National Security Archive
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National Security Archive Joins Media Groups Versus Unlimited Gag Orders
The National Security Archive, along with 15 other media organizations, filed a “friend of the court” brief on April 29 challenging the FBI’s authority to issue national security letters (NSLs) without any judicial oversight and under indefinite gag orders. The letters demand business records from a wide array of organizations for national security investigations, and… Continue reading
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Preparing for Computer Network Operations: USCYBERCOM Documents Trace Path to Operational Cyber Force
Declassified USCYBERCOM documents published today by the National Security Archive will be an important window into understanding how USCYBERCOM conducts operations in cyberspace. Continue reading
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JFK vs. Israel’s Bomb 1963
Declassified documents published today by the National Security Archive illuminate President John F. Kennedy’s secret preoccupation with the Israeli nuclear program during 1963. Possibly more determined to check nuclear proliferation than any other U.S. president, Kennedy wanted U.S. experts to inspect Israel’s nuclear reactor site at Dimona to ensure that it was not being used… Continue reading
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Redactions: The Declassified File
The impending release of the redacted Mueller report focuses new public attention on the systemic problem of over-classification and the routine overuse of exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act that are supposed to be reserved for protecting true secrets. Continue reading
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NSA: Iran’s 1979 Revolution Revisited: Failures (and a Few Successes) of U.S. Intelligence and Diplomatic Reporting
U.S. intelligence analysts and Tehran-based diplomats struggled to come to grips with the tumult of the Iranian revolution, yet still managed at times to provide considerable detail for policymakers, according to a survey of formerly classified records posted today by the nongovernmental National Security Archive. Continue reading
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What the CIA Tells Congress (Or Doesn’t) about Covert Operations:The Barr/Cheney/Bush Turning Point for CIA Notifications to the Senate
Attorney-General nominee William P. Barr figured prominently in arguments to limit CIA responsibility to provide notification to Congress about covert actions during the 1980s, according to a review of declassified materials published today by the National Security Archive at the George Washington University. As the Iran-Contra scandal played out, Barr, who held senior posts at… Continue reading
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A New Phase in the Great Game: U.S., Soviets, India, Pakistan vied to shape a new Afghanistan in late 1980s
Two U.S. ambassadors in the late 1980s warned the U.S. government about potentially detrimental developments in Afghanistan in the wake of a Soviet military withdrawal, according to declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive at The George Washington University Continue reading
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NSA: Cybersecurity: When Hackers Went to the Hill — Revisiting the L0pht Hearings of 1998
More than 20 years ago, in May 1998, seven hackers from the Boston-based “hacker think tank” L0pht Heavy Industries, appeared alongside Dr. Peter Neumann, a private sector expert on computer security, before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs for one of the first-ever Congressional hearings focusing specifically on cybersecurity. Continue reading
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NATO’s Original Purpose: Double Containment of the Soviet Union and “Resurgent” Germany
State Department Intelligence Saw NATO as a “Place” to Help West Germany “Satisfy its Reasonable Aspirations and Contain any Potential Unreasonable Ones” Continue reading
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Reagan, Gorbachev and Bush at Governors Island in 1988
The U.S. and NATO allies worried about losing control of the public narrative of the Cold War in December 1988 after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s offer of an arms race in reverse in his famous United Nations speech, according to declassified documents published today by the National Security Archive. Senior Italian officials, for example, complained… Continue reading
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NSA: Tommy Thompson The Kremlinologist
Today, the National Security Archive is publishing a set of documents to commemorate the life and achievements of long-time diplomat and presidential adviser Llewellyn Thompson and highlight the publication of a biography of him written by his daughters, Jenny Thompson and Sherry Thompson, The Kremlinologist: Llewellyn E. Thompson, America’s Man in Cold War Moscow (Johns… Continue reading
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NSA: The Soviet Side of the 1983 War Scare
Beginning in 1981, the KGB’s “main objective” became “not to miss the military preparations of the enemy, its preparations for a nuclear strike, and not to miss the real risk of the outbreak of war,” according to the text of a previously secret speech by then-KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov found in the Ukrainian KGB archives… Continue reading
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The Clinton-Yeltsin Relationship in Their Own Words
Washington, D.C., October 1, 2018 – President Bill Clinton saw Russian leader Boris Yeltsin as indispensable for promoting American interests following the collapse of the Soviet Union, often prompting him to take controversial steps to ensure Yeltsin’s political survival, according to top-level memoranda of conversation just released from the Clinton presidential library. Continue reading
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NSA: New – Cyber Glossary
Washington D.C., September 19, 2018 – The National Security Archive’s Cyber Vault today presents a new resource for the cybersecurity community, journalists, students, and the general public – a detailed glossary of terms. Continue reading
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U.S. Nuclear War Plan Option Sought Destruction of China and Soviet Union as “Viable” Societies
Washington, D.C., August 15, 2018 – U.S. nuclear war plans during the Johnson administration included the option of a retaliatory strike against nuclear, conventional military, and urban-industrial targets with the purpose of removing the Soviet Union “from the category of a major industrial power” and destroying it as a “viable” society. Continue reading
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Excessive U.S. sanctions could push Iran “over the brink”: UAE official to U.S. in 1995
U.S. allies from Europe and the Persian Gulf warned the Clinton administration that it would be “very dangerous” and “pose risks for the entire region” if Iran were isolated from the international community through overly burdensome sanctions, according to declassified cables posted today by the nongovernmental National Security Archive at George Washington University. Continue reading
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Gina Haspel CIA Torture Cables Declassified
Haspel described extended sessions of physical violence and waterboarding; CIA cables detail contract psychologists Mitchell and Jessen working for Haspel Continue reading
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NSA: CyberWar Map
Washington D.C., June 6, 2018 – The National Security Archive’s Cyber Vault Project announces the launch of the CyberWar Map. An interactive resource, it is both a visualization of state-sponsored cyberattacks and an index of documents in the Archive’s Cyber Vault relevant to the subject. Continue reading
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Oliver North’s Checkered Iran-Contra Record
Oliver North’s conduct during the infamous Iran-Contra affair featured a pattern of deliberate deception, a willingness to cooperate with known drug dealers, and according to some colleagues a propensity for flawed judgment, a review of declassified documents and sworn testimony shows. Continue reading
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National Security Archive: The Guatemala Genocide Ruling, Five Years Later
Washington D.C., May 10, 2018—Five years ago today, one of the most celebrated human rights trials in Latin America came to a stunning conclusion when Guatemalan dictator, retired army general, and self-proclaimed “president” Efraín Ríos Montt was convicted for genocide and crimes against humanity by a panel of three Guatemalan judges. To commemorate that milestone,… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 