SECRECY NEWS is an email publication of
the Federation of American Scientists (FAS)
Project on Government Secrecy. It provides
informal coverage of new developments in secrecy,
security and intelligence policies, as well
as links to new acquisitions on the Federation
of American Scientists web site. It
is published 2 to 3 times a week, or as events
warrant. Secrecy
News Article Index
A security clearance that is granted by one government agency is supposed
to be "mutually and reciprocally accepted by all agencies." Often,
however, it is not.
"Although reciprocity policy discourages redundant investigation and
re-adjudication, more than half of respondents among executive agencies
said they routinely request prior background investigations for review,"
thereby adding weeks or months to the process of transferring personnel
between agencies, a new study performed for the Defense Department
found.
Also, "There are differences of opinion among executive branch agencies
about the reliability of polygraph testing, and these differences
prevent mandating reciprocity of polygraph testing across all federal
agencies."
Willingness to accept the results of another agency's polygraph test
often varies from one intelligence agency or special access program
to another, the opposite of reciprocity. "The imposition of repeated
polygraph testing on persons moving between [intelligence] agencies...
was seen as a cost to be borne by the individuals, and by the federal
government, for security."
The new study, published by the Defense Personnel Research Center,
provides a rare and interesting glimpse into the peculiar workings
of the personnel security clearance system.
OVERCOMING SECRECY AT THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
Despite the stubborn opposition of some government officials, public
access to reports of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) continues
to grow.
CRS reports were identified as one of the "ten most wanted" categories
of government documents that should be -- but are not -- readily available
to the public, according to a recent survey by the new coalition OpenTheGovernment.org.
But current congressional leaders like Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) of the
House Committee on House Administration actively oppose allowing direct
public access to CRS reports. A formal change to ease the restrictions
on CRS publication policy will probably have to await the arrival
of a new and different Congress that is more committed to openness
and accountability.
In the meantime, it is possible to circumvent and to partially defeat
the congressional secrecy policy. Several recent CRS reports, now
made available for the first time online, are noted below.
The fact that Congress evidently does not want Americans to read these
reports gives them a certain pizzazz, and may actually attract new
readers to these sober policy analyses.
DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
The problem of information sharing between the CIA and the FBI, and
the so-called "wall" between law enforcement and intelligence, are
analyzed by Kate Martin of the Center for National Security Studies
in a new journal article.
"The 'wall' metaphor is shorthand for the recognition that separate
authorities govern law enforcement and foreign intelligence investigations
against Americans. Those authorities, written to prevent political
spying by the FBI and CIA, always recognized that international terrorism
was both a law enforcement and intelligence matter and provided for
sharing information between the two communities. The 9/11 failures
to share information cannot be laid at the feet of the law."
"While better information and analysis are needed to fight terrorism,
there is reason to fear that transforming domestic counterterrorism
primarily into an intelligence matter is unlikely to appreciably increase
security, but will seriously threaten civil liberties."
Instead of a new domestic intelligence agency, she proposes "an alternative
approach that will serve to obtain the intelligence necessary to prevent
catastrophic attacks without compromising civil liberties."
