FAS | Intelligence | News | 2009 ||||

Newer News: December 2009

November 2009 Intelligence News

• Iran restructuring its naval forces by Walter Pincus, Washington Post, November 30. "Iran has reorganized its naval forces to give operational control of the strategic Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz to the naval component of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the paramilitary organization that is playing an increasingly central role not only in Iran's military but also its political and economic life."
• China's Subs Getting Quieter by William Matthews, Defense News, November 30. "The Chinese Navy appears to be stressing quality over quantity as it modernizes its submarine force, according to a U.S. Navy intelligence report."
• Release of secret reports delayed: Spy agencies foil Obama plan for transparency by Bryan Bender, Boston Globe, November 29. "President Obama will maintain a lid of secrecy on millions of pages of military and intelligence documents that were scheduled to be declassified by the end of the year, according to administration officials."
• Marshall Islands ratifies Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, news release, November 13. "The Marshall Islands has ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), becoming the 151st country to do so."
• Lawyers Allege Ongoing 'Dragnet' Surveillance by Daphne Eviatar, Washington Independent, November 13. "On October 30, the Justice Department for the first time applied its new 'state secrets' policy to a case charging the government with breaking the law. Open government advocates hoping for a significant change in the government's stance toward secrecy in national security cases were sorely disappointed."
• Administration plans to punish leakers by Jen DiMascio and Josh Gerstein, Politico, November 12. "The Obama administration is increasingly exasperated by leaks of national-security-related information and is planning a major effort to root out and punish those responsible, top officials said Thursday."
• Defense Secretary Gates on Leaks of Classified Information, November 12. "I have been appalled by the amount of leaking that has been going on in this process. And I think a lot of different places are leaking. I'm confident that the Department of Defense is one of them."
• Presidential Memorandum on Inventory of Files Related to Fort Hood Shooting, White House release, November 10. "On November 6, 2009, I directed that an immediate inventory be conducted of all intelligence in U.S. Government files that existed prior to November 6, 2009, relevant to the tragic shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, especially anything having to do with the alleged shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, U.S. Army."
• 1,600 Are Suggested Daily for FBI's List by Walter Pincus, Washington Post, November 1. "During a 12-month period ended in March this year, the U.S. intelligence community suggested on a daily basis that 1,600 people qualified for the terrorist watchlist because they presented a 'reasonable suspicion,' according to data provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee by the FBI."