[FPSPACE] FW: Secrecy News -- 01/31/08

[LARRY KLAES]

>From: "Steven Aftergood" <saftergood at fas.org>
>Reply-To: saftergood at fas.org
>To: ljk4 at msn.com
>Subject: Secrecy News -- 01/31/08
>Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:02 -0500
>
>
>SECRECY NEWS
>from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
>Volume 2008, Issue No. 12
>January 31, 2008
>
>Secrecy News Blog:  http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
>
>Support Secrecy News: http://www.fas.org/static/contrib_sec.jsp
>
>
>**	PRESIDENT ASKS FOR AGENCY VIEWS ON DECLASSIFICATION
>**	HISTORIANS SEEK RELEASE OF ROSENBERG GRAND JURY RECORDS
>**	THE OKNO AND KRONA SPACE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS
>**	THE WARRIOR ETHOS
>
>
>PRESIDENT ASKS FOR AGENCY VIEWS ON DECLASSIFICATION
>
>President Bush this week ordered executive branch agency heads to
>respond to dozens of recommendations that were issued earlier this
>month by the Public Interest Declassification Board, an official
>advisory group, regarding the declassification of historical records.
>
>The Board's report, "Improving Declassification," presented 49
>recommendations to increase the utility and productivity of
>declassification, such as establishment of a National Declassification
>Center, creation of a public database of declassified documents,
>expedited declassification of presidential records including the
>President's Daily Brief, and new procedures for declassification of
>closed congressional hearing records and other documents.
>
>"Please submit in writing no later than April 15, 2008... your views on
>each of the recommendations, including with respect to each
>recommendation your view of whether and to what extent it should be
>implemented," President Bush told the agency heads on January 29.
>
>      http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/wh012908.html
>
>The Board's report hardly made a ripple when it was released earlier
>this month (Secrecy News, 01/09/08).  And since it is purely advisory,
>it could easily have been ignored.
>
>But the President's response increases the likelihood that the Board's
>recommendations will now receive serious consideration, inside and
>outside of the executive branch.
>
>
>HISTORIANS SEEK RELEASE OF ROSENBERG GRAND JURY RECORDS
>
>A coalition of historians is petitioning a federal court in New York to
>release sealed grand jury records from the 1951 indictment of Julius and
>Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and
>executed in 1953.
>
>The Rosenberg case, a crucible of atomic secrets, American communism,
>Soviet spying, U.S. counterespionage, and more, remains a landmark in
>the history of the Cold War.  But after decades of debate and
>disclosure, some of the basic records of the case still remain
>inaccessible. The historians' initiative aims to change that.
>
>The National Security Archive, one of the petitioners, has published
>the petition along with a diverse collection of declarations here:
>
>      http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20080131/index.htm
>
>
>THE OKNO AND KRONA SPACE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS
>
>Russia's Okno and Krona space surveillance systems are profiled in a
>newly updated open-source documentary collection by former CIA analyst
>Allen Thomson.
>
>The precise location of the Okno facility, which is in Tajikistan, has
>not been publicly identified.
>
>But last year, observed Mr. Thomson, a new "Krona-N radar site near
>Nakhodka was found in Google Earth  (not by me) and the head of the
>Russian Space Forces says it's going to be put into operation starting
>this year."
>
>"Like Krona Classic in the Caucasus, this is going to be an imaging
>radar," he said. "Together with the 3-meter adaptive optics telescope
>being built in Siberia, the Krona radars will give Russia an excellent,
>all-weather capability to get high-resolution images of foreign
>satellites of interest. The new National Reconnaissance Office spysats
>scheduled for launch in the next few years seem likely to be among
>those."
>
>The new documentary collection is mostly in Russian, with selected
>translations and some nice images.
>
>See "Sourcebook on the Okno and Krona Space Surveillance Sites" by
>Allen Thomson:
>
>      http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/track/okno.pdf
>
>
>THE WARRIOR ETHOS
>
>A new U.S. Army Field Manual presents an introduction for soldiers to
>"the warrior ethos."
>
>"Modern combat is chaotic, intense, and shockingly destructive," the
>document states. "In your first battle, you will experience the
>confusing and often terrifying sights, sounds, smells, and dangers of
>the battlefield--but you must learn to survive and win despite them."
>
>"The Warrior Culture, a shared set of important beliefs, values, and
>assumptions, is crucial and perishable. Therefore, the Army must
>continually affirm, develop, and sustain it, as it maintains the
>nation's existence."
>
>The warrior ethos (or any other) is not instilled simply by reading
>about it.  But the new Army publication provides a common vocabulary
>and framework of reference for the aspiring warrior, along with basic
>survival and combat techniques.
>
>See "The Warrior Ethos and Soldier Combat Skills," U.S. Army Field
>Manual FM 3-21.75, January 2008 (316 pages in a very large 28 MB PDF
>file):
>
>      http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-21-75.pdf
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
>Federation of American Scientists.
>
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>
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>
>_______________________
>Steven Aftergood
>Project on Government Secrecy
>Federation of American Scientists
>web:    www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
>email:  saftergood at fas.org
>voice:  (202) 454-4691
>
>