Michele Kearney's Snuffysmith's Blog: FAS Roundup: April 23, 2012

Monday, April 23, 2012

FAS Roundup: April 23, 2012

New op-ed on diplomacy with North Korea, GAO intelligence review, new CRS reports and much more.

From the Blogs

GAO Completes an "Intelligence Related" Review: Following years of controversy, the Government Accountability Office this week released an unclassified version of its long-awaited report on FBI Counterterrorism. The report itself comes as an anti-climax, but it is the first GAO report involving intelligence-related matters to be completed since the issuance of an intelligence community directive last summer which authorized GAO to gain access to certain intelligence agency information. As such, it may herald a growing role for GAO in intelligence oversight.

Secret Systems Clutter the Electromagnetic Spectrum: The difficulty that the military has in allocating the efficient use of the electromagnetic spectrum for military operations is aggravated by the fact that some of those uses — involving intelligence platforms and sensors — are secret even from military planners themselves, a new Pentagon doctrinal publication notes.

Another Reason to Avoid the Dentist?: Every so often it seems that dental radiation briefly makes an appearance as something that we wonder if we should be concerned about. Dr. Y investigates the effects of dental x-rays in a new post on the ScienceWonk Blog.

"Traitor," A Whitleblower's Tale: Steven Aftergood writes that Jesselyn Radack’s memoir, Traitor: The Whistleblower and the American Taliban presents the moving story of a young attorney’s unexpected encounter with official misconduct, and the excruciating ordeal that ensued when she decided to challenge it. In 2001, Ms. Radack was a Justice Department attorney and specialist in legal ethics. In response to an official inquiry, she advised that the newly captured John Walker Lindh, the so-called “American Taliban,” should not be interrogated without an attorney present — which he then was anyway. When Department officials publicly denied having received any such legal advice, and even destroyed evidence to the contrary, she exposed the deception.

The Evolving Mission of the Secret Service and More from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained recently released CRS reports on topics such as the mission of the Secret Service, nanotechnology and an overview of U.S. energy supplies.

Publications

Right Approach for Diplomacy with North Korea: FAS President Charles D. Ferguson writes in a new op-ed published by Kyodo News that with the failed April 13th launch of a North Korean rocket, an opportunity has opened up to form a more realistic and long-term plan to create dialogue and build trust with North Korea. The new North Korean regime may be signaling that it is receptive.

U.S.-Japan Nuclear Working Group Website

FAS has partnered with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation to convene a group of approximately fifteen American and Japanese experts and officials representing diverse stakeholder communities in the two countries’ nuclear energy activities. Between March 2012 and April 2013 the working group will meet four times to discuss shared concerns at stake amidst the shifting political landscape for nuclear energy in Japan and the United States. To learn more about the working group, click here.

Volunteer This Weekend with FAS

FAS will have a booth at the 2nd Annual USA Science and Engineering Festival which will be held on April 28-29 in Washington, DC. We are looking for volunteers to engage the public with our hands on science activity, which will be explaning the role of science in policymaking. Please contact Melanie Stegman at mstegman@fas.org to volunteer. For more information on our booth and the festival, click here.

FAS in the News

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