National Security Archive News

2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997

NEW 2015/09/16
President's Daily Briefs from Kennedy and Johnson Finally Released (Eight Years After Archive, Professor Larry Berman Lawsuit)
CIA Told Courts the PDB Was Itself an Intelligence Method

2015/09/15
The Anwar al-Awlaki File
From American Citizen to Imam to Terrorist to Drone Killing

2015/08/29
Kazakhstan and Nunn-Lugar: A Non-Proliferation Success Story
Kazakh-U.S.-Russian Cooperation at Semipalatinsk and Lessons for Nuclear Security

2015/08/24
Overhead Imagery: The U.S. Target
New Documents Trace Controversial Use of Drones and other Aerial Surveillance for Domestic National Security – from Safeguarding Major Sporting Events to Law Enforcement to Tracking Wildfires

2015/08/19
The Kissinger Telcons: New Documents Throw Light on Sensitive Ford and Kissinger Views
Documents Released by Court Order as Part of National Security Archive FOIA Lawsuit

2015/08/13
OBAMA’S SECRET DIPLOMACY WITH CUBA
New Revelations

2015/08/04
The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II
Updated National Security Archive Posting Marks 70th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings of Japan and the End of World War II

2015/08/01
Washington Post Op-Ed Highlights Dubious Secrets
Clinton e-mails "Potentially Classified"; So Is This Posting

2015/07/31
Los Quemados: Chile’s Pinochet Covered up Human Rights Atrocity
Chilean Dictator Rejected Police Report Identifying Army Units which Burned Alive Teenage Protesters in 1986

2015/07/20
White House Efforts to Blunt 1975 Church Committee Investigation into CIA Abuses Foreshadowed Executive-Congressional Battles after 9/11
Advisers to President Ford Sought to Protect CIA's Image Abroad by Having Its Capabilities "Cloaked in Mystery and Held in Awe"

2015/07/17
Court Rejects Chiquita's Bid to Hide Terror Payment Records
U.S. Appeals Court Upholds National Security Archive Victory in Fruit Company's "Reverse-FOIA" Action

2015/07/14
Iran’s Nuclear Program – Then and Now
Documents from 1970s Presage Issues Surrounding July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Deal with P5+1

2015/07/06
The Pentagon's Spies
Newly Available Documents Trace Evolution of Spy Units through Obama Administration.

2015/07/01
Srebrenica conference documents detail path to genocide from 1993 to 1995.
Documents show contradictions between New York UN declarations and ground realities, resistance from member states to back up resolutions with troops and planes, constant reluctance to use air strikes abetted by divisions within U.S. government, allies.

2015/06/29
The Gas Centrifuge Secret: Origins of a U.S. Policy of Nuclear Denial, 1954-1960
Beginning in 1950s, U.S. Sought to Control Uranium Enrichment Technology that Iranians Are Using Today

2015/06/28
International Decision-Making in the Age of Genocide: Srebrenica 1993-1995
"Critical Oral History" Conference Marks 20th Anniversary of Srebrenica Massacre in July 1995

2015/05/29
Nixon, Kissinger, and the Madman Strategy during Vietnam War
Nixon Wanted the "Other Side" to Think He and Kissinger "Might be Crazy"; Signalled Moscow and Hanoi By Pushing "So Many Chips in the Pot" to Suggest He "Might Really Go Further" Even to Nuclear Use

2015/05/25
Anatoly S. Chernyaev Diary, 1975
The Uncertain Future of Détente

2015/05/19
The National Security Archive and Historical Associations Win Lawsuit for David Greenglass Testimony
Federal Judge Rules Against Government's Attempt to Keep Grand Jury Records Secret

2015/05/12
US: Mexico Mass Graves Raise "Alarming Questions" about Government "Complicity" in September 2014 Cartel Killings
State Department Quietly Suspended Aid to Army Unit Responsible for June 2014 Tlatlaya Massacre

2015/05/06
OPERATION CONDOR: National Security Archive Presents Trove of Declassified Documentation in Historic Trial in Argentina
Argentine Newspaper, Pagina 12, Highlights Evidence Presented by Archive Southern Cone Project Director Carlos Osorio

2015/04/28
LBJ Regretted Ordering U.S. Troops into Dominican Republic in 1965, White House Tapes Confirm; Yet He Insisted, "I'd do the same thing right this second."
Dominican Intervention 50 Years Ago Sparked Mainly by Fear of Communists: "I Sure Don't Want to Wake Up ... and Find Out Castro's in Charge," President Said

2015/04/24
International Atomic Energy Agency Lacks Transparency, Observers and Researchers Say
Nuclear Inspection Agency Demands Transparency from Others, but Not Itself.

2015/04/16
1994 Rwanda Pullout Driven by Clinton White House, U.N. Equivocation
White House Clears E-Mail Release and Susan Rice Hand-written Notes.

2015/04/15
The U.S. Discovery of Israel's Secret Nuclear Project
Israeli Cover Stories about the Dimona Reactor Dismayed Top Level Officials Who Saw a "Clearly Apparent Lack of Candor."

2015/04/10
NASA's Secret Relationships with U.S. Defense and Intelligence Agencies
Declassified Records Trace the Many Hidden Interactions Between the U.S. Civilian and National Security Space Programs.

2015/04/06
Rwanda Re-Examined
"Unprecedented" 2014 Conference Illuminates International Response (and Lack Thereof) to Genocide.

2015/03/26
National Security Archive's Carlos Osorio Honored for Human Rights Work in Argentina
Argentine Embassy Recognizes Years of Documenting and Testifying about Abuses during Military Dictatorship.

2015/03/24
New Memoir by Participant in U.S. H-Bomb Program Sheds Light on the Making of the First Test Device
First-Hand Perspectives on Edward Teller and Other Leading Figures, and on Dispute over Who Originated Key Idea of Radiation Implosion.

2015/03/20
The CIA and Signals Intelligence
Formerly Top-Secret Multi-Volume History Details Spy Agency’s Conflicts with NSA and Military over SIGINT Role.

2015/03/18
Federal Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council Wins Rosemary Award
Hillary Clinton E-Mail Controversy Illuminates Government-Wide Failure.

2015/03/13
Most Agencies Falling Short on Mandate for Online Records
The National Security Archive 2015 E-FOIA Audit.

2015/03/11
Perestroika in the Soviet Union: 30 Years On
Documents show extraordinary achievements, Spectacular missed opportunities.

2015/03/04
Archive Sues State Department Over Kissinger Telcons
700 Transcripts Still Withheld, Eight Years after Appeal.

2015/02/23
The Merchant of Death's Account Book
Declassified Documents Reveal More Information on Government's Opportunistic Relationship with World's Biggest Arms Smuggler, Sarkis Soghanalian.

2015/02/05
FOIA Advisory Committee Begins Posting Oversight Reports

2015/02/04
U.S. INTELLIGENCE AND THE SOVIET SPACE PROGRAM
Declassified Records Trace U.S. Monitoring and Analyses of a Critical Area of Cold War Competition.

2015/01/30
Key Diplomat's Personal Notebook Sheds Light on Inner-Workings of US Government Response to Genocide Unfolding in Rwanda in 1994
Ambassador Prudence Bushnell provides unique window into the making of US Foreign Policy during the Rwandan Genocide.

2014 POSTINGS

2014/12/23
Newly Released Sandia Labs Film Presents Story of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Safety Effort
Los Alamos Scientist Once Advised a U.S. Sentry to Shoot at and Disable Nukes on West German Aircraft if There Was a Danger of Unauthorized Use.

2014/12/22
Mexico: Los Zetas Drug Cartel Linked San Fernando Police to Migrant Massacres
Ordered to Declassify Human Rights Information, Prosecutor Releases First Document from San Fernando Case File.

2014/12/10
Brazil Truth Commission Releases Report
National Security Archive hails efforts by investigators, victim's families to uncover truth.

2014/12/09
Torture Report Finally Released
Senate Intelligence Committee Summary of CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program Concludes CIA Misled Itself, Congress, the President about Lack of Effectiveness.

2014/12/02
National Security Archive and Historical Associations File Petition To Open Key Remaining Rosenberg Grand Jury Records
Death of David Greenglass Removes Legal Barrier; 2008 Release Included Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Testimony.

2014/11/20
FRANK MANKIEWICZ: SECRET INTERMEDIARY TO CUBA
Famous Political Figure Carried Messages from Kissinger to Castro.

2014/11/20
Studies in Intelligence: New Articles from The CIA's In-House Journal
CIA Reactions to JFK Assassination Included Fear of Possible Soviet Strike against U.S.; Desire to "Bond" with LBJ.

2014/11/17
Project Sapphire 20th Anniversary
More than a half-ton of weapons-grade uranium removed from Kazakhstan in 1994.

2014/11/16
25th Anniversary of El Salvador Jesuit Murders
Declassified Documents from 1989 Show Initial U.S. Unwillingness to Consider Salvadoran Military's Responsibility.

2014/11/09
The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 25th Anniversary
Documents show accident and contingency, anxiety in world capitals.

2014/10/21
Intelligence Center Tracks Missile Launches Worldwide 24/7
"Little known" DEFSMAC Created to Cover Soviet Launches, Now Alerts and Reports Globally from China to South Africa.

2014/10/19
T: The New York Times Style MagazineFeatures Jenny Holzer
"I live in the N.S.A.'s collection," Holzer writes.

2014/10/16
China's Advance toward Nuclear Status in Early 1960s Held Surprises for U.S. Analysts, Generated Conflicting Opinions about the Potential Dangers
Previous Attempts to Assess Developments Were Hampered by Inadequate Intelligence.

2014/10/01
KISSINGER CONSIDERED ATTACK ON CUBA FOLLOWING ANGOLA INCURSION
"I think we are going to have to smash Castro," Kissinger tells President Ford.

2014/09/28
THE YELLOW BOOK
Secret Salvadoran military document from the civil war era catalogued "enemies," many killed or disappeared.

2014/09/26
COVERT DIPLOMACY TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH CUBA
Secret U.S. Back-Channel History with Fidel and Raul Castro Revealed in New Book.

2014/09/16
Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution

2014/09/12
Israel Crosses the Threshold II
The Nixon Administration Debates the Emergence of the Israeli Nuclear Program.

2014/09/05
Iran-Contra Revisited
New Book Places Reagan at Center of 1980s Scandal.

2014/08/13
The Yuri Orlov File
Human Rights Legend and Distinguished Physicist Turns 90.

2014/07/24
The Shevardnadze File: Late Soviet Foreign Minister Helped End the Cold War
Politburo Notes and Memcons Detail Surprising Rise, "New Thinking" Candor, Diplomatic Partnerships, and Sense of Missed Opportunities.

2014/07/22
Studies by Once Top Secret Government Entity Portrayed Terrible Costs of Nuclear War
After Briefing on Likely Death Tolls, JFK Remarked: "And We Call Ourselves the Human Race"

2014/07/20
Soldiers, Spies and the Moon: Secret U.S. and Soviet Plans from the 1950s and 1960s
Declassified Documents Reflect the Covert Side of Lunar Programs.

2014/07/08
Brazil: Torture Techniques Revealed in Declassified U.S. Documents
Dictatorship-Era Records Given by Vice President Biden to President Rousseff.

2014/07/02
Iran 1953: US Envoy to Baghdad Suggested to Fleeing Shah He Not Acknowledge Foreign Role in Coup
Shah "Agreed," Declassified Cable Says.

2014/06/26
The Battle for Iran, 1953: Re-Release of CIA Internal History Spotlights New Details about anti-Mosaddeq Coup
 U.S. Ambassador Loy Henderson and Some CIA Officials Initially Disagreed with Certain Premises of Coup Planners.

2014/06/24
Congress Moving on FOIA Reform
Senators Leahy and Cornyn Introduce FOIA Improvement Act of 2014, Would Add Balancing Test and Sunset to "Deliberative Process" Exemption

2014/06/09
New Details on the 1961 Goldsboro Nuclear Accident
Multi-Megaton Bomb Was Virtually "Armed" When It Crashed to Earth in North Carolina, Sandia Lab Report Concluded.

2014/06/03
The United States and the Two Koreas, Part II: 1969-2010
Fears, Suspicions and Frustrations Arising from 1990s North Korean Nuclear Crisis Are Spotlighted in New Documents Publication.

2014/06/03
Tiananmen at 25 Years
Chinese Military Was Split over Bloody Suppression of 1989 Student Protests, DIA Reported.

2014/06/02
Inside the UN Security Council: April–July 1994
United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Czech Republic Declassified Documents Reveal New Perspectives on United Nations Security Council Debates on Rwanda in April 1994.

2014/05/29
KEY DECISION MAKERS AND EYEWITNESSES GATHER IN THE HAGUE TO CONSIDER THE FAILURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE

2014/05/25
Anatoly S. Chernyaev Diary, 1974
Ideological Superpower with Empty Stores.

2014/05/23
U.S. Covert Intervention in Chile: Planning to Block Allende Began Long before September 1970 Election
Nixon Alerted in Advance to Date of Coup, Retired CIA Operative Writes in Foreign Affairs.

2014/05/21
Rwanda: The Failure of the Arusha Peace Accords
International Community's Lack of Support for Military Demobilization and Rwandans' Inability to Implement Accords Led to Genocide in 1994.

2014/05/21
CIA Successfully Conceals Bay of Pigs History
D.C. Circuit Split Decision Rules CIA Draft History Can Be Kept Secret Indefinitely.

2014/05/12
Iran 1953: The Strange Odyssey of Kermit Roosevelt's Countercoup
CIA Approved Ex-Agent's Memoir of "28 Mordad" Coup After Changes Rendered It "Essentially a Work of Fiction."

2014/04/21
Declassified Documents Show Henry Kissinger's Major Role in the 1974 Initiative That Created the Nuclear Suppliers Group
Kissinger Favored Efforts to Curb Nuclear Proliferation in Concert with Other Powers, But Did Not Want U.S. to "Go Charging Around the World, Like Don Quixote."

2014/04/07
Sitreps Detail Rwanda's Descent into Genocide 1994
Complete Collection of Peacekeepers' Situation Reports from Rwanda to UN Headquarters in New York — from the Mission's Inception in October 1993 through the End of the Genocide in July 1994.

2014/04/02
Brazil Marks 50th Anniversary of Military Coup
On 50th anniversary, Archive posts new Kennedy Tape Transcripts on coup plotting against Brazilian President Joao Goulart.

2014/03/31
The Rwandan Refugee Crisis: Before the Genocide

2014/03/27
U.S. National Archives Web Site Uploads Hundreds of Thousands of Diplomatic Cables from 1977
A Step Forward for On-Line Research in International History.

2014/03/26
Iran-Contra: Lawrence Walsh's Contribution to History
Independent Counsel Uncovered Presidential Abuses, Left Invaluable Historical Record.

2014/03/24
Spy Chief James Clapper Wins Rosemary Award
Whopper to Congress Clinches Worst Open Government Performance of 2013.

2014/03/20
THE RWANDAN CRISIS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF FRANCE
PART ONE: LEADUP TO THE GENOCIDE.

2014/03/18
Déjà vu in Mexico: Declassified Documents on the First Time Mexico "Killed" "El Chayo"
Once Deemed a "Needed Win" U.S.-Supported Operation Failed to Net Cartel Chief in 2010.

2014/03/14
Half of Federal Agencies Still Use Outdated Freedom of Information Regulations
50 out of 101 not in compliance with 2007 Congressional changes to the statute.

2014/03/06
Warnings of Catastrophe
French, US, UN, and Belgian Documents Foreshadow the Genocide in Rwanda 1994.

2014/02/28
60th Anniversary of Castle BRAVO Nuclear Test, the Worst Nuclear Test in U.S. History
Blast Had Far Greater Explosive Yield than Expected, Equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshimas.

2014/02/21
Dubious Secrets of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Defense Department Deletes Khrushchev's Public Statements about Jupiter Missiles in Turkey.

2014/02/20
Special Plans and Double Meanings: Controversies over Deception, Intelligence, and Policy Counterterrorism

2014/02/03
The Rwanda Sitreps
Daily Pleas to New York Detail How International Failure Left Peacekeepers Ill-Equipped to Respond to Rising Violence in January 1994.

2014/01/24
Kissinger to Ford: "Smash" Rumsfeld
Newly Declassified Telcons Show Conflict During Ford Years Over Arms Control, Détente, Leaks, Angola.

2014/01/23
USS Pueblo: LBJ Considered Nuclear Weapons, Naval Blockade, Ground Attacks in Response to 1968 North Korean Seizure of Navy Vessel, Documents Show
NSA Initially Downplayed Potential Damage from Capture of Sensitive Encryption Equipment from Spy Ship.

2014/01/09
The Rwanda "Genocide Fax": What We Know Now
New Documentation Paints Complex Picture of Informant and his Warnings.

2014/01/03
Advisory: CNN Re-Airing Groundbreaking 1998 Documentary - "COLD WAR"
National Security Archive Provided Key Documents, Guidance for Award-Winning Series.

2013 POSTINGS

2013/12/16
Proliferation Watch: U.S. Intelligence Assessments of Potential Nuclear Powers, 1977-2001
First Publication of Recently Declassified Satellite Photographs of South African Nuclear Test Site--1977.

2013/12/13
CIA Bay of Pigs Secrecy Case Reaches Appeals Court
National Security Archive Lawsuit Seeks Last Volume of CIA "Official History."

2013/12/11
Last Nuclear Weapons Left Cuba in December 1962
Soviet Military Documents Provide Detailed Account of Cuban Missile Crisis Deployment and Withdrawal.

2013/12/04
From Silence to Memory
Report on the Guatemalan police archives now available in English, with preface by Kate Doyle.

2013/11/22
Nunn-Lugar Revisited
Documents detail "proliferation in reverse" success story.

2013/11/22
Pakistan's Illegal Nuclear Procurement Exposed in 1987
Arrest of Arshed Pervez Sparked Reagan Administration Debate over Sanctions.

2013/11/07
The Able Archer 83 Sourcebook
The largest collection of documents about the Abler Archer 83 incident available.

2013/11/06
Mexico's San Fernando Massacres: A Declassified History
"Near total impunity" for Mexican Cartels "in the face of compromised local security forces," according to U.S.

2013/11/01
THE DIEM COUP AFTER 50 YEARS
JOHN F. KENNEDY AND SOUTH VIETNAM, 1963.

2013/10/29
The Area 51 File: Secret Aircraft and Soviet MiGs
Declassified Documents Describe Stealth Facility in Nevada.

2013/10/07
Every Nuclear-Tipped Missile is an "Accident Waiting to Happen"
New History of Nuclear Weapons Control (and Lack Thereof) Cites National Security Archive Documents on War Plans, Nuclear Accidents, and Command Systems.

2013/09/25
"Disreputable if Not Outright Illegal": The National Security Agency versus Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Art Buchwald, Frank Church, et al.
Newly Declassified History Divulges Names of Prominent Americans Targeted by NSA during Vietnam Era.

2013/09/24
Guatemalan Court Convicts National Police Chief
Commander of Infamous 1984 Fernando Garcia Disappearance.

2013/09/11
Underground Facilities: Intelligence and Targeting Issues - UPDATE OF MARCH 23, 2012 POSTING
U.S. Intelligence: Hiding of Military Assets by "Rogue Nations" and Other States a Major Security Challenge for 21st Century.

2013/09/11
KISSINGER AND CHILE: THE DECLASSIFIED RECORD
Kissinger pressed Nixon to overthrow the democratically elected Allende government because his "'model' effect can be insidious," documents show.

2013/09/04
The Snowden Affair
Web Resource Documents the Latest Firestorm over the National Security Agency.

2013/08/19
CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup
Documents Provide New Details on Mosaddeq Overthrow and Its Aftermath.

2013/08/15
The Secret History of the U-2
US Spy Planes Targeted China to Help India; Used British Crews to "Confuse the Soviets" and Overflew French Nuclear Sites.

2013/08/05
Science, Technology and the CIA - UPDATE OF SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 POSTING
Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology

2013/08/02
The Limited Test Ban Treaty - 50 Years Later: New Documents Throw Light on Accord Banning Atmospheric Nuclear Testing
State Department Officials Pointed to Soviet "Technical Violations" but "Gentlemen's Agreement" Spared Both Superpowers Public Criticisms over Possible Breaches.

2013/07/01
The Israel-Argentina Yellowcake Connection
Previously Secret Documents Show That Canadian Intelligence Discovered That Israel Purchased Yellowcake from Argentines during 1963-1964.

2013/06/04
Studies in Intelligence: New Articles from The CIA's In-House Journal
Unofficial Intelligence Community Views on Assassinations, James Angleton's 'Monster Plot,' Agent Protection, and More.

2013/05/25
Anatoly S. Chernyaev Diary, 1973
Brezhnev Elevated Detente over Class Struggle — to the Dismay of his Politburo Colleagues.

2013/05/23
Forced Disappearance in the Dominican Republic
Government Impunity in Narciso González Case Continues after 19 Years.

2013/05/22
The 1983 War Scare: "The Last Paroxysm" of the Cold War Part III
Part III: "Rather Stunning Array of Indicators" of the Soviet Reaction to Able Archer 83 had "A Dimension of Genuineness ... Often Not Reflected in Intelligence Issuances."

2013/05/21
The 1983 War Scare: "The Last Paroxysm" of the Cold War Part II
Part II: "Blue's use of nuclear weapons did not stop Orange's aggression."

2013/05/16
The 1983 War Scare: "The Last Paroxysm" of the Cold War Part I
Soviet "Huffing and Puffing?" "Crying Wolf?" "Rattling Pots and Pans?" or "A real worry that we could come into conflict through miscalculation?"

2013/05/09
The Final Battle: Ríos Montt's Counterinsurgency Campaign
U.S. and Guatemalan Documents Describe the Strategy Behind Scorched Earth.

2013/04/26
National Security Agency Tasked with Targeting Adversaries' Computers for Attack Since Early 1997, According to Declassified Document
"The Future of Warfare Is Warfare in Cyberspace," NSA Declared.

2013/04/23
China May Have Helped Pakistan Nuclear Weapons Design, Newly Declassified Intelligence Indicates
CIA in 1977 Correctly Estimated South Africa Could Produce Enough Weapons-Grade Uranium "to Make Several Nuclear Devices Per Year."

2013/04/12
The Thatcher-Gorbachev Conversations
Agreement against German Unification, Encouragement on Economic Reform, Argument over Nuclear Abolition.

2013/04/11
Reading the North Korean Tea Leaves: The Perpetual Struggle to Fathom Pyongyang's Motives and Goals
"Brinkmanship" Seen As a "Mainstay of the North's Negotiating Repertoire," Say State Department Records.

2013/04/08
Chiquita Sues to Block Release of Files on Colombia Terrorist Payments
Banana Giant Fears National Security Archive "Media Campaign."

2013/04/03
Freedom of Information Follies: FOIA Reviewers Declassify Same Rwanda Document Four Times, Creating New Secrets Each Time

2013/04/02
D.C. Circuit Rejects Justice Department "Maneuver"
Unanimous CREW v. FEC Decision Terms DoJ View "Impermissible."

2013/03/28
Dos Erres Massacre Radio Show Wins 2013 Peabody Award
Interviewees Include Archive Analyst Kate Doyle.

2013/03/19
Indicted for Genocide: Guatemala's Efraín Ríos Montt
U.S. and Guatemalan Documents Trace Dictator's Rise to Power.

2013/03/19
The Iraq War Ten Years After
Declassified Documents Show Failed Intelligence, Policy Ad Hockery, Propaganda-Driven Decision-Making.

2013/03/15
Justice Department Repeats as Rosemary Award Winner For Worst Open Government Performance in 2012 - Updated 2013/04/02
National Security Archive "Award" Recognizes Failure to Change Agency Regulations, Sneak Attack on Congressional Intent, and Hyped Statistics.

2013/03/13
Freedom of Information Regulations: Still Outdated, Still Undermining Openness
Majority of Agencies Have Not Updated FOIA Rules to Meet Either Obama's 2009 Order or Congress's 2007 Law.

2013/03/08
OPERATION CONDOR ON TRIAL: LEGAL PROCEEDINGS ON LATIN AMERICAN RENDITION AND ASSASSINATION PROGRAM OPEN IN BUENOS AIRES
National Security Archive Posts CIA, DIA and State Department Intelligence Reports Provided to Argentine Prosecutors.

2013/03/05
State Department Intelligence and Research Predicted 1973 Arab-Israeli War
Key INR Memo Published for the First Time.

2013/02/22
U.S. Officials Hoped Chinese Liberalization Program for Tibet in Early 1980s Would Bring Significant Improvements
Declassified Embassy Cables Assess Rationales for Beijing's Short-Lived Policy and Reasons for Its Collapse.

2013/02/22
OSCARS: DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS TELL HISTORY BEHIND BEST FOREIGN FILM NOMINATION, "NO"
ONCE SECRET CIA, DEFENSE AND STATE DEPARTMENT RECORDS FILL IN GAPS IN CHILEAN FILM DEPICTING MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO OUST GENERAL AUGUSTO PINOCHET

2013/02/22
U.S. Detected Indian Nuclear Test Preparations in 1995, but Photo Evidence was "Clear As Mud"
Documents Reveal Washington's Uncertainty Over Whether Prime Minister Rao Had Approved a Test, but Eventually State Department Intelligence Predicted a Non-Test.

2013/01/18
ALAN GROSS CASE SPOTLIGHTS U.S. DEMOCRACY PROGRAMS IN CUBA
LAWSUIT FILED BY FAMILY YIELDS DOCUMENTATION ON "OPERATIONAL" NATURE OF USAID EFFORT.

2013/01/17
The Zero Dark Thirty File
Lifting The Government's Shroud Over the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden.

2013/01/08
Space-Based Early Warning: From MIDAS to DSP to SBIRS
Cold-War DSP System Is Now in the Process of Transition to SBIRS. (UDATE of November 8, 2007 Post)

 

2012 POSTINGS

2012/12/21
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan Was Not a Grand Design But a Grand Entanglement Resulting from Faulty Intelligence, Excessive Secrecy, and a Paralyzed Leadership, According to Conference of Former Decision-Makers
Proceedings from 1995 Conference Reveal Soviet Motivations and U.S. Internal Reactions to Soviet Move.

2012/12/21
Lifting the Veil on Colombia's "Emerald Czar"
Declassified Cable Links Víctor Carranza's Alias to 1997 Miraflores Massacre.

2012/12/14 - Updated 2013/01/09
The Jonathan Pollard Spy Case: The CIA's 1987 Damage Assessment Declassified
New Details on What Secrets Israel Asked Pollard to Steal.

2012/12/12
U.S. Had Plans for "Full Nuclear Response" In Event President Killed or Disappeared during an Attack on the United States
Both USSR and China Were To Be Targeted Simultaneously, Even If Attack Were Conventional or Accidental, and Regardless of Who Was Responsible.

2012/12/07
U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects CIA's Motion to Squash Lawsuit on Bay of Pigs History
National Security Archive Freedom of Information Case to Receive Full Hearing.

2012/12/04
Outdated Agency Regs Undermine Freedom of Information
Majority of Agencies Have Not Updated FOIA Rules to Meet Either Obama's 2009 Order or Congress's 2007 Law.

2012/11/27
Declassified Documents Trace U.S. Policy Shifts on Use of Commercial Satellite Imagery from 1970s to Today
Lack of Control over Foreign Developments, Desire to Promote American Firms, and Potential Benefits Vied with National Security Concerns.

2012/11/19
Declassified Pentagon History Provides Hair-Raising Scenarios of U.S. Vulnerabilities to Nuclear Attack through 1970s
Study Specifically Addresses U.S. Strategic Command-Control-and-Communications [C3] Systems.

2012/11/12
Mikoyan's "Mission Global Competition and the Deterioration of U.S.-Soviet Relations, 1977-1980
Third World Competition Damaged Superpower Relations at Pivotal Moment, According to Conference of Former Decision-Makers

2012/11/6
Declassified 1964 National Intelligence Estimate Predicts India's Bomb But Not Israel's
New Release Reports Country-by-Country Nuclear Capabilities, Fresh Data on Global Proliferation Trends in Mid-1960s.

2012/10/27
Mikoyan's "Mission Impossible" in Cuba: New Soviet Evidence on the Cuban Missile Crisis

2012/10/24
The Underwater Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Submarines and the Risk of Nuclear War

2012/10/19
Cuban Missile Crisis Day by Day: From the Pentagon's "Sensitive Records"
Secret Notes by Deputy Secretary Roswell Gilpatric Show Early Interest in Trade of U.S. Jupiter Missiles for Soviet Missile in Cuba, Even a Status Change for Guantanamo, as Basis of a Settlement, Presaging Elements of the Secret Deal that Helped End the Crisis.

2012/10/16
Pentagon Estimated 18,500 Casualties in Cuba Invasion 1962, But If Nukes Launched, "Heavy Losses" Until U.S. Responded in Kind
Gen. Taylor Proposed Major Retaliation if Cubans "Foolhardy" Enough to Try to Repel U.S. Invasion with Nuclear Weapons.

2012/10/13
SOVIET INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN A CASE OF MISSION CREEP, ACCORDING TO NEW BOOK AND ORIGINAL SOVIET DOCUMENTS
THE DEAD END PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME.

2012/10/12
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS REVELATIONS: KENNEDY'S SECRET APPROACH TO CASTRO
DECLASSIFIED RFK DOCUMENTS YIELD NEW INFORMATION ON BACK-CHANNEL TO FIDEL CASTRO TO AVOID NUCLEAR WAR.

2012/10/12
U.S.-Iran: Lessons from an Earlier War
New Book—Becoming Enemies—Explores Roots of the Current Crisis with Iran.

2012/10/10
The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis: Castro, Mikoyan, Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Missiles of November
Mikoyan Archive Reveals Cuba a Near-Nuclear Power. New Book Shows Crisis Unresolved Until November 22, 1962.

2012/10/04
Lifting the Veil on NRO Satellite Systems and Ground Stations
Documents Trace Effort to Declassify the Operations of America's Intelligence Satellite Agency.

2012/10/01
The Armageddon Letters
Telling the Story of the Cuban Missile Crisis From the Perspective of Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro.

2012/09/18
Soviet Dissidents and Jimmy Carter
The Transformation of Human Rights into An International Norm.

2012/09/14
Jimmy Carter's Controversial Nuclear Targeting Directive PD-59 Declassified
Designed to Give President More Choices in Nuclear Conflict than "All-Out Spasm War".

2012/09/11
The Haqqani History: Bin Ladin's Advocate Inside the Taliban
New Documents – Posted on 9/11 Anniversary – Offer Partial View Inside Newly-Dubbed Terrorist Network.

2012/09/07
Nuclear Terrorism: How Big a Threat?
Documents Trace U.S. Nuclear Counter-Terror Efforts.

2012/09/05
Foreign Policy Features CIA Document Released to National Security Archive
"A Classified Mea Culpa on Iraq." CIA Analysis Acknowledges Intelligence Failure on Iraq's WMDs.

2012/08/15
Inside U.S.-Soviet Relations during the Carter-Brezhnev Period
Documents and Transcripts of Meetings between Leading American and Soviet Ex-Officials Explore Collapse of Détente in late 1970s.

2012/07/23
Early Atomic Energy Commission Studies Show Concern over Gas Centrifuge Proliferation risk
It would "Not be too Difficult" to Build a Secret Plant to Produce Highly Enriched Uranium, AEC warned.

2012/07/20
The Alexeyeva File
Soviet, American, and Russian Documents on the Human Rights Legend.

2012/07/19
Documenting the FBI: Declassified Documents Provide New Detail on Confronting the Terrorist Threat – from al-Qaeda to Skinheads
New Archive Posting Opens Window into Broad Range of Recent FBI Operations.

2012/07/06
Trilateralism and Beyond
Great Power Politics and the Korean Security Dilemma during and after the Cold War.

2012/07/05
STOLEN BABIES: Argentina Convicts Two Military Dictators
In Unprecedented Testimony, Former US Assistant Secretary of State Confirmed Military Kidnappings of Children of Disappeared Political Prisoners in the 1970's.

2012/07/04
Happy 46th Birthday, Freedom of Information!
National Security Archive Compilation of 46 News Stories.

2012/06/20
Japan and the United States from Kennedy to Clinton
New National Security Archive Publication Makes Available 900 Formerly Classified Documents.

2012/06/19
The Central Intelligence Agency's 9/11 File
Top Secret CIA Documents on Osama bin Laden Declassified.

2012/05/29
Mighty Derringer
U.S. Nuclear Terrorism Exercise Leaves Indianapolis in "Ruins."

2012/05/25
Anatoly S. Chernyaev Diary, 1972
Soviet government official Anatoly Chernyaev records an insider's view of the Brezhnev era.

2012/05/10
CIA ALLOWED TO SUSTAIN COVER-UP OF BAY OF PIGS HISTORY
Judge Denies Declassification of Final Volume of CIA Official Report on Invasion of Cuba.

2012/05/03
Update: The Guatemalan Death Squad Diary and the Right to Truth
National Security Archive Expert Testifies before International Court.

2012/04/27
New Documents Spotlight Reagan-era Tensions over Pakistani Nuclear Program
Findings that General Zia Had "Lied" About Pakistani Nuclear Activities Conflicted with U.S. Afghanistan Priority.

2012/04/26
Taylor Verdict Milestone for International Justice
Liberian Warlord Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity During Sierra Leone's Civil War.

2012/04/10
The SOLO File: Declassified Documents Detail "The FBI's Most Valued Secret Agents of the Cold War"
Morris Childs Talked to Mao, Khrushchev, Suslov, Ponomarev - Carried Soviet Funds for American Communists (with Brother Jack) - Reported Back to the FBI for Two Decades.

2012/04/03
The Zelikow Memo: Internal Critique of Bush Torture Memos Declassified
Document sheds light on disputes over treatment of detainees.

2012/04/01
Reagan On The Falkland/Malvinas: "Give[] Maggie enough to carry on..." Haig to Thatcher: "We are not impartial."
New U.S. Documents Show Washington Sided with British in Early April 1982 While Publicly Declaring Neutrality.

2012/03/23
The Pursuit of Justice in Guatemala
There are two winds blowing in Guatemala today. One is for justice, and the other is the right-wing outrage that swept retired general Otto Pérez Molina to the presidency in November.

2012/03/23
Underground Facilities: Intelligence and Targeting Issues - UPDATED SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 POSTING
U.S. Intelligence : Hiding of Military Assets by "Rogue Nations" and Other States a Major Security Challenge for 21st Century

2012/03/12
Holder Responds to Rosemary Award

2012/03/01
The 3 A.M. Phone Call
False Warnings of Soviet Missile Attacks during 1979-80 Led to Alert Actions for U.S. Strategic Forces.

2012/02/14
Justice Department Wins Rosemary Award for Worst Open Government Performance in 2011
National Security Archive cites selective leaks prosecutions, business-as-usual secrecy arguments in litigation, and retrograde information regulations.

2012/02/13
INTEL WARS
The Lessons for U.S. Intelligence From Today's Battlefields.

2012/02/03
NSArchive's Kate Doyle wins Prestigious ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism

2012/02/03
The Pakistani Taliban's Coming Divide: How the Death of Its Leader Could Be Bad for the United States
ForeignAffairs.com Features Article by Archive Analyst.

2012/01/15
Cracking a Vietnam War Mystery
 New book, Marigold: The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam, uses long-hidden communist sources to explore a potential missed opportunity for peace in 1966.

2011 POSTINGS

2011/12/22
Spy Thriller E-Book Features National Security Archive
THE NATURE OF THE GAME by bestselling author James Grady places sleuth protagonist amid documents at the Archive.

2011/12/16
"Godfather" of Colombian Army Intelligence Acquitted in Palace of Justice Case
Gen. Iván Ramírez Led Unit that "Tortured and Killed" Palace of Justice Detainees in 1985.

2011/12/5
The Nixon Administration and the Indian Nuclear Program, 1972-1974
U.S. Post-Mortem on 1974 Indian Test Criticized Intelligence Community Performance for "Waffling Judgments" and Not Following Up Leads.

2011/11/30
CHILEAN JUDGE REQUESTS EXTRADITION OF U.S. MILITARY OFFICIAL IN "MISSING" CASE
Capt. Ray Davis Indicted in Chile for alleged role in murder of Charles Horman, Frank Teruggi.

2011/11/25
IRAN CONTRA AT 25: REAGAN AND BUSH 'CRIMINAL LIABILITY' EVALUATIONS
Presidential 'Exposure' and roles detailed in Special Prosecutor Reports.

2011/11/22
The End of the USSR, 20 Years Later
Moscow Conference Debates Breakup of the Soviet Union.

2011/11/22
REMAINS OF TWO OF GUATEMALA'S DEATH SQUAD DIARY VICTIMS FOUND IN MASS GRAVE
Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala identifiesthem through DNA.

2011/10/28
CIA History of DCI William Colby
CIA Director Distinguishes "bad"/"good"/"lesser" and "non-secrets."

2011/10/11
U.S. Strategic Nuclear Policy: A Video History, 1945-2004
Sandia Labs Historical Video Documents History of U.S. Strategic Nuclear Policy.

2011/09/29
 Who Killed Jaime Garzón?
Document Points to Military/Paramilitary Nexus in Murder of Popular Colombian Comedian

2011/09/16
COMPLETE PENTAGON PAPERS AT LAST!
All Three Versions Posted, Allowing Side-by-Side Comparison

2011/09/11
Secret U.S. Message to Mullah Omar: "Every Pillar of the Taliban Regime Will Be Destroyed"
New Documents Detail America's Strategic Response to 9/11

2011/08/19
The August 1991 Coup in Moscow, 20 Years Later
Documents Show Hardliners Tried to Topple Gorbachev but Brought Down the Soviet Union

2011/08/17
Darfur "genocide" had no "legal consequences" for U.S.
New article in The Atlantic contrasts Darfur memo with 1994 finding that application of term to Rwanda would force U.S. "to actually 'do something'"

2011/08/15
Top Secret CIA 'Official History' of the Bay of Pigs: Revelations
'Friendly Fire' Reported as CIA Personnel Shot at Own Aircraft; New Revelations on Assassination Plots, Use of Americans in Combat

2011/08/12
The Berlin Wall, 50 Years Ago
While Condemning Wall in Public, U.S. Officials Saw "Long Term Advantage" if Potential Refugees Stayed in East Germany

2011/08/01
CIA FORCED TO RELEASE LONG SECRET OFFICIAL HISTORY OF BAY OF PIGS INVASION
National Security Archive Lawsuit Yields Never-Before-Seen Volumes of Massive Study; Agency Continues to Withhold Volume 5

2011/07/27
Non-Papers and Demarches: U.S. and British Combined to Delay Pakistani Nuclear Weapons Program in 1978-1981, Declassified Documents Show
Early Phase of Campaign Brought U.S.-Pakistani Relations to Their "Lowest Ebb," said General Zia

2011/07/21
U.S. Intelligence Eyes Chinese Research into Space-Age Weapons
Possible Use of Electromagnetic and Microwave Radiation against Taiwan or U.S. Fleet Raised

2011/07/12
Eleven Possibilities for Pentagon Papers' "11 Words"

2011/07/04
Eight Federal Agencies Have FOIA Requests a Decade Old, According to Knight Open Government Survey
Oldest Pending Request Now 20 Years Old, Still on Referral Among Multiple Agencies

2011/06/11
From Silence to Memory
A Celebration of the Report of the Historic Archives of the National Police

2011/06/10, updated 2011/06/13
NATIONAL ARCHIVES (NARA) RELEASES PENTAGON PAPERS!
40 Years Later - Full Declassification of "One of the Worst-Kept Secrets in History"

2011/05/26
The French Bomb, with Secret U.S. Help
Documents from Nixon and Ford Administrations Show U.S. Assistance for French Nuclear Forces Earlier Than Previously Reported

2011/05/25
The Diary of Anatoly Chernyaev, 1991
Top Gorbachev Adviser Chronicles Final Year of the Soviet Union

2011/05/05
The Osama Bin Laden File
Pakistan's Bin Laden Policy
Declassified Documents Show Pakistani Refusal to Help Apprehend Terrorist before 9/11

2011/05/02
The Osama Bin Laden File

2011/04/21
The Last NSAM Standing
Deconstructing a Secrecy Blunder: A Study in Dysfunction

2011/04/14
CIA Sued for "Holding History Hostage" on Bay of Pigs Invasion
National Security Archive files FOIA lawsuit to Force Release of "Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation" on 50th Anniversary

2011/04/07
The Chiquita Papers
Banana Giant's Paramilitary Payoffs Detailed in Trove of Declassified Legal, Financial Documents

2011/03/25
New Book on the Peril of Nuclear Weapons Highlights the Archive's Nuclear Vault
Ron Rosenbaum's How the End Begins Lauds "Astonishing Compilation" of Declassified Documents on the Bomb

2011/03/23
"Learn from History"
31st Anniversary of the Assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero

2011/03/14
Glass Half Full
2011 Knight Open Government Survey Finds Freedom of Information Change, But Many Federal Agencies Lag in Fulfilling President Obama's Day One Openness Pledge

2011/02/19
"Nobody Wins a Nuclear War" But "Success" is Possible
Mixed Message of 1950s Air Force Film on a U.S.-Soviet Conflict

2011/02/18
27 Years Later, Justice for Fernando García
Update on the conviction of the Guatemalan police officers responsible for Fernando García's "forced disappearance"

2001/02/01
Fighting for Darfur
U.S. Opposition to International Criminal Court in 2004-2005 Held Up Peacekeeping, Slowed Justice for Genocide Perpetrators

2011/01/28
Sundance Premiere Highlights Guatemala Human Rights Work
Archive Analyst Kate Doyle Featured in Granito: How to Nail a Dictator

2011/01/21
Ex-Kaibil Officer Connected to Dos Erres Massacre Arrested in Alberta, Canada

2011/01/11
The CIA File on Luis Posada Carriles
A Former Agency Asset Goes on Trial in the U.S.

 

2010 POSTINGS

2010/12/21
The United States and Pakistan's Quest for the Bomb
Newly Declassified Documents Disclose Carter Administration's Unsuccessful Efforts to Roll Back Islamabad's Secret Nuclear Program

2010/12/16
Archive Director Tom Blanton decries "Wikimania"
Congressional testimony calls for overhaul of secrecy system and restraint on prosecutions

2010/12/09
New Archive Research Center Opens
Honors Washington Philanthropist Smith Bagley

2010/11/16
Cold War Air Defense Relied on Widespread Dispersal of Nuclear Weapons, Documents Show
Deployments Had Dangerous Potential Because of Predelegation Arrangements

2010/11/13
Justice Department Censors Nazi-Hunting History
Archive FOIA request and lawsuit opens 45 redacted pages; Breakdown of FOI system sparks leak of full 600-page report

2010/11/04
New Obama Order Standardizes and Limits Pseudo-Secrets
Follows Recommendations from Open Government Advocates and the 2006 Archive FOI Audit

2010/10/04
THE IRAQ WAR -- PART III: Shaping the Debate
U.S. and British Documents Show Transatlantic Propaganda Cooperation

2010/10/01
THE IRAQ WAR -- PART II: Was There Even a Decision?
U.S. and British Documents Give No Indication Alternatives Were Seriously Considered

2010/09/29
The United States vs. Rito Alejo del Río
Ambassador Cited Accused Colombian General's Reliance on Paramilitary Death Squads

2010/09/22
THE IRAQ WAR -- PART I:  The U.S. Prepares for Conflict, 2001
Documents Outline Policy Makers’ Aims for the Conflict and Postwar Rule of Iraq

2010/09/16
Former Guatemalan Soldier Sentenced to Ten Years for Lying About Role in Dos Erres Massacre
Declassified documents show that U.S. officials knew the Guatemalan Army was responsible for the 1982 mass murder

2010/09/13
"No-Go" Tribal Areas Became Basis for Afghan Insurgency Documents Show
Washington's Immediate 9/11 Demands to Islamabad

2010/08/11
To Save Dan Mitrione Nixon Administration Urged Death Threats for Uruguayan Prisoners
In Response Uruguayan Security Forces Launched Death Squads to Hunt and Kill Insurgents

2010/08/11
The Test Ban Challenge
Nuclear Nonproliferation and the Quest for a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

2010/07/29
Archive Director Takes on Stephen Colbert!
Also A Guest on The Kojo Nnamdi Show

2010/06/23
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Korea?
New Archive Document Collection Sheds Light on Nixon's Frustrating Search for Military Options

2010/06/16
"We can't go on the way we are"
U.S. Proposals for a Fissile Material Production Cutoff and Disarmament Diplomacy during the 1950s and 60s

2010/06/13
The Washington/Camp David Summit 1990: From the Secret Soviet, American and German Files
Documents Show Serious Domestic Challenges to Gorbachev; Bush Tries to Help with Trade Agreement, Not Arms Cuts

2010/06/11
Landmark Conviction in Colombia's Palace of Justice Case
Declassified Documents Implicate Colonel, Army, in Civilian Killings, Disappearances

2010/05/30
Secret U.S. Overture to Iran in 1999 Broke Down Over Terrorism Allegations
U.S. Also Misunderstood Iran's Leadership Dynamics in Attempting Exclusive Contact with President Khatami

2010/05/25
The Diary of Anatoly Chernyaev, 1990
Fifth Installment of Former Top Soviet Adviser's Journal Available in English for First Time

2010/05/07
Former Guatemalan Soldier Arrested for Alleged Role in Dos Erres Massacre
Declassified documents show that U.S. officials knew the Guatemalan Army was responsible for the 1982 mass murder

2010/05/06
Cracking open the Soviet biological weapons system, 1990
More from David Hoffman's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy

2010/04/29
The Glasnost tours:
Breaking Down Soviet Military Secrecy

2010/04/14
IN MEMORIAM: ANATOLY FEDOROVICH DOBRYNIN (1919-2010)
Dean of Washington's Diplomatic Corps, Eyewitness to the Superpower Rivalry, and Advocate for Opening Up the History of the Cold War

2010/04/10
Kissinger Blocked Demarche on International Assassinations to Condor States
Rescinded Orders to Warn Military Regimes Days before Letelier Bombing in Washington, D.C.

2010/04/08
How Much is Enough? Part II
"Prague Treaty Cuts Are Modest, Real"; Old Cold War Proposals Went Even Lower

2010/04/07
Why is "Poodle Blanket" Classified?
Still More Dubious Secrets at the Pentagon

2010/03/30
Bordaberry Condemned for 1973 Coup
National Security Archive Posts Declassified Evidence Used in Trial

2010/03/15
Sunshine and Shadows
The Clear Obama Message for Freedom of Information Meets Mixed Results

2010/03/12
2010 Rosemary Award for Worst Open Government Performance Goes to Federal Chief Information Officers' Council
National Security Archive cites CIO Council for "lifetime failure" to address crisis in government e-mail preservation

2010/03/09
Archival Evidence of Mexico's Human Rights Crimes
The Case of Aleida Gallangos

2010/02/12
Project Azorian
The CIA's Declassified History of the Glomar Explorer

2010/02/02
Seeing human rights in the "proper manner"
The Reagan-Chun Summit of February 1981

2010/01/15
The Air Force versus Hollywood
Documentary on "SAC Command Post" Tried to Rebut "Dr. Strangelove" and "Fail Safe"

 

2009 POSTINGS

2009/12/14
Kyoto Redux?
Obama's Challenges at Copenhagen Echo Clinton's at Kyoto

2009/12/14
National Security Archive and White House Reach Agreement for Restoration of Missing Bush White House E-mails

2009/12/11
Kennedy Considered Supporting Coup in South Vietnam, August 1963
Newly Declassified Audio Tapes Reveal JFK Saw Only Negative Choices

2009/12/10
Thirtieth Anniversary of NATO's Dual-Track Decision
The Road to the Euromissiles Crisis and the End of the Cold War
New Documents from the Archive's Nuclear Vault

2009/12/08
Operation Mexico: Secret Argentine Rendition Program Illuminated by Declassified Documents
National Security Archive Analyst Presents New Evidence to Court in Argentina

2009/12/03
Bush and Gorbachev at Malta
Previously Secret Documents from Soviet and U.S. Files on the 1989 Meeting, 20 Years Later

2009/12/03
Jacobo Timerman hizo Tambalear a la Dictadura Argentina
La Administración de Carter dio prioridad a este caso; la liberación de Timerman estremeció a la Junta Militar en 1979

2009/12/02
Operation Sofia: Documenting Genocide in Guatemala
Archive expert presents Guatemalan military document in international genocide case

2009/11/18
The Soviet Origins of Helmut Kohl's 10 Points
Documents show secret messages from Moscow sparked West German chancellor to announce German unification plans on November 28, 1989

2009/11/13
The Taliban Biography: The Structure and Leadership of the Taliban 1996-2002
Documents Show U.S. Officials Worried Mullah Omar Was Growing Closer to Bin Laden in 1998

2009/11/08
Prague Communists Called for Wall to Open on November 8, 1989
East German Refugee Crisis in Embassies in Prague Turned Hardliners into Advocates for Change 20 Years Ago

2009/11/07
Fall of Berlin Wall Caused Anxiety More than Joy at Highest Levels
Secret Documents Show Opposition to German Unification

2009/11/02
Know Thine Enemy: Why The Taliban Cannot Be Flipped
Foreign Affairs Features Article by Archive Analyst Barbara Elias

2009/10/30
Afghanistan Déjà vu?
Lessons from the Soviet Experience

2009/10/13
Nuclear Noh Drama
Tokyo, Washington and the Case of the Missing Nuclear Agreements

2009/10/09
A Different October Revolution
Dismantling the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe

2009/10/08
State Department Cable says Colombian Army Responsible for Palace of Justice Deaths, Disappearances
Document Introduced as Evidence in Trial of Col. Alfonso Plazas Vega

2009/10/06
Posada Carriles Built Bombs for, and Informed on, Jorge Mas Canosa, CIA Records Reveal
Proposed Posada for "responsible civil position" in post-Castro government; Declassified Documents identify Posada's Agency Handlers

2009/09/30
Archive General Counsel Testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee on FOIA
Notes backlogs in FY 2008 went back as far as 17 Years, Urges Additional Steps for Congress and Obama Administration to Improve FOIA

2009/09/24
Conspiracy of Silence?
Colombia, the United States and the Massacre at El Salado

2009/09/22
U.S. Intelligence and the Detection of the First Soviet Nuclear Test, September 1949

2009/09/11
Previously Classified Interviews with Former Soviet Officials Reveal U.S. Strategic Intelligence Failure Over Decades
1995 Contractor Study Finds that U.S. Analysts Exaggerated Soviet Aggressiveness and Understated Moscow's Fears of a U.S. First Strike

2009/08/26
The CIA's Vietnam Histories
Newly-Declassified CIA Histories Show Its Involvement in Every Aspect of the Indochina War

2009/08/25
CIA Inspector General Report Exposes Torture as U.S. Policy
What were they hiding? A Comparison of the Bush and Obama Releases

2009/08/25
The Torture Archive
More than 83,000 Pages Now Online, Full-text and Indexed

2009/08/20
Breaking the Silence
The Mexican Army and the 1997 Acteal Massacre

2009/08/16
Brazil Conspired with U.S. to Overthrow Allende
Declassified U.S. Documents Show Richard Nixon and Brazilian President Emilio Médici Discussed Coordinated Intervention in Chile, Cuba, and other Latin American nations "to prevent new Allendes and Castros"

2009/07/17
More Dubious Secrets
Systematic Overclassification of Defense Information Poses Challenge for President Obama's Secrecy Review

2009/07/10
National Security Inspectors General Release Critique of Warrantless Surveillance Program

2009/07/09
Robert McNamara: An Appreciation

2009/07/01
Saddam Hussein Talks to the FBI
Twenty Interviews and Five Conversations with "High Value Detainee # 1" in 2004

2009/06/30
Archive Submits Comments on Obama Administration Declassification Policy
Public Interest Declassification Board Launches Forum for Public Input on Declassification Policy

2009/06/19
The Secret Sentry Declassified
Declassified Documents Reveal the Inner Workings and Intelligence Gathering Operations of the National Security Agency

2009/06/18
Air Force Audit Finds Agency Lacks Basic Systems to Comply with the Freedom of Information Act
Three years after a federal court found a pattern and practice of not processing FOIAs in a lawsuit brought by the National Security Archive, Air Force still has not fixed its system

2009/06/10
Ernest R. May 1928-2009, An Appreciation
 National Security Archive joins scholars around the world in mourning the passing of Ernest R. May

2009/06/05
The Secrecy Court of Last Resort
New Declassification Releases by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP)

2009/05/26
 The Diary of Anatoly Chernyaev 1989
Archive Publishes Fourth Installment of Former Top Soviet Adviser's Journal

2009/05/21
Archive Testifies to House Oversight Committee About Challenges Facing National Archives
Recommends New Archivist Have a Vision for Archives 2.0

2009/05/01
"How Much is Enough?": The U.S. Navy and "Finite Deterrence"
A Moment in Cold War History when the Fundamentals of the U.S. Nuclear Posture Were at Stake

2009/04/23
Robert F. Kennedy Urged Lifting Travel Ban to Cuba in '63
Documents Record First Internal Debate to Lift Ban

2009/04/14
White House Agrees to Share Information in an Effort to Resolve Archive's E-mail Lawsuit

2009/04/13
"Torturing Democracy" Wins RFK Journalism Award
Award Committee Calls Film "the definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history"

2009/04/07
Fujimori Found Guilty of Human Rights Crimes
National Security Archive Posts Declassified Evidence Used in Trial

2009/03/19
New Attorney General Guidelines on FOIA Released
Holder Memo Encourages Discretionary Releases, Accountability of FOIA Programs; DOJ Will Only Defend if Harm from Release is Reasonably Foreseeable

2009/03/17
Historical Archives Lead to Arrest of Police Officers in Guatemalan Disappearance
Declassified documents show U.S. Embassy knew that Guatemalan security forces were behind wave of abductions of students and labor leaders

2009/03/13
2009 Rosemary Award for Worst FOIA Performance Goes to FBI
National Security Archive Cites FBI for Record-Setting "No Records" Responses

2009/02/26
Obama Administration Lifts Blanket Ban on Media Coverage of the Return of Fallen Soldiers
Policy changed 18 years after Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney first banned news media from covering honor ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base

2009/02/21
Obama Justice Department Misses Opportunity for Transparency
Stays the Course in Defense of Archive Suit About Lost Bush White House E-mail

2009/02/15
Afghanistan and the Soviet Withdrawal 1989: 20 Years Later

2009/01/26
Jan Palach Week, 1989: The Beginning of the End for Czechoslovak Communism
Documents from Secret Police, Party, and Dissidents Published on Web

2009/01/22
Cuba and the U.S.: Road Map on Efforts to Improve Relations Revealed in Declassified Documents
Secret Kissinger Era reports on Ending "Perpetual Antagonism" may hold Lessons for Obama Administration

2009/01/21
President Obama embraces openness on day one, as urged by the National Security Archive and a coalition of more than 60 organizations
New president says era of secrecy in Washington is over, pledges "new era of openness in our country"

2009/01/15
White House e-mail in "true emergency conditions"
Magistrate judge orders search of all White House computers, grants plaintiffs' request for inventories and preservation of evidence

UPDATED - 2009/01/14
White House admits it has not recovered files from computer workstations or collected external computer storage media that may contain missing e-mails
Scope of missing e-mails acknowledged in court today, although Department of Justice claims they are working on a solution

2009/01/14
Court Grants National Security Archive Motion to Search White House Computers and Preserve E-mails
On the eve of transition, federal judge orders outgoing White House staff to surrender electronic media containing e-mails

2009/01/13
The Iranian Nuclear Program, 1974-1978
U.S.-Iran Nuclear Negotiations in 1970s Featured Shah's Nationalism and U.S. Weapons Worries

2009/01/12
The Nuclear Emergency Search Team, 1974-1996
Declassified Documents Depict Creation, Capabilities, and Activities of Once-Secret Nuclear Counterterrorism Unit

2009/01/07
"Body count mentalities": Colombia's "False Positives" Scandal, Declassified
Documents Describe History of Abuses by Colombian Army

2009/01/05
"Riveting" Account of U.S. Presidents and the Middle East Details Inconsistent Policies and influence of Foreign Leaders
New Patrick Tyler book narrates "A World of Trouble"; Documentary highlights posted on Archive Web site

 

2008 POSTINGS

2008/12/23
The Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts
Archive Publishes Treasure Trove of Kissinger Telephone Conversations

2008/12/21
“No se Registró Novedad Digna de Mencionar”
Documentos del Archivo del Terror de Paraguay Desmienten la Fuga de Prisioneros

2008/12/08
Reagan, Gorbachev and Bush at Governor's Island
Previously Secret Documents from Soviet and U.S. Files on the 1988 Summit in New York, 20 Years Later

2008/12/02
NPR Features Archive Analyst in Tlatelolco Massacre Program
Links to Declassified Documents from Archive FOIA Requests and Mexican Archival Research

2008/11/14
National Security Agency Releases History of Cold War Intelligence Activities
Soviet Strategic Forces Went on Alert Three Times during September-October 1962 Because of Apprehension over Cuban Situation,
Top Secret Codeword History of National Security Agency Shows

2008/11/12
Obama administration can act quickly to restore openness, according to new transparency proposals
Dozens of groups sign on to recommend openness from Day One

2008/11/10
Court Rejects White House on Missing E-mails
Judge Kennedy sides with Archive and CREW on ability to sue

2008/11/05
Court Rebukes CIA on Freedom of Information, Recognizes Journalists, Not CIA, Determine What Is News
CIA Ordered to Treat National Security Archive as Representative of the News Media for All FOIA Requests

2008/10/31
Court Orders Government to Submit Warrantless Surveillance Legal Opinions for Judicial Review
Court refuses to accept blanket assertions of secrecy regarding DOJ surveillance opinions

2008/10/24
More Cold War Espionage Transcripts Unsealed
Victory for Archive and Historical Associations Results in the Release of New Information About Rosenbergs Spy Case

2008/10/17
Washington Broadcast Set for Torturing Democracy
Reviewers rate new documentary "compelling," "impressive," "top-shelf"

2008/10/05
Trujillo Declassified
Documenting Colombia's 'tragedy without end'

2008/10/02
2 DE OCTUBRE DE 1968 - Verdad Bajo Resguardo
On the 40th Anniversary of the Tlatelolco Massacre, Archivos Abiertos offers the most complete account to date of what files exist and what remains hidden bajo resguardo

2008/09/18
Out of the Black: The Declassification of the NRO
Declassified Documents Depict Debates Over Whether to Declassify the "Fact of" U.S. Satellite Reconnaissance Organization

2008/09/11
National Security Archive and Historians Secure Long Secret Rosenberg Grand Jury Testimony
Ruth Greenglass Testimony Directly Contradicts Central Trial Charge against Ethel Rosenberg

2008/09/10
New Kissinger 'Telcons' Reveal Chile Plotting at Highest Levels of U.S. Government
Nixon Vetoed Proposed Coexistence with an Allende Government

2008/09/09
Archive Expert Testifies in Fujimori Trial
Testimony Explains How Declassified Documents Provide Information on Human Rights Abuses of Fujimori Government

2008/08/22
PR Push for Iraq War Preceded Intelligence Findings
"White Paper" Drafted before NIE even Requested

2008/08/20
1998 Missile Strikes on Bin Laden May Have Backfired
Extensive 1999 Report on Al-Qaeda Threat Released by U.S. Dept of Energy

2008/07/29
Magistrate Judge Affirms Recommendation that Court Order White House to Preserve E-mails on Workstations and Portable Media
Concludes Some Missing E-mail May Not Be Preserved on Back-Up Tapes

2008/07/22
Court Agrees to Release of Most Rosenberg Grand Jury Materials
Orders Government to Determine Status of Additional Witnesses

2008/07/02
The "Eyeball to Eyeball" Myth
New Book One Minute to Midnight Reveals Missile-carrying Ships Already Heading Back to Soviet Union

2008/07/01
"The Impulse towards a Safer World"
40th Anniversary of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty - The Latest from the Archive's Nuclear Vault

2008/06/26
Federal Prosecutors Agree to Release of Some Rosenberg Grand Jury Records After Petition from Archive and Historical Groups

2008/06/25
The Shootdown of Major Anderson
U.S. Intelligence Tracked Activation of Soviet Air Defenses During Missile Crisis

2008/06/18
Tracing the Nuclear Warheads
New Book One Minute to Midnight Reveals Precise Location of Soviet Nuclear Bunkers During Cuban Missile Crisis

2008/06/13
U.S. Military Hoped for Virtually Unlimited Freedom of Action in Iraq
Drafting of U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement Began Nearly Five Years Ago

2008/06/11
Missing Over the Soviet Union
New Book One Minute to Midnight Reveals Accidental U-2 Flight Over Soviet Airspace During Missile Crisis

2008/06/11
Archive Testifies that Implementation of Controlled Unclassified Information Framework Must Include Measures to Reduce Secrecy and Protect Public Disclosure

2008/06/04
 The Soviet Plan to Destroy Guantanamo
Archive Publishes Key Sources Behind One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War

2008/05/31
 The Moscow Summit 20 Years Later
From The Secret U.S. and Soviet Files

2008/05/23
The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev: 1987-1988

2008/05/14
 Electronic and Classified Records are Overwhelming the National Archives
According to Senate Testimony by Archive Director

2008/05/08
Washington Post Profiles the Archive
"The house that FOIA built and a mecca for documents buffs"; Documents "nothing short of astonishing"

2008/05/07
Archive Featured in Fox News Expose on FBI Files
FBI Official Claims Innocent Mistake in Answering "No Records" on Al Qaeda; But FBI Sent "No Records" Response a Second Time Answering Archive's Appeal

2008/05/06
White House Backups are Incomplete, May Not Contain Some Missing E-mails
Court Filing Says White House Cannot Identify Hard Drives in Use When E-mails Were Lost

2008/04/30
Air Force Histories Show Cautious Presidents Overruling Air Force Plans for Early Use of Nuclear Weapons

2008/04/24
Court Sets Deadline for White House Answers on Missing E-mail
Magistrate Judge Cites "Lack of Precision" in White House Statements

2008/04/17
Ruling on Preservation of White House E-Mails Awaited
New Law Proposed to Address Destruction of Electronic Records

2008/04/11 - Update
U.S. Reconnaissance Satellites: Domestic Targets
Documents Describe Use of Satellites in Support of Civil Agencies and Longstanding Controversy

2008/04/09
Fighting the War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973
Air Force Histories Reveal CIA Role in Laos, CIA Air Strike Missions, New Evidence on Nuclear Weapons, Air Force Policy Disputes, During Vietnam War Years

2008/03/19
Treasury Wins 2008 "Rosemary Award" as Worst FOIA Agency
National Security Archive Annual Award Cites Shredded Letters, Decade-Long Delays, and Sub-Prime Performance

2008/03/18
Court orders White House to show cause why it should not create forensic copies of all electronic media
Seeks means to protect missing e-mails in response to Archive lawsuit

2008/03/16
Mixed Signals, Mixed Results: How President Bush's Executive Order on FOIA Failed to Deliver - The Knight Open Government Survey
Two Years Later, Freedom of Information Order Still Has Not Produced All That It Promised

2008/03/04
Slain Colombian Insurgent Held Secret Talks with U.S. Diplomats
Declassified State Department Memo Describes Clandestine 1998 Meetings with Colombian Guerrillas Central to Current Saber-Rattling in Andean Region

2008/02/26
"Prevent the Emergence of a New Rival"
The Making of the Cheney Regional Defense Strategy, 1991-1992

2008/02/26
White House Ignored Repeated Warnings That E-mails Were at Risk
White House Staff Claims Ignorance about its Own Prior Investigation Into Missing E-mails, Acknowledges it Still Has Not Located E-mails From Over 200 Days

2008/02/22
Southern Cone Rendition Program: Peru's Participation
Operation Condor Crimes Focus of Italian Indictments

2008/02/16
Paramilitaries and the United States: "Unraveling the Pepes Tangled Web"
Documents Detail Narco-Terror Connection to U.S.-Colombia Anti-Escobar Task Force

2008/01/31
National Security Archive and Historical Associations Petition for Release of Rosenberg Grand Jury Records
More Than 50 Years After Spy Trial, Public Interest Outweighs Privacy, National Security Concerns

2008/01/28
Suharto: A Declassified Documentary Obit

2008/01/24
"Secrecy" Film Premieres at Sundance
Archive Director Featured in Q & A

2008/01/20
1978: Clandestine Operation of Argentine Military Intelligence in Mexico
Archive Publishes Spanish-language Briefing Book on Mexican Secret Services Capture of Operatives Attempting to Kill Argentine Insurgents

2008/01/16
White House Admits No Back-Up Tapes for E-mail Before October 2003
Responds to Court's Questions; Claims Not to Know Whether Critical E-mails Were Erased

2008/01/14
In 1974 Estimate, CIA Found that Israel Already Had a Nuclear Stockpile
"Many Countries" Would Soon Have Nuclear Capabilities

2008/01/08
White House Must Answer Questions About Missing White House E-mails, Magistrate Judge Rules

 

2007 POSTINGS

2007/12/21
En el 15 Aniversario del Archivo del Terror
El National Security Archive Pone en Linea 60,000 Registros de la Policia Secreta del Dictador Stroessner

2007/12/21
Operación Cóndor en el Archivo del Terror

2007/12/21
Localizar y detener al Dr. Goiburú
Documentos del Archivo del Terror de Paraguay implican a Fuerzas de Seguridad paraguayas y argentinas en el secuestro

2007/12/21
Rendition in the Southern Cone
Operation Condor Documents Revealed from the Paraguayan "Archive of Terror"

2007/12/18 - Updated Jan 2, 2008
President Signs FOIA Amendment
First FOIA Reform Bill In More Than A Decade Becomes Law

2007/12/14
Archive Argues Against Government Attempt to Dismiss White House E-mail Lawsuit
Dismissal Would Leave No Remedy or Recovery for 5 Million or More Historic Computer Record

2007/12/10
The INF Treaty and the Washington Summit
20 Years Later

2007/12/10
Fujimori on Trial
Secret DIA Intelligence Cable Ties Former President to Summary Executions

2007/12/10
Fujimori on Trial
Secret DIA Intelligence Cable Ties Former President to Summary Executions

2007/11/22
New Evidence on the Origins of Overkill
First Substantive Release of Early SIOP Histories

2007/11/15
Terrorism Case of Luis Posada Debated on Capitol Hill
Archive Analyst Peter Kornbluh Shares Declassified CIA and FBI Intelligence Reports With House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee

2007/11/13
Judge Orders Executive Office of the President to Preserve E-mail Backup Tapes

2007/11/09 - UPDATED 2013/01/08
Space-Based Early Warning: From MIDAS to DSP to SBIRS
Last DSP satellite to be launched tomorrow

2007/11/05
The Record on CURVEBALL
Declassified Documents and Key Participants Show the Importance of Phony Intelligence in the Origins of the Iraq War

2007/11/02
Kissinger Conspired With Soviet Ambassador to Keep Secretary of State in the Dark
U.S. State Department and Russian Foreign Ministry Publish Record of Dobrynin-Kissinger "Back Channel" Meetings Based on First-time Access to Classified Soviet-Era Documents

2007/10/29
Archive seeks to discover true extent of missing e-mails at White House
Demands the initiation of discovery to ensure Executive Office of the President cannot render judicial preservation decisions meaningless

2007/10/25
Che Guevara's Hair Auctioned Off
Scrapbook of memorabilia kept by CIA operative who buried Che renews attention to Guevara's execution, U.S. Role

2007/10/01
Declassifying the "Fact of" Satellite Reconnaissance
The Debate and Documents

2007/10/01
Court Rules Delay in Release of Presidential Papers is Illegal
Fails to Address Authority of Former Vice Presidents to Hold Up Disclosure of Papers

2007/09/28
The Mexico Freedom of Information Program
Archive Launches New Web Page on Transparency in Mexico

2007/09/17
The Pentagon's Counterspies: The Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA)
Documents Describe Organization and Operations of Controversial Agency and Database

2007/09/14
U.S. Reconnaissance Satellites: Domestic Targets
Documents Describe Use of Satellites in Support of Civil Agencies

2007/09/10
The Algerian Nuclear Problem, 1991: Controversy over the Es Salam Nuclear Reactor
1991 Controversy over Algerian Nuclear Reactor Led Washington to Seek Chinese Assistance in Pressing Algiers to Adhere to Nuclear Nonproliferation Goals

2007/09/05
Archive Sues to Recover 5 Million Missing White House E-mails

2007/09/05
New Court Decisions in Two Archive Cases
Court Permits CIA to Withhold Historic President?s Daily Briefs, But Denies Categorical Exemption for PDBs
Court Rejects Wiretapping Secrecy Claims, Orders New Index of Documents and More Detailed Reasons for Withholding

2007/08/14
Pakistan: "The Taliban's Godfather"?
Documents Detail Years of Pakistani Support for Taliban, Extremists

2007/08/10
The George Polk Case
CIA Has Lost Records on CBS Reporter Murdered in Greece in 1948, and Destroyed FOIA File on Case

2007/07/13
Secrecy and U.S. Satellite Reconnaissance, 1958-1976
Even at Height of Cold War, U.S. Officials Regularly Argued Internally for More Transparency

2007/07/12
Congress Asks Archive to Testify About Overclassification of Records

2007/07/03
Groups Urge Senate to Enact FOIA Reform on the Law's 41st Birthday

2007/07/02
40 Years of FOIA, 20 Years of Delay
Knight Open Government Survey by National Security Archive finds agencies mislead Congress on oldest requests

2007/07/01
The Truth about Triple-A
U.S. Document Implicates Current, Former Colombian Army Commanders in Terror Operation

2007/06/21
The CIA's Family Jewels
Agency Violated Charter for 25 Years; Wiretapped Journalists and Dissidents

2007/06/15
U.S. Opposed Taiwanese Bomb during 1970s
Declassified Documents Show Persistent U.S. Intervention to Discourage Suspicious Nuclear Research

2007/05/25
The Diary of Anatoly Chernyaev
Archive Publishes Second Installment of Former Top Soviet Adviser's Journal

2007/05/08
Iraq: The Media War Plan
Declassified White Paper and PowerPoint Slides on Pentagon's "Rapid Reaction Media Team" for Iraq

2007/05/03
Documents Linked to Cuban Exile Luis Posada Highlighted Targets for Terrorism
Bomber's Confessions Point to Explosives Hidden in Toothpaste Tube that Brought Down Civilian Airliner in 1976

2007/05/03
Archive and Openness Advocates Urge Court Scrutiny of Government Secrecy Claims
Amicus brief argues against deference in warrantless wiretapping case

2007/04/27
The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II
A Collection of Primary Sources

2007/04/16
Archive Director Featured on Fox News Sunday As “Power Player of the Week”
Chris Wallace Interview Features Archive Documents

2007/03/29
Documents Implicate Colombian Government in Chiquita Terror Scandal
Article by Archive Analyst Featured in The Nation

2007/03/22
Congress Asks Archive General Counsel to Testify on Reducing Pseudo-Secrets

2007/03/16
 Air Force Wins 2007 Rosemary Award for Worst FOIA Performance

2007/03/14
 Archive Testifies in Support of Senate FOIA Reform Efforts
 Archive General Counsel Testifies that FOIA Executive Order Does Not Go Far Enough to Enforce Compliance with FOIA; Congress Must Mandate Solutions for Delay, Agency Obstruction on FOIA

2007/03/13
 Are We Safer in the Dark?
 Archive Director Tom Blanton in USA Today

2007/03/12
 File Not Found: Agencies Violate Law on Freedom of Information
 The Knight Open Government Survey

2007/03/01
 The Presidential Records Act in Crisis
Six Years Since White House Intervened, Five Years of "Pure Delay"

2007/02/14
TOP SECRET POLO STEP
Iraq War Plan Assumed Only 5,000 U.S. Troops Still There by December 2006

2007/02/14
House Subcommittee Asks Archive for FOIA Reform Advice
Archive General Counsel Testifies that Congress Should Mandate Solutions; Cites 17 Year Delays, Lost Requests, and Agency Obstruction of FOIA

2007/02/07
CIA Proposed Rule on FOIA Fees Would Burden Requesters and the Agency
National Security Archive Warns that Fee Disuputes Obstruct Open Government

2007/01/06
Charter 77 After 30 Years
Documenting the Landmark Human Rights Declaration

 

2006 POSTINGS

2006/12/12
Pinochet: A Declassified Documentary Obit
Archive Posts Records on former Dictator's Repression, Acts of Terrorism, U.S. Support

2006/12/11
Solidarity and Martial Law in Poland: 25 Years Later
U.S. Misread Polish Leadership, and Was Unprepared for the Crackdown despite Having a Spy on the Inside

2006/11/24
The Iran-Contra Affair 20 Years On
Documents Spotlight Role of Reagan, Top Aides

2006/11/21
Official Report Released on Mexico's "Dirty War"
Government Acknowledges Responsibility for Massacres, Torture, Disappearances and Genocide

2006/11/10
The Robert Gates File
The Iran-Contra Scandal, 1991 Confirmation Hearings, and Excerpts from new book Safe for Democracy

2006/11/04
Post-Saddam Iraq: The War Game
"Desert Crossing" 1999 Assumed 400,000 Troops and Still a Mess

2006/10/31
CIA Had Single Officer in Hungary 1956
Declassified CIA Histories Describe Hungarian Revolution as "Undreamed-of"

2006/10/26
North Korea's Collapse?
The End Is Near -- Maybe

2006/10/19
Attorney General's Report Ignores Serious Problems in Agency FOIA Programs
National Security Archive Calls for Congressional Oversight

2006/10/13
The Reykjavik File
Previously Secret U.S. and Soviet Documents on the 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev Summit

2006/10/10
VA Takes Nine Months to Locate Data on Disability Claims by Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
Report Indicates that 1 in 4 Veterans of the Global War on Terrorism Claim Disabilities

2006/10/05
Bombing of Cuban Jetliner 30 Years Later
New Documents on Luis Posada Posted as Texas Court Weighs Release from Custody

2006/10/02
Kissinger's "Salted Peanuts" and the Iraq War
The National Security Archive Posts Original Document Cited in Bob Woodward's State of Denial

2006/10/01
The Dead of Tlatelolco
Using the Archives to Examine the Past

2006/09/27
"A Comprehensive Strategy to Fight Al-Qaeda"?
Rice versus Clinton on January 2001 Clarke Memo

2006/09/22
U.S. Intelligence on Russian and Chinese Nuclear Testing Activities, 1990-2000
Prospects of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Led China to Accelerate Testing Schedule

2006/09/20
Letelier-Moffitt Assassination 30 Years Later
National Security Archive calls for Release of Withheld Documents Relating to Pinochet's Role in Infamous Act of Terrorism in Washington, D.C. on September 21, 1976

2006/09/01
New State Department Releases on the "Future of Iraq" Project
New Documents Provide Details on Budgets, Interagency Coordination and Working Group Progress

2006/08/18
How Many and Where Were the Nukes?
What the U.S. Government No Longer Wants You to Know about Nuclear Weapons During the Cold War

2006/08/11
Government Releases Detailed Information on 9/11 Crashes
Complete Air-Ground Transcripts of Hijacked 9/11 Flight Recordings Declassified

2006/07/31
Nuclear Weapons, the Vietnam War, and the "Nuclear Taboo"
Nixon White House Considered Nuclear Options Against North Vietnam, Declassified Documents Reveal

2006/07/04
Freedom of Information at 40
LBJ Refused Ceremony, Undercut Bill with Signing Statement

2006/06/14
CIA Claims the Right to Decide What is News
Archive Sues to Break FOIA Fee Barrier for Journalists

2006/05/26
Massive Collection of Formerly Secret and Top Secret Transcripts of Henry Kissinger's Meetings with World Leaders Published On-Line
28,000 Pages of Documents Show Kissinger as Negotiator and Policymaker in Real-time, Verbatim Talks with World Leaders

2006/05/25
The Diary of Anatoly Chernyaev
Archive Publishes First Installment on Author's 85th Birthday

2006/05/12
The Moscow Helsinki Group 30th Anniversary
From the Secret Files

2006/05/05
The Vela Incident: Nuclear Test or Meteoroid?
Documents Show Significant Disagreement with Presidential Panel Concerning Cause of September 22, 1979 Vela "Double-Flash" Detection

2006/04/28
Israel Crosses the Threshold
Senior Nixon Administration Officials Considered Confronting Israel over Nuclear Weapons in 1969

2006/04/26
ISOO Audit Report Exposes Abuse of Classification System
National Declassification Initiative Needed, Recommends ISOO

2006/04/21
U.S. National Archives Web Site Uploads Thousands of Diplomatic Cables
A Major Step for On-Line Research

2006/04/19
Federal Court Finds Air Force Engages in a Pattern or Practice of Violating the FOIA
Archive Lawsuit Forces the Air Force to Process FOIA Requests

2006/04/19
Secret Understanding Between National Archives and CIA Exposes Framework for Surreptitious Reclassification Program
U.S. Archivist Promises No More Secret Agreements

2006/04/13
U.S. Intelligence and the Indian Bomb
Documents Show U.S. Intelligence Failed to Warn of India's Nuclear Tests Despite Tracking Nuclear Weapons Potential Since 1950s

2006/04/11
Secret Agreement Reveals Covert Program to Hide Reclassification from Public
National Archives Signed Deal with Air Force to Disguise Re-review of Open Files and Mislead Researchers on Reasons for Withdrawing Previously Open Records

2006/04/07
What the President Leaked
Authorized Leak or Declassification?
The Documents Behind the Bush Administration's Intelligence Disclosures on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction

2006/03/28
Eyes on the Bomb
U-2, CORONA, and KH-7 Imagery of Foreign Nuclear Installations

2006/03/23
On 30th Anniversary of Argentine Coup: New Declassified Details on Repression and U.S. Support for Military Dictatorship
22,000 people murdered or disappeared by military between 1975 and 1978 according to secret Chilean intelligence report

2006/03/21
U.S. Intelligence and the French Nuclear Weapons Program
Documents Show U.S. Intelligence Targeted French Nuclear Program as Early as 1946

2006/03/14
Pseudo-Secrets
A Freedom of Information Audit of the U.S. Government's Policies on Sensitive Unclassified Information

2006/03/13
Archive and EPIC Urge Second Circuit to Order Release of Abu Ghraib Photos
Withholding of photos deprives public of unbiased evidence about abuse by American troops and command responsibility

2006/03/13
U.S. Intelligence and the South African Bomb
Documents Show U.S. Unable to Penetrate Apartheid Regime's Nuclear Weapons Program

2006/03/13
CIA Wins 2006 "Rosemary Award" for Worst Freedom of Information Performance by a Federal Agency

2006/03/12
A FOIA Request Celebrates Its 17th Birthday
A Report on Federal Agency FOIA Backlog

2006/03/09
Justice Department e-mail on wiretapping program released through FOIA
Former official describes legal defenses as "weak" and "slightly after-the-fact,"
Guesses they reflected "VP's philosophy… best defense is a good offense."

2006/02/21
Report Documents 18 Years of "Dirty War" in Mexico
Special Prosecutor: State Responsible for Hundreds of Killings, Disappearances

2006/02/21
Declassification in Reverse
CIA Removes 50 Year Old Documents From Open Stacks at National Archives

2006/02/13
Department of Justice concedes it can begin to release internal warrantless surveillance records on March 3

2006/02/04
Wiretap Debate Déjà Vu: Electronic Surveillance: From the Cold War to Al-Qaeda
Documents show Ford White House embraced wiretap law instead of claiming "inherent" Presidential authority in 1976 despite objections from Rumsfeld, G.H.W. Bush, Kissinger

2006/01/27
 Prominent Historians, Political Scientists Urge Court to Reverse Lower Court Decision Withholding Two 40-Year-Old Memos to LBJ
Scholars Remind Court That an Accurate Understanding of Political History is Integral to a Democratic Society

2006/01/26
 Secret Pentagon "roadmap" calls for "boundaries" between "information operations" abroad and at home but provides no actual limits as long as US doesn't "target" Americans

2006/01/24
East Timor truth commission finds U.S. "political and military support were fundamental to the Indonesian invasion and occupation"
"Responsibility" chapter published on Web by National Security Archive

2006/01/19
 CIA Secrecy Challenged on President's Daily Brief
UC Davis Professor Appeals Lower Court Decision Withholding Two 40-Year-Old Memos to LBJ

 

2005 POSTINGS

2005/12/15
Archive 20th Anniversary Update:
Text of Bill Moyers Keynote, "In the Kingdom of the Half-blind," now available on Archive Web site

2005/12/14
U.S.-Japan Relations Declassified
New Web Publication Documents Secret History of Recent U.S.-Japan Ties, 1977-1992

2005/12/09
Bill Moyers Headlines Archive 20th Anniversary Celebration
C-SPAN to Broadcast Live Event, 1:00-5:00 p.m.

New Documents on War on Terrorism - Archive Releases Pre-9/11 Warning to Saudis That Osama Bin Laden Might Target Civilian Airliners

2005/12/01
Tonkin Gulf Intelligence "Skewed" According to Official History and Intercepts
Newly Declassified National Security Agency Documents Show Analysts Made "SIGINT fit the claim" of North Vietnamese Attack

2005/11/28
A Quarter Century of U.S. Support for Occupation
East Timor Truth Commission report uses declassified U.S. documents to call for reparations from U.S. for its support of Indonesian invasion and occupation of East Timor from 1975 until U.N. sponsored vote in 1999

2005/11/23
"To Have the Only Option That of Killing 80 Million People is the Height of Immorality"
The Nixon Administration, the SIOP, and the Search for Limited Nuclear Options, 1969-1974

2005/11/22
To the Geneva Summit
Perestroika and the Transformation of U.S.-Soviet Relations

2005/11/21
The Secret History of Dayton
U.S. Diplomacy and the Bosnia Peace Process 1995

2005/11/21
The Guatemalan Police Archives
Images from Guatemala's secret files of repression

2005/11/18
Drugs and the Guatemalan Military
A Report from the Texas Observer

2005/10/26
Alexander Yakovlev and the Roots of the Soviet Reforms

2005/10/21
Judge Refuses In Camera Review of CIA Estimate on Iraq
CIA Secrecy Claims to Iraq Intelligence Given Little Scrutiny Despite CIA's Numerous Public Statements About the Situation in Iraq

2005/10/18
Saddam's Iron Grip
Intelligence Reports on Saddam Hussein's Reign

2005/10/16
Paramilitaries as Proxies
Declassified evidence on the Colombian army's paramilitary "allies"

2005/10/13
White House Ignored CIA Warnings on Iraq
Postwar Projections "had little or no impact on policy deliberations"

2005/10/10
Archive and Openness Advocates Urge Supreme Court: Tell Lower Courts to Scrutinize Government Secrecy Claims
Amicus Brief Requests Review of Dismissal of Whistle Blower Case

2005/10/06
Is it the “Abu Ghraib Protection Act?”
Senate Measure Could Restrict Access to Crucial Information About Abu Ghraib

2005/09/28
National Security Archive Marks International Right to Know Day
Commends State Department for Monitoring Access to Information in Human Rights Reports

2005/09/20
National Security Archive Wins 2005 Emmy Award
"Declassified: Nixon in China" Cited by Television Academy for Outstanding Achievement in News & Documentary Research

2005/09/09
FAA Believed Second 9/11 Plane Heading Towards NY for Emergency Landing
Released 9/11 Hijacking Reports Further Detail Confused U.S. Response

2005/08/23
North Korea and the United States: Declassified Documents from the Bush I and Clinton Administrations

2005/08/18 - Update
Update: The Taliban File Part IV
Pre-9/11 U.S. Attempts to Drive Bin Laden Out of Afghanistan Repeatedly Unsuccessful, Documents Show

2005/08/17
State Department experts warned CENTCOM before Iraq war about lack of plans for post-war Iraq security
Planning for post-Saddam regime change began as early as October 2001

2005/08/12 - Update
From Director of Central Intelligence to Director of National Intelligence
New documents on authorities vested in nation's top intelligence officer

2005/08/05
The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II: A Collection of Primary Sources

2005/08/04
PENTAGON RELEASES MORE PHOTOS OF WAR CASUALTY HONOR GUARDS
Freedom of Information Lawsuit Removes Secrecy for Flag-Draped Casket Ceremonies

2005/08/03
Archive, Secrecy Experts Urge Court to Scrutinize Government Secrecy Claims
Secrecy Has Increased Exponentially Over Last Four Years, and Military and Intelligence Officials Say Much of it is Unnecessary

2005/07/15
Judge Grants Immortality to Presidential Privilege
Withholds Two CIA Daily Briefs to LBJ Despite Release of 35 Others with No Damage to U.S.

2005/07/01
"Consultation is Presidential Business"
Secret Understandings on the Use of Nuclear Weapons, 1950-1974 

2005/06/29
Nixon/Kissinger Saw India as "Soviet Stooge" in 1971 South Asia Crisis
New Documents Show White House Ignored Regional Nature of Crisis and Risked Confrontation with Moscow to Look Tough

2005/06/29
Robert F. Kennedy Urged Lifting Travel Ban to Cuba in '63
Attorney General cited inconsistency "with traditional American liberties"

2005/06/22
The Deep Throat File
FBI Memos Detail Mark Felt's Involvement in Efforts to Identify Secret Watergate Source

2005/06/09
The Posada File: Part II
Posada Boasted of Plans to "Hit" Cuban Plane, CIA Document States

2005/06/03
Nixon and the FBI
The White House Tapes

2005/06/01
National Intelligence Estimates of the Nuclear Proliferation Problem
The First Ten Years, 1957-1967

2005/05/13
 Soviets Planned Nuclear First Strike to Preempt West, Documents Show
New Volume of Formerly Secret Records Published on 50th Anniversary of Warsaw Pact

2005/05/10
 D.C. Circuit Narrows Advisory Committee Openness
Ruling Effectively Ends Effort to Obtain Information on Cheney Energy Task Force

2005/05/10
 Luis Posada Carriles: The Declassified Record
CIA and FBI Documents Detail Career in International Terrorism; Connection to U.S.

2005/05/06
 Bush Administration Claims Presidential Privilege for LBJ Documents
CIA Refuses Release of 35-Year-Old President's Daily Briefs

2005/04/28
Return of the Fallen
Pentagon Releases Hundreds More War Casualty Homecoming Images

2005/04/12
The Negroponte File
John Negroponte's Chron File from Tenure in Honduras Posted

2005/03/24
Uncovering the Architect of the Holocaust
The CIA Names File on Adolf Eichmann

2005/03/18
FOIA Requests to Air Force Lost, Delayed and Ignored
Air Force Sued for a Pattern and Practice of Unresponsiveness to Freedom of Information Requests

2005/03/17
Nixon Library Promises Donation of Spliced Tapes/Files to National Archives
After Protest by Historians, New Letters Pledge Unified Collection

2005/03/15
The Secret Pinochet Portfolio
Former Dictator's Corruption Scandal Broadens

2005/03/15
Archive General Counsel Testifies Before Congressional Hearing on "Openness in Government and Freedom of Information"

2005/03/11
The National Security Agency Declassified
Internet wiretapping mixes "protected" and targeted messages, Info Age requires rethinking 4th Amendment limits and policies, National Security Agency told Bush administration

2005/03/10
Historians Ask Congress to Suspend Nixon Transfer
Controversial Cancellation of Nixon Library Conference Raises Questions About Planned Move of Nixon Tapes and Presidential Files to Yorba Linda

2005/03/02
Archive Director Testifies Before Congressional Hearing on "Overclassification and Pseudo-classification"

2005/02/10
9/11 Commission Staff Report on FAA Failings Published on Web
Document Updates Previous Archive Posting on Censorship of Aviation Warnings Leading up to 9/11

2005/02/10
Bush Administration's First Memo on al-Qaeda Declassified
Document Central to Clarke-Rice Dispute on Bush Terrorism Policy Pre-9/11

2005/02/04
The CIA and Nazi War Criminals
National Security Archive Posts Secret CIA History Released Under Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act

2005/01/21
Public Interest in Hidden CIA Operational Records Is High
National Security Archive Files Comments on CIA's Decennial Review of Operational Files

 

2004 POSTINGS

2004/12/23
Professor Sues CIA for President's Daily Briefs
Vietnam Expert Seeks Historic PDBs from Johnson Years; Challenges CIA Blanket Policy of Non-Release

2004/12/21
New Documentary Reveals Secret U.S., Chinese Diplomacy Behind Nixon's Trip
Chinese Marshal Received Top Secret Intelligence Briefing from Kissinger in 1972

2004/12/17
From Director of Central Intelligence to Director of National Intelligence

2004/12/14
The Spy Satellite So Stealthy that the Senate Couldn't Kill It
Secret Program First Described in Book by Archive Senior Fellow

2004/12/14
The Case Against Pinochet
Ex-Dictator Indicted for Condor Crimes

2004/11/30
 Archive joins library and public interest groups supporting access to special interests in Cheney's energy task force
The National Security Archive files an amici curiae brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

2004/11/23
 Veto Battle 30 Years Ago Set Freedom of Information Norms
Scalia, Rumsfeld, Cheney Opposed Open Government Bill Congress Overrode President Ford's Veto of Court Review

2004/11/17
The Velvet Revolution Declassified
Inaugural Volume of the New Václav Havel Library Publishes State Department Cables from Prague 1989

2004/10/29
Pentagon Censors Chain of Command on Abu Ghraib
Taguba Report Named Names of Abusers and Commanders

2004/10/27
"The Master of the Game"
Paul H. Nitze and U.S. Cold War Strategy from Truman to Reagan

2004/10/20
Archive Sues CIA for Speedy Review of Key Iraq Document
CIA Determines that Document Did Not Concern a Matter of Public Urgency

2004/10/15
Archive Calls on CIA and Congress to Address Loophole Shielding CIA Records From the Freedom of Information Act
20th anniversary of the Central Intelligence Agency Information Act of 1984

2004/10/14
Government Censors Aviation Warnings Leading up to 9/11
New "Sensitive Security Information" Claim Blacks Out Titles of Alerts

2004/10/04
Professor Sues Pentagon to Make Public Honor Guard Photos From Dover Air Base
Challenges 1991 Policy to Censor Images of War Casualties' Return

2004/10/01
The Kissinger State Department Telcons
Telcons Show Kissinger Opposed Human Rights Diplomacy;
Secretary of State Tapped Own Phone Calls

2004/09/25
Chile 1964: CIA Covert Support in Frei Election Detailed
Operational and Policy Records Released for First Time

2004/09/11
The Taliban File Part IV
Mullah Omar Called Washington in 1998, New Documents Show

2004/08/27
Kissinger to Argentine Generals in 1976: "If there are things that have to be done, you should do them quickly"
Newly declassified document shows Secretary of State gave strong support early on to the military junta

2004/08/04
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 40 Years Later
Flawed Intelligence and the Decision for War in Vietnam

2004/08/02
U.S. Listed Colombian President Uribe Among "Important Colombian Narco-Traffickers in 1991"
Then-Senator "Dedicated to Collaboration with the Medellín Cartel at High Government Levels"

2004/07/13
The Creation of SIOP-62
More Evidence on the Origins of Overkill

2004/07/09
CIA Whites Out Controversial Estimate on Iraq Weapons
Main Subject of Today's Senate Intelligence Report Remains Largely Secret

2004/07/09
Indonesia's 1969 Takeover of West Papua Not by "Free Choice"
Document Release Marks 35th Anniversary of Controversial Vote and Annexation

2004/06/24
Supreme Court Refuses to Approve the Immunity from Discovery Sought by Vice President Cheney
Remands Case on Energy Task Force to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

2004/06/23
The Interrogation Documents
Debating U.S. Policy and Methods

2004/06/22
Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran
New Volume Reexamines a Seminal Event in Modern Middle Eastern History

2004/06/17
Art Before Power
New Jenny Holzer Exhibition Showcases Archive's Documents

2004/06/10
Lifting of Pinochet's Immunity Renews Focus on Operation Condor
Documents Indicate 1976 Terror Attack in Washington Might Have Been Prevented

2004/05/31
After the Revolution
Lázaro Cárdenas and the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional

2004/05/26
The Kissinger Telcons
Archive Celebrates Release of Previously Sequestered Telephone Records

2004/05/12
Prisoner Abuse: Patterns from the Past
Cold War U.S. Interrogation Manuals Counseled "Coercive Techniques"

2004/05/06
Intelligence and Vietnam
The Top Secret 1969 State Department Study

2004/04/30
Presidential Records Act Lawsuit Reconsidered
Archive, Historians Ask Judge to Reconsider Dismissal

2004/04/19
The Blind Man and the Elephant
Reporting on the Mexican Military

2004/04/12
Update: The President's Daily Brief
The Declassified August 6, 2001 PDB and More

2004/04/08
The President's Daily Brief Coverup
Archive Calls for Declassification of the President's Daily Brief

2004/04/07
The U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994
The Assassination of the Presidents and the Beginning of the "Apocalypse"

2004/03/31
Brazil Marks 40th Anniversary of Military Coup
Declassified Documents Shed Light on U.S. Role

2004/03/24
The U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994
Information, Intelligence and the U.S. Response

2004/03/19
The Taliban File Part III
Pakistan Provided Millions of Dollars, Arms, and "Buses Full of Adolescent Mujahid" to the Taliban in the 1990's

2004/03/14
Mexico: Prelude to Disaster
José López Portillo and the Crash of 1976

2004/03/11
Librarians/Archivists/Public Interest v. Vice President Cheney
National Security Archive Joins Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Versus Government Secrecy Around Energy Task Force

2004/03/05
China, Pakistan, and the Bomb
The Declassified File on U.S. Policy, 1977-1997

2004/02/26
The Oliver North File
His Diaries, E-Mail, and Memos on the Kerry Report, Contras and Drugs 

2004/02/18
Ed Koch Threatened With Assassination in 1976
New book reveals "Condor" agents discussed plan to kill former New York congressman/mayor

2004/02/11
Update on Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction

2004/02/04
Dear Mr. President: Lessons on Justice from Guatemala
The latest release from the Archive's Mexico Project

2004/02/03
Nixon on Chile Intervention
White House tape acknowledges instructions to block Salvador Allende

2004/01/30
Taliban File Update: U.S. Pressed Taliban to Expel Usama bin Laden Over 30 Times
Only three approaches in first year of Bush administration

2004/01/20
Rebellion in Chiapas and the Mexican Military

2004/01/14
"It Is Certain There Will be Many Firestorms"
New evidence on the origins of overkill

 

2003 POSTINGS

2003/12/18
The Saddam Hussein Sourcebook
Declassified secrets from the U.S.-Iraq relationship

2003/12/11
Nixon's Trip to China
Records now completely declassified, including Kissinger intelligence briefing and assurances on Taiwan

2003/12/07
The Dawn of Mexico's Dirty War
Lucio Cabañas and the Party of the Poor

2003/12/04
Kissinger to Argentines on Dirty War: "The quicker you succeed the better"
Documents show Secretary of State gave green light to junta

2003/11/24
Kennedy & Castro: The Secret History
Initiative with Castro aborted by assassination, declassified documents show

2003/11/17
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
The ten oldest pending FOIA requests

2003/11/02
JFK and the Diem Coup
JFK tape reveals high-level Vietnam coup plotting in 1963

2003/11/02
Mexico's Southern Front
Guatemala and the search for security

2003/10/10
The Tlatelolco Massacre
New declassified U.S. documents on Mexico and the events of 1968

2003/10/07
The October War and U.S. Policy
Kissinger gave green light for Israeli offensive violating 1973 cease-fire

2003/09/11
The Taliban File
Volume VII of the September 11th Sourcebooks

2003/08/28
The Search for Truth
The declassified record on human rights abuses in Peru

2003/08/18
Nixon's Mexico Tapes
Secret recordings from the Nixon White House on Luis Echeverría and much much more

2003/08/07
The Making of the Limited Test Ban Treaty
1958-1963

2003/07/07
Before Democracy
Memories of Mexican elections

2003/07/04
The Freedom of Information Act on Its 37th Birthday
More than 2 million FOIA requests filed at a yearly cost of just over $1 per citizen. National Security Archive releases selection of "Top Twenty" news stories based on the FOIA

2003/07/01
1960 "Nth Country Experiment"
Foreshadows today's concerns over the ease of nuclear proliferation

2003/06/11
Spy Agencies Abuse Freedom of Information Exemptions
But Congress may grant National Security Agency with virtually unchecked power to keep records secret

2003/06/10
The Corpus Christi Massacre
Mexico's attack on its student movement, June 10, 1971

2003/05/21
Dubious Secrets
Declassified documents show excessive secrecy, arbitrary and subjective classification decisions

2003/05/11
Human Rights and the Dirty War in Mexico

2003/05/05
Proposed FOIA Exemption for National Security Agency
Proposed FOIA exemption would render secret many valuable records regarding role of NSA in signals sntelligence and cryptology history

2003/04/30
Eyes on Saddam
U.S. overhead imagery of Iraq

2003/04/25
North Korea and Nuclear Weapons
The declassified U.S. record

2003/04/13
Operation Intercept
 Nixon, Mexico and the perils of unilateralism

2003/03/28
Pentagon and CIA Sent Mixed Message to Argentine Military

2003/03/20
U.S. Army Identified 500 Alleged Iraqi War Criminals in 1992
Report released under FOIA is precursor to 2003 war crimes proceedings

2003/03/14
The Ashcroft Memo: "Drastic" Change or "More Thunder Than Lightning"
The National Security Archive Freedom of Information Act audit

2003/03/02
Double Dealing: Mexico's Foreign Policy Toward Cuba
An online collaboration with Mexico's Proceso magazine

2003/02/26
Homeland Security Access Regulations Need Improvement
National Security Archive files comments on new department's FOIA rules, Suggests eight specific changes and commends initial progress

2003/02/05
Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein
The U.S. tilts toward Iraq, 1980-1984

2003/02/05
Supreme Court Case Poses Risk to Freedom of Expression
Archive files amicus brief to defend broad disclosure

 

2002 POSTINGS

2002/12/23
Nixon's Nuclear Ploy
The Vietnam negotiations and the Joint Chiefs of Staff readiness test, October 1969

2002/12/20
Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction

2002/12/16
The Tilt
The U.S. and the South Asian crisis of 1971

2002/12/13
U.S. Propaganda in the Middle East
The early cold war version

2002/12/08
Argentine Security Forces Killed Disappeared Activists, Mothers and Nuns
Documents show U.S. Embassy had evidence that Argentine military junta was responsible

2002/11/04
The 1956 Hungarian Revolution
A history in documents

2002/10/31
The Submarines of October
U.S. and Soviet naval encounters during the Cuban Missile Crisis

2002/10/16
The U-2, OXCART, and the SR-71
U.S. aerial espionage in the cold war and beyond

2002/10/12
Havana Conference: Cuban Missile Crisis Not Over in 13 days
Soviet tactical nukes in Cuba until Nov. 20

2002/10/11 - 5 PM EST
Havana Conference on Cuban Missile Crisis Reveals Dangers Unknown at the Time
New documents show US located only 33 of 42 missiles, zero warheads during crisis; US Navy dropped grenades on nuclear-armed Soviet sub at height of crisis

2002/10/11 - 1 PM EST
Missile Crisis Conference Connects Bay of Pigs to Soviet Missiles in Cuba
JFK told Khrushchev's son-in-law in 1962 US "will not meddle" with Cuba, while Joint Chiefs planned pretexts for invasion and RFK ran Mongoose

2002/10/10
Veterans of Cuban Missile Crisis Arrive in Havana
Cuban vice president greets McNamara, Sorenson, Kennedys

2002/10/01
Veterans of Cuban Missile Crisis to Meet in Havana
Cubans to host 40th anniverary with U.S. and Russian officials

2002/09/20
Polish Generals Discuss Warsaw Pact Secrets

2002/08/21
Argentine Military Believed U.S. Gave Go-Ahead for Dirty War
New documents describe key death squad under former army chief Galtieri

2002/08/20
State Department Opens Files on Argentina's Dirty War
New documents describe key death squad under former army chief Galtieri

2002/06/26
"Montesinos: Blind Ambition"
The Peruvian Townsend Commission report and declassified U.S. documentation

2002/06/20
Nixon: "Brazil helped rig the Uruguayan elections," 1971
Declassified documents detail the Nixon administration's efforts to prevent a victory by the left

2002/06/10
Mexico's New Freedom of Information Law
Mexican Congress passes law guaranteeing public's right to access information

2002/05/03
Negotiating U.S.-Chinese Rapprochement
New American and Chinese documention leading up to Nixon's 1972 trip

2002/05/15
Jimmy Carter Directive on Normalizing Cuba Relations
National Security Archive posts 1977 presidential order to reestablish diplomatic ties with Castro government

2002/05/03
War in Colombia
Guerrillas, drugs and human rights in U.S. Colombia Policy, 1988-2002

2002/04/01
Conflicting Missions
Secret Cuban documents on history of African involvement

2002/02/27
The Beijing-Washington Back-Channel and Henry Kissinger's Secret Trip to China
September 1970-July 1971

2002/02/11
Archive Hails Final Turnover of Kissinger Telcons
GWU Group Persuades National Archives to Recover Telephone Transcripts

2002/02/05
Trading Democracy?
Documents from NAFTA's secret tribunals

2002/01/22
Peru in "The Eye of the Storm"
Declassified U.S. documentation on human rights abuses and political violence

 

2001 POSTINGS

2001/12/21
The September 11th Sourcebooks: Volume VI - The Hunt for Bin Laden
Background on the role of Special Forces in U.S. military strategy

2001/12/06
East Timor Revisited
Ford, Kissinger and the Indonesian invastion, 1975-76

2001/11/29
European Cities Targeted for Nuclear Destruction
New evidence from the Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact

2001/11/28
Historians, Public Interest Groups Sue to Stop Bush Order
Say new restrictions on White House files violate Presidential Records Act

2001/11/15
The September 11th Sourcebooks: Volume V - Anthrax at Sverdlovsk, 1979
U.S. intelligence on the deadliest modern outbreak

2001/11/08
The Secret History of the ABM Treaty, 1969-1972

2001/10/26
The September 11th Sourcebooks: Volume IV - The Once and Future King?
From the secret files on King Zahir's reign in Afghanistan, 1970-1973

2001/10/25
The September 11th Sourcebooks: Volume III - BIOWAR
The Nixon administration's decision to end U.S. biological warfare programs

2001/09/21
The September 11th Sourcebooks: Volume II - Afghanistan: Lessons from the Last War
National Security Archive online readers on terrorism, intelligence and the next war

2001/09/25
First Strike Options and the Berlin Crisis
New documents from the Kennedy administration

2001/09/21
The September 11th Sourcebooks: Volume I - Terrorism and U.S. Policy
National Security Archive online readers on terrorism, intelligence and the next war

2001/09/10
Science, Technology and the CIA - UPDATED AUGUST 5, 2013
Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology

2001/08/20
The US and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994
Evidence of inaction

2001/08/09
Archive Hails Turnover of Kissinger Papers
Archive persuades State Department to recover telephone transcripts

2001/06/13
New Volume of Previously Secret Documents Sheds Light on the East German Uprising of June 1953
National Security Archive publication coincides with  June 17 anniversary of the crisis

2001/06/04
The U.S. "Tiananmen Papers"
New Documents Reveal U.S. Perceptions of 1989 Chinese Political Crisis

2001/05/23
The Pentagon's Spies
Documents Detail Histories of Once Secret Spy Units

2001/05/18
Eisenhower and Nuclear Predelegation
First declassification of Eisenhower's instructions predelegating use of nuclear weapons

2001/04/30
Pentagon Proposed Pretexts for Cuba Invasion in 1962
"Operation Northwoods" document describes covert plans to justify U.S. invasion

2001/04/23
Shootdown in Peru
The secret debate over U.S. intelligence sharing in Peru and Colombia

2001/04/11
The Problem of Unprocessed State Department Lot Files
Help NARA Set Priorities for the Release of Important Collections

2001/04/05
"Solidarity's Coming Victory: Big or Too Big?"
Poland's revolution as seen from the U.S. Embassy

2001/04/04
Reconnaissance Flights and Sino-American Relations
Policy developments and a Hainan Island incident, 1969-1970

2001/04
Launch on Warning
The development of U.S. capabilities, 1959-1979

2001/03/23 - Bay of Pigs Conference (Day 2, p.m.)
Bay of Pigs Conference Points to Missed Opportunities for Dialogue after Failed Invasion
Secret rappraochment efforts began in negotiations for prisoner release; ended with JFK's assassination

2001/03/23 - Bay of Pigs Conference (Day 2, a.m.)
CIA Expected Uprising against Castro; or Military Support
Cubans expected beachhead provisional government would call in U.S. invasion, so rushed to wipe it out

2001/03/22 - Bay of Pigs Conference (Day 1)
Dulles Wanted Cuba to Request Soviet Bloc Arms in 1959
Cuba expected 6,000 men in the invasion force as of January 1961

2001/03/16
Bay of Pigs Conference in Havana
Archive leads delegation of former Kennedy Administration and CIA officials to Havana for 40th anniversary conference

2001/03/06
Operation Condor
Cable suggests U.S. role

2001/03/02
Public Diplomacy and Covert Propaganda
The declassified record of Otto Juan Reich

2001/01/17
Operation Desert Storm: Ten Years After
Documents shed light on role of intelligence, stealth technology and space systems in the Gulf War

2001/01/12
The United States and the Chinese Nuclear Program, 1960-1964
Companion documents to Winter 2000/2001 edition of International Security

 

2000 POSTINGS

2000/12/18
Missile Defense Thirty Years Ago: Déjà Vu All Over Again?
A declassfied look at the ABM Debate, 1965-72

2000/11/29
The Secret CIA History of the Iran Coup, 1953
Updated: Full history now available online

2000/11/22
"Fujimori's Rasputin"
The declassifed files on Peru's former intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos

2000/11/13
Chile: 16,000 Secret U.S. Documents Declassified
CIA forced to release hundreds of records on covert operations

2000/10/24
CIA to Release Covert Operations Records on Chile
Campaign to force disclosure yields 700 documents

2000/10/06
The National Security Agency Declassified Update
Archive publishes secret directive governing interception of communications involving "U.S. persons"

2000/09/29
BEISBOL DIPLOMACY
Declassified Documents from 1975 Reveal Secret U.S.-Cuban Negotiations for Exhibition Games

2000/09/29
Senate Threatens First Amendment
"Official Secrets" proposal would stifle public debate

2000/09/27
The National Reconnaissance Office Declassified
The creation and evolution of America's secretive spy satellite agency
"CIA Activities in Chile"
New report to Congress reveals covert ties to Chilean intelligence

2000/08/17
History Held Hostage
The CIA's refusal to declassify the covert record on Chile

2000/08/08
Archive wins Freedom of Information ruling versus CIA
Federal judge rejects CIA?s attempt ?neither to confirm or deny? existence of CIA biographies of former Communist leaders

2000/08/02
Lawsuit calls CIA secrecy claims "facially incredible"
Archive challenges CIA stonewalling on 50-year-old operations in Iran, Italy

2000/07/17
The "Death Squad Protection" Act
Senate measure would restrict public access to crucial human rights information in DIA "operational files"

2000/06/30
Chile: The Horman and Teruggi Killings
New information on the murders of U.S. citizens Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi by the Chilean military

2000/06/29
New FOIA Exemption Proposed by Senate
Proposed Freedom of Information Act exemption would restrict public access to crucial human rights information

2000/06/26
The National Security Agency Declassified
Newly-declassified documents detail restrictions on the identification of U.S. persons in National Security Agency reporting

2000/06/01
The Guatemalan Military: What the U.S. Files Reveal
Archive releases comprehensive report and database on Guatemalan security forces

2000/05/24
U.S. Planning for Nuclear War in Europe
Documents from 1963-64 detail Kennedy and Johnson administraiton plans for nuclear war in Europe

2000/05/09
U.S. Humanitarian Interventions
Critical interagency report presents lessons learned from Kosovo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Hurricane Mitch and other operations

2000/05/03
The ULTRASENSITIVE Bay of Pigs
Newly released portions of Taylor Commission report provide critical new details on Operation Zapata

2000/03/31
The Chinese Nuclear Weapons Program: Problems of Intelligence Collection and Analysis, 1964-1972

2000/03/23
Chile: The Letelier Assassination
New CIA document on Pinochet and the assassination of Orlando Letelier

2000/03/17
Archive Honored with Polk Award
Staff awarded special 1999 George Polk Award as an "essential journalistic resource"

2000/03/14
The CIA in Latin America
Declassified documents on a "distinguished" career

2000/01/28
The National Security Agency Declassified
ECHELON: Declassifed documents confirm existence of global communications intelligence sharing program

 

1999 POSTINGS

1999/12/13
U.S. Nuclear Weapons on Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima

1999/11/05
20 Years after the Hostages: Declassified Documents on Iran and the United States

1999/10/13
New Archival Evidence on Taiwanese "Nuclear Intentions", 1966-1976

1999/10/08
Chile: The Charles Horman Case
State Department release on Chile shows suspicions of CIA involvement in Charles Horman "Missing" case

1999/09/24
China and the United States: From Hostility to Engagement, 1960-1998

1999/06/30
CIA, STATE, NSC Documents Declassified on Chile
Administration release applauded; Concern expressed on withheld U.S. records

1999/06/01
Tiananmen Square, 1989: The Declassified History

1999/05/27
DIA Scoops Cox Report
1984 Defense Intelligence Estimate details Chinese nuclear espionage

1999/05/20
Guatemala: "Death Squad Dossier"
Logbook details human rights abuses by Guatemalan security forces in 1980s

1999/05/15
U.S. POLICY IN GUATEMALA, 1966-1996

1999/05/13
Archive Sues CIA
Cites broken promises on declassification

1999/04/29
Did NATO Win the Cold War?
Documentary supplement to the article "Did NATO Win the Cold War? Looking over the Wall," by Vojtech Mastny, Foreign Affairs 78, no. 3 (May-June 1999): 176-89

1999/04/27
Vietnam: Argument Without End
Authors' roundtable with Robert S. McNamara

1999/04/14
U.S. Satellite Imagery, 1960-1999

 

1998 POSTINGS

1998/10/23
The CIA and Human Rights in Honduras
Secret report admits "inaccurate" reporting to Congress

1998/10/02
TLATELOLCO MASSACRE: DECLASSIFIED U.S. DOCUMENTS ON MEXICO AND THE EVENTS OF 1968

1998/09/11
25th Anniversary of Chilean Coup
Declassified documents detail abuses by Chilean military; U.S. role in Chile

1998/06/04
Bay of Pigs Declassified: The Secret CIA Report
New National Security Archive documents reader to be published in September 1998

1998/06/04
CIA Bay of Pigs Documents Declassified
After-action report recommended covert operations against Castro be abandoned

1998/05/13
India and Pakistan: On the Nuclear Threshold
Archive publishes previously secret documents on South Asian nuclear programs

1998/03/19
Nuclear History
First documented evidence that U.S. presidents predelegated nuclear weapons release authority to the military

1998/02/22
CIA Critique on Bay of Pigs Declassified
Withheld 36 years, IG report blasts CIA handling of Cuba invasion

1998/01/20
New Report Criticizes Declassification Delays on Human Rights in Honduras
Honduran human rights commissioner decries lack of U.S. documentation for inquiry

 

1997 POSTINGS

1997/10/17
Human Rights in Latin America
Archive leads campaign for declassification of documents on human rights abuses

1997/10/09
The Death of Che Guevara: Declassified

1997/05/23
CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 Documents

1997/05/14
U.S. Nuclear Weapons on Okinawa
Newly released documents fuel NHK documentary

 

 

1996 POSTINGS

1996/08
The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations

1996
The United States, China, and the Bomb

 

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