Secrecy News -- 07/23/07 (Cloaks)
Steven Aftergood
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2004, Issue No. 75
July 23, 2007
** JOINT CHIEFS ISSUE DOCTRINE ON "HOMELAND DEFENSE"
** CLINTON CAMPAIGN URGES PUBLICATION OF ALL AGENCY BUDGETS
** CRS REPORTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST
** CRS REPORTS ON VARIOUS TOPICS
** MAGGOT THERAPY AND OTHER SPECIAL FORCES MEDICINE
JOINT CHIEFS ISSUE DOCTRINE ON "HOMELAND DEFENSE"
A new publication of the Joint Chiefs of Staff presents U.S. military
doctrine on "homeland defense."
"It provides information on command and control, interagency and
multinational coordination, and operations required to defeat external
threats to, and aggression against, the homeland."
See "Homeland Defense," Joint Publication 3-27, July 12, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/jp3_27.pdf
The document further extends the unfortunate use of the term "homeland"
to refer to the United States, a relatively recent coinage that became
prevalent in the George W. Bush Administration.
Not only does the word "homeland" have unhappy echoes of the Germanic
"Heimat" and the cult of land and soil, it is also a misnomer in a
nation of immigrants.
Moreover, "homeland" is defined by the military exclusively in terms of
geography: It is "the physical region that includes the continental
United States, Alaska, Hawaii, United States territories and
possessions, and surrounding territorial waters and airspace."
This means that actions to defend the Constitution and the political
institutions of American democracy are by definition excluded from
"homeland defense."
For the Joint Chiefs, constitutional liberties are subordinate to, and
contingent upon, physical security:
"To preserve the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, the Nation
must have a homeland that is secure from threats and violence,
especially terrorism." (page I-1).
CLINTON CAMPAIGN URGES PUBLICATION OF ALL AGENCY BUDGETS
Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has put forward an agenda
to increase transparency in government that includes "publishing
budgets for every government agency."
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/reform/
This appears to be a roundabout way of endorsing disclosure of
intelligence agency budgets, since the budgets of all other agencies
are already published.
The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for
comment or elaboration on the proposal.
Intelligence budget secrecy is perhaps the preeminent and most enduring
example of overclassification, i.e. classification that is not justified
by a valid national security concern.
A proposal to declassify the aggregate figure for the National
Intelligence Program, comprised of over a dozen individual agency
intelligence budgets, is pending in the Senate version of the FY 2008
Intelligence Authorization Act (S. 1538).
The 9/11 Commission went further and said "the overall amounts of money
being appropriated for national intelligence and to its component
agencies should no longer be kept secret." (Final Report, p. 416).
The Clinton campaign appears to have adopted this bipartisan Commission
recommendation for release of component agency budget information. The
Bush Administration opposes any disclosure of any intelligence budget
data, even the aggregate figure.
CRS REPORTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST
Recent reports of the Congressional Research Service on Middle
East-related topics, obtained by Secrecy News without CRS
authorization, include the following.
"U.S. Foreign Assistance to the Middle East: Historical Background,
Recent Trends, and the FY2008 Request," updated July 3, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL32260.pdf
"Libya: Background and U.S. Relations," updated June 19, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33142.pdf
"U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel," updated April 25, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf
"Lebanon," updated July 11, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33509.pdf
"The Iran Sanctions Act (ISA)," updated July 9, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS20871.pdf
"Iran's Influence in Iraq," updated July 9, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS22323.pdf
CRS REPORTS ON VARIOUS TOPICS
More publicly unreleased reports from the Congressional Research
Service on various topics of interest to some include these.
"Journalists' Privilege to Withhold Information in Judicial and Other
Proceedings: State Shield Statutes," updated June 27, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/RL32806.pdf
"Federal Sentencing Guidelines: Background, Legal Analysis, and Policy
Options," updated June 30, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32766.pdf
"Critical Infrastructure: The National Asset Database," updated July
16, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL33648.pdf
"Chemical Facility Security: Regulation and Issues for Congress,"
updated June 21, 2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL33847.pdf
"Pipeline Safety and Security: Federal Programs," updated July 11,
2007:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL33347.pdf
MAGGOT THERAPY AND OTHER SPECIAL FORCES MEDICINE
Under extreme conditions, live maggots may be inserted into a wound to
consume damaged or diseased flesh, according to a medical manual for
U.S. Army Special Forces.
"Despite the hazards involved, maggot therapy should be considered a
viable alternative when, in the absence of antibiotics, a wound becomes
severely infected, does not heal, and ordinary
debridement [removal of diseased tissue] is impossible," according to
the 1982 manual (at page 22-3).
See "U.S. Army Special Forces Medical Handbook," ST 31-91B, 1 March
1982 (407 pages, 16 MB PDF file): =20
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/milmed/sfhandbook.pdf
It turns out that maggot therapy is recognized and regulated by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Sterilized maggot colonies can be
ordered, by prescription only, from
specialized suppliers.
The Special Forces manual, however, envisions the use of unsterilized
maggots for emergency use.
Along with a lot of standard wilderness medicine, the manual also
describes various unorthodox, potentially dangerous remedies that may
be considered when conventional medical alternatives
are unavailable.
For example, the manual suggests that intestinal worms can be combated
by eating cigarettes. "The nicotine in the cigarette kills or stuns the
worms long enough for them to be passed."
Another option for dealing with intestinal parasites is to swallow
kerosene. "Drink 2 tablespoons. Don't drink more." (page 22-2).
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/subscribe.html
To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/unsubscribe.html
OR email your request to safte...@fas.org
Secrecy News is archived at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html
SUPPORT Secrecy News with a donation here:
http://www.fas.org/static/contrib_sec.jsp
_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: safte...@fas.org
voice: (202) 454-4691