FOIA
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NSA: Chiquita Sues to Block Release of Files on Colombia Terrorist Payments
Chiquita Brands International last week filed a “reverse” Freedom of Information lawsuit to block the release of records to the National Security Archive on the company’s illegal payments to Colombian terrorist groups, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court. At issue are thousands of documents the company turned over to the Securities and… Continue reading
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Freedom of Information Follies: FOIA Reviewers Declassify Same Rwanda Document Four Times, Creating New Secrets Each Time
The U.S. government’s Freedom of Information Act reviewers produced four different versions of the same State Department document over a 12-year period, releasing different information each time, according to the National Security Archive’s posting today of the documents obtained by author and journalist Michael Dobbs. Continue reading
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Mikoyan’s “Mission Impossible” in Cuba: New Soviet Evidence on the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis continued long after the “13 days” celebrated by U.S. media, with U.S. armed forces still on DEFCON 2 and Soviet tactical nuclear weapons still in Cuba, according to new documents posted today by the National Security Archive (www.nsarchive.org) from the personal archive of the late Sergo Mikoyan. Continue reading
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CIA ALLOWED TO SUSTAIN COVER-UP OF BAY OF PIGS HISTORY
CIA Officials Defy Obama Directive on FOIA which states that “the Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.” Continue reading
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NSA refuses to disclose its links with Google
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, is suing the United States National Security Agency to find out the truth behind any partnership between the NSA and Google, the Silicon Valley giants behind the Web’s most popular search engine and a laundry list of other online applications and services. EPIC has been asking for information… Continue reading
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CIA won’t disclose involvement in OWS crackdowns — RT
With demonstrators suspecting governmental assistance in the crackdowns clobbering Occupy Wall Street encampments, the CIA is trying to distance itself from divulging any incriminating evidence regarding their role in the raids. Continue reading
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NSA: IRAN CONTRA AT 25: REAGAN AND BUSH ‘CRIMINAL LIABILITY’ EVALUATIONS
President Ronald Reagan was briefed in advance about every weapons shipment in the Iran arms-for-hostages deals in 1985-86, and Vice President George H. W. Bush chaired a committee that recommended the mining of the harbors of Nicaragua in 1983, according to previously secret Independent Counsel assessments of “criminal liability” on the part of the two… Continue reading
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National Security Archive Update, August 15, 2011: TOP SECRET CIA ‘OFFICIAL HISTORY’ OF THE BAY OF PIGS: REVELATIONS
This episode of ‘friendly fire’ is one of many revelations contained in the Top Secret multi-volume, internal CIA report, “The Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation.” Other revelations include new information on the CIA’s collaboration with the Mafia to assassinate Fidel Castro as part of the invasion plan, Richard Nixon’s role in the… Continue reading
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National Security Archive Update, August 12, 2011 – THE BERLIN WALL, 50 YEARS AGO
Fifty years ago, when leaders of the former East Germany implemented their dramatic decision to seal off East Berlin from the western part of the city, senior Kennedy administration officials publicly condemned them. Nevertheless, those same officials, including Secretary of State Dean Rusk, secretly saw the Wall as potentially contributing to the stability of East… Continue reading
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CIA FORCED TO RELEASE LONG SECRET OFFICIAL HISTORY OF BAY OF PIGS INVASION
Pursuant to a FOIA lawsuit filed by the National Security Archive on the 50th anniversary of the infamous CIA-led invasion of Cuba, the CIA has released four volumes of its Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation. Continue reading
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Statewatch News Online, No 1 of 2: 13 June 2011 (15/11)
13 June 2011 — Statewatch – e-mail: office@statewatch.org STATEWATCHING EUROPE: Civil Liberties, the state and the European Union Saturday 25 June 2011 (10.00-17.30) Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Programme and Registration form: http://www.statewatch.org/conference/conference.pdf Book Online:http://www.statewatch.org/ordering/order.html EU: Statewatch Analysis: Rethinking the EU Security Research Programme by Ben Hayes Council of Europe: NGO letter Continue reading
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Statewatch News Online, 6 June 2011
6 June 2011 — Statewatch Home page: www.statewatch.org/ e-mail: office@statewatch.org STATEWATCHING EUROPE: Civil Liberties, the state and the European Union Saturday 25 June 2011 (10.00-17.30) Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Programme and Registration form: www.statewatch.org/conference/conference.pdf Book Online: www.statewatch.org/ordering/order.html EU: General Report on Europol’s activities 2010 EU: FRAUD AND CORRUPTION Council of Europe: Continue reading
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National Security Archive Update, May 25, 2011: THE DIARY OF ANATOLY CHERNYAEV, 1991
Marking the 90th birthday of former top Gorbachev advisor Anatoly Sergeevich Chernyaev, the National Security Archive today publishes on the Web at www.nsarchive.org the latest installment of the unique and invaluable Chernyaev diary, covering the final fateful year of the Soviet Union, 1991. Continue reading
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Statewatch 18 May 2011 What is a document?
European Parliament to revisit the definition of a “document” and adopt its report on the changes to Regulation on access to EU documents Continue reading
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Repost: How to Decipher a State Department Cable (FOIA Tip #2) By Nate Jones
This guide –originally written by Kristin Adair– might come in handy as you peruse the 251,287 Department of State cables recently released by wikileaks. Continue reading
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National Security Archive Update, November 13, 2010: Justice Department Censors Nazi-Hunting History
The Department of Justice censored dozens of pages of a candid history of Nazi-hunting (and Nazi-protecting) by the U.S. government to such a self-defeating extent that former officials leaked the entire document to the New York Times this week, instead of fulfilling the Freedom of Information request and lawsuit filed by the National Security Archive… Continue reading
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National Security Archive Update, April 7, 2010 Why is “Poodle Blanket” Classified? Still More Dubious Secrets at the Pentagon
In a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the Pentagon claims that “Poodle Blanket” contingency plans from 1961 for a possible confrontation over West Berlin (no longer divided) with the Soviet Union (no longer a country) still need to be secret for fear of damage to current U.S. national security, according to… Continue reading
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National Security Archive Update, March 16, 2010: Presidential statement, White House memorandum, Attorney General speech mark Sunshine Week
Archive findings show agencies lagged in fulfilling Obama orders: “A for effort, Incomplete for results”; says Archive director Continue reading
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The immoral low ground By William Bowles
9 May 2004 “Saddam a “presentable young man” with “engaging smile,” “Let’s “do business,” said British Embassy in 1969.”” “”The goal has never been to win the Olympic high jump in democracy,” Paul Wolfowitz “That strategic objective, of a free, democratic, de-Baathified Iraq, is grandiose, and unattainable…. It’s just a matter of time before we Continue reading
The New Dark Age 