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May 2007 Intelligence News

• NIC sponsors wiki on global disease by Patience Wait, Government Computer News, May 31. "At the invitation of the National Intelligence Council, a group of graduate students attending Mercyhurst College’s Institute for Intelligence Studies has used their Strategic Intelligence class project to support and supplement the council’s work on global disease."
• LANL: Archive policies haven't changed by Roger Snodgrass, Los Alamos Monitor, May 31. "Harvard University graduate student Alex Wellerstein is working on a dissertation on nuclear secrecy, 1939-2005. If he extends his field of study by two years to 2007, he could include some of his own recent experiences."
• CRS: Terrorists Increasingly Rely on Crime, United Press International, May 29. " Terrorists are increasingly relying on criminal activity to finance their operations, a new study from Congressional Research Service says. State-sponsorship is declining and terrorists groups are increasingly decentralized and more amateur, CRS finds, which leads the cells to crime."
• Rockefeller Unveils Phase II Report on Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Postwar Iraq, news release, May 25. "The Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Jay Rockefeller, today unveiled one of the final remaining sections of the Committee’s review on pre-war intelligence."
• Intelligence bill's 'earmarks' no longer secret by Richard Willing, USA Today, May 25. "Budget changes have made public for the first time nearly $100 million in special intelligence projects being pushed by individual members of the House of Representatives — and touched off a spat about whether the largest of the projects is wasteful."
• Air America and Similar Contractor Employees were Not "Active Duty," Air Force Says, Federal Register notice, May 25. They "shall not be considered 'active duty' for purposes of all laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs."
• Libby Trial Judge Joins Secret FISA Court by Shaun Waterman, United Press International, May 24. "The judge who presided over the trial of vice presidential aide Lewis Libby has been appointed to the secret court that oversees U.S. intelligence wiretaps."
• Senate panel approves intelligence authorization measure by Andrew Noyes, National Journal's Technology Daily, May 24. "The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday approved its fiscal 2008 authorization bill, which would grant more flexibility and authority to the national intelligence director while requiring greater accountability from the intelligence community."
• Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence to be Dual-Hatted as Director of Defense Intelligence, ODNI news release, May 24. "Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell signed a memorandum of agreement this week that establishes a role for the under secretary of defense for intelligence as the director of defense intelligence within the Office of the DNI."
• Another Surveillance Program or a Lie? by Laura McGann, TPM Muckraker, May 22. "Either James Comey was talking about a new, secret surveillance program in his testimony last week, or Alberto Gonzales lied to Congress in 2006 about the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program."
• Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 2082, the FY 2008 Intelligence Authorization Act, May 9. "The Administration opposes H.R. 2082 in its current form, but cannot yet take a final position on its funding levels because the Administration has not had the opportunity to review the classified schedule of authorizations related to the bill."
• Curbs on satellite photos may be needed by Katherine Shrader, Associated Press, May 8. "The director of a little-known U.S. spy agency that analyzes imagery from the skies says that the increasing availability of commercial satellite photos may require the government to restrict distribution."
• House Intelligence Committee Marks Up FY 08 Intelligence Authorization Act, HPSCI news release, May 2. "First, we considered the single largest intelligence authorization bill ever written by the Committee – evidence of how important intelligence has become to our national security."
• Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death by Noah Shachtman, Wired, May 2. "The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say."

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