Secrecy News -- 07/24/07 (Cloaks)
Steven Aftergood
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2004, Issue No. 76
July 24, 2007
** NEW NAVY POLICY ON BIOLOGICAL SELECT AGENTS
** CRS REPORTS ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS
** A CAVEAT ON THE SPECIAL FORCES MEDICAL MANUAL
NEW NAVY POLICY ON BIOLOGICAL SELECT AGENTS
The U.S. Navy has issued its first security policy for protection of
"biological select agents and toxins" (BSAT) at Navy facilities, a move
that may signify heightened Navy interest in research involving these
lethal materials.
Select agents are substances designated by the Department of Health and
Human Services and the Department of Agriculture that "present a high
bioterrorism risk to national security and have the greatest potential
for adverse public health impact with mass casualties of humans and/or
animals or that pose a severe threat to plant health or to plant
products." A few dozen particular biological agents and toxins have
been so designated, including ebola and smallpox viruses, botulinum,
etc.
There are currently two Navy facilities in the United States that have
possession of select agents and toxins, according to the new policy:=20
Naval Surface War Center (NSWC) Dahlgren and the Navy Medical Research
Center.
"The Navy may increase the number of facilities in the future, and
other Navy facilities may gain access or possession of BSAT due to
non-routine events," the document states.
The Navy policy implements a 2004 Department of Defense Directive on
protecting biological select agents, and a 2006 instruction from the
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.
See "Minimum Security Standards for Safeguarding Biological Select
Agents and Toxins (BSAT)," Chief of Naval Operations OPNAV Instruction
5530.16, July 20, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/navy/opnavinst/5530_16.pdf
CRS REPORTS ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Recently updated reports of the Congressional Research Service on
nuclear weapons-related topics include these:
"Nuclear Warheads: The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program and the
Life Extension Program," updated July 16, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL33748.pdf
"Nuclear Weapons: The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program," updated
July 13, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL32929.pdf
"Nuclear Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty," updated July 12,
2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL33548.pdf
"Nonproliferation and Threat Reduction Assistance: U.S. Programs in the
Former Soviet Union," updated February 23, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL31957.pdf
"North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Development and Diplomacy," updated July
2, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL33590.pdf
A CAVEAT ON THE SPECIAL FORCES MEDICAL MANUAL
The 1982 U.S. Army medical manual for special forces presented in the
last issue of Secrecy News is dangerously misleading and it should not
be used in practice, one expert in military medicine warned.
"That manual is a relic of sentimental and historical interest only,
advocating treatments that, if used by today's medics, would result in
disciplinary measures," wrote Dr. Warner Anderson, a U.S. Army Colonel
(ret.) and former associate dean of the Special Warfare Medical Group.
"The manual you reference is of great historical importance in
illustrating the advances made in SOF medicine in the past 25 years.
But it no more reflects current SOF practice than a 25 year-old Merck
Manual reflects current Family Practice. In 2007, it is merely a
curiosity."
"Readers who use some of the tips and remedies could potentially cause
harm to themselves or their patients."
"I wish you would inform my fellow Secrecy News readers of these
issues, correcting any false impressions," Dr. Anderson wrote.
A completely revised Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook was
published in 2001. A second edition of that Handbook is now in
preparation, said Gay Thompson, managing editor of the Handbook.
_______________________________________________
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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
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email: safte...@fas.org
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