to the UK Solicitor General on November
30.

The answer came back: "These were confidential Government to
Government discussions and their content is covered by legal
professional privilege." See:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2004/11/glenda113004.html



_______________________________________________
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
web:  www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood.nul
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