Wednesday, September 06, 2006
ABC's Sept. 11 mini-series under fire for inaccuracies
First take on the firestorm of criticism facing ABC's dramatization of the origins of the Sept. 11 plot. More tomorrow.
CIA venture capital arm has new boss -- again
Quick look at the appointment by the CIA's venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel, Inc., of a new chief executive, the fourth this year, amid reports of conflict between management and the board.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
U.S. spy agencies enjoy discretion in reporting to congress
A quick look at one of the many fascinating policy documents from the office of the new director of national intelligence posted by the Federation of American Scientists' invaluable Steven Aftergood. One new set of guidelines says that it is up the directors of each agency to decide what programs or other activities count as "significant" and have to be reported to Congress.
Friday, September 01, 2006
DHS plan for transport worker ID under fire from industry, labor
This piece looks at growing concern about the Transportation Worker ID Credential, or TWIC program. Critics from industry and labor fret that it will be an expensive burden that will provide little security benefit.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Soaring costs of Real ID Act: $2.5 billion
Just a quickie about one estimate of the costs of implementing the overhaul of driver licensing mandated by the Real ID Act -- there'll be more on this as state governments come to grips with what they fear will be a huge unfunded mandate.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Calif. family trapped in legal limbo in Pakistan
This is my latest look at the vastly expanded use of terrorism watch-lists and its consequences. This piece examines the plight of a young man named in a California terrorism case, where a young American of Pakistani origin was convicted of attending a terrorist training camp. The man, Hamid Hayat, named several other young men from the small agricultural community of Lodi as having attended similar camps. One of them, Jaber Ismail, is currently in Pakistan with his father, and has been told that they are both on a federal "no-fly" list and will not be allowed to return home unless Jaber undergoes a polygraph test.
Hayat was convicted solely on the basis of his own confession. Something about this case smells fishy to me and I'll be writing more about it in the future.
Hayat was convicted solely on the basis of his own confession. Something about this case smells fishy to me and I'll be writing more about it in the future.
Monday, August 28, 2006
The cost of secrecy: $9.2 billion and rising
Headline says it all. Short story is here. Hat-tip (as we say here in the blogo-sphere) to Steven Aftergood.
NSA to run new information-sharing research project
The National Security Agency has launched a major research initiative in information sharing.
I wrote a two-part report on the plan. The first part examines the challenges the project faces developing technology in a complex and evolving policy environment.
The second part looks at the role of the office of the new director of national intelligence in promoting this and other information-sharing initiatives and at the unhappy track record of such initiatives, many of which have stalled or been abandoned.
I wrote a two-part report on the plan. The first part examines the challenges the project faces developing technology in a complex and evolving policy environment.
The second part looks at the role of the office of the new director of national intelligence in promoting this and other information-sharing initiatives and at the unhappy track record of such initiatives, many of which have stalled or been abandoned.
