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National Security Archive Update, March 11, 2005
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
"Transition 2001" report released through FOIA, Highlights collection of declassified NSA documents Posted on Web by National Security Archive, GWU
For more information contact:
Jeffrey Richelson, Archive Senior Fellow
Thomas Blanton, Archive Executive Director
202/994-1000
Washington, D.C., March 11, 2005 - The largest U.S. spy agency warned the incoming Bush administration in its "Transition 2001" report that the Information Age required rethinking the policies and authorities that kept the National Security Agency in compliance with the Constitution's 4th Amendment prohibition on "unreasonable searches and seizures" without warrant and "probable cause," according to an updated briefing book of declassified NSA documents posted today on the World Wide Web.
Wiretapping the Internet inevitably picks up mail and messages by Americans that would be "protected" under legal interpretations of the NSA's mandate in effect since the 1970s, according to the documents that were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by Dr. Jeffrey Richelson, senior fellow of the National Security Archive at George Washington University.
The NSA told the Bush transition team that the "analog world of point-to-point communications carried along discrete, dedicated voice channels" is being replaced by communications that are "mostly digital, carry billions of bits of data, and contain voice, data and multimedia," and therefore, "senior leadership must understand that today's and tomorrow's mission will demand a powerful, permanent presence on a global telecommunications network that will host the 'protected' communications of Americans as well as targeted communications of adversaries."
The documents posted today also include a striking contrast between the largely intact 1998 NSA organizational chart for the Directorate of Operations and the heavily redacted 2001 chart for the Signals Intelligence Directorate (as the operations directorate was renamed), which contains no information beyond the name of its director. "The 2001 organization charts are more informative for what they reveal about the change in NSA's classification policy than for what they reveal about the actual structure of NSA's two key directorates," commented Dr. Richelson. The operations directorate organization chart was provided within three weeks of its being requested in late 1998. In contrast, the request for the Signals Intelligence Directorate organization chart was made on April 21, 2001, and NSA did not provide its substantive response until April 21, 2004 - three years instead of three weeks.
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 16, 2003
Memorandum
for the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Presidential Determination No. 2003-39
The Secretary of the Air Force
SUBJECT: Classified Information Concerning the Air Force's
Operating Location Near Groom Lake, Nevada
I find that it is in the paramount interest of the United States to exempt the United States Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, the subject of litigation in Kasza v. Browner (D. Nev. CV-S-94-795-PMP) and Frost v. Perry (D. Nev. CV-S-94-714-PMP), from any applicable requirement for the disclosure to unauthorized persons of classified information concerning that operating location. Therefore, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6961(a), I hereby exempt the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, from any Federal, State, interstate or local provision respecting control and abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal that would require the disclosure of classified information concerning the operating location to any unauthorized person. This exemption shall be effective for the full one-year statutory period.
Nothing herein is intended to: (a) imply that in the absence of such a Presidential exemption, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or any other provision of law permits or requires disclosure of classified information to unauthorized persons; or (b) limit the applicability or enforcement of any requirement of law applicable to the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, except those provisions, if any, that would require the disclosure of classified information.
The Secretary of the Air Force is authorized and directed to publish this determination in the Federal Register.
GEORGE W. BUSH
23 June 2003
FBI, AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, AND JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCE RAID HOME OF AREA 51 ACTIVIST.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
THREE-JUDGE PANEL: Government wins ruling over Area 51
Lawsuit urges release of data to support claims workers were harmed by materials at facility
By
KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
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A three-judge panel has determined the Justice Department did not abuse national security when information was struck from court documents in two 1994 cases about the secret Air Force facility in Nevada known as Area 51.
The installation along the dry Groom Lake bed, 90 miles north of Las Vegas, is widely known as the facility where high-tech U.S. aircraft are tested against foreign radar systems. Since lawsuits were filed by workers claiming they were injured by exposure to materials at the facility, presidential disclaimers have been issued keeping the facility shrouded in secrecy.
Last year, the Review-Journal intervened in the case, asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether the Justice Department abused the state secrets privilege when it convinced U.S. District Judge Philip Pro to allow redactions in previously sealed court documents.
In reacting to Monday's opinion by the panel of judges, attorney Roger Myers, who represents the Review-Journal, said he was disappointed the panel deferred to District Court "on an important constitutional issue like the public's First Amendment right of access."
"We think the law is clear. The court should not have deferred, but should have looked at the redactions themselves to determine whether they applied with the law. If the Court of Appeals had done so, we are confident the court would have reached a different result," Myers said in a telephone interview from San Francisco.
Judge Pamela Rymer, who wrote the unanimous opinion, also maintained that plaintiffs in the Helen Frost case -- named after the widow who claimed her husband, Robert Frost, died from inhaling toxic fumes while working at the facility -- did not prevail and therefore the government is not responsible for paying attorney fees.
Jonathan Turley, the George Washington University law professor who represents Frost, another widow, Stella Kasza, and former workers at the installation, said he will appeal.
"We are considering an appeal to the entire court and we may also decide to take the matter directly to the Supreme Court," he said Monday. Turley said the three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court, based in San Francisco, erred in its finding on the Frost case and in allowing the redacted court record to stand.
"There is no question in my mind these workers will live to see the day when the federal government is forced to admit what it did at Area 51. They have been up against far worse odds than a three-judge panel," Turley said.
Judge Harlington Wood, who concurred with Rymer, wrote that he watched a documentary about Area 51, which he said is pertinent even though the information in the History Channel video has not been confirmed or denied by the government.
"I
write separately to urge the government, now that these cases are concluded, to
strongly consider releasing any information possible which might aid
plaintiffs," Wood wrote.
6 March 2003
Memorial legislation revived
Mount Charleston site could be among Cold War landmarks
By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- A campaign has been
revived in Congress to win recognition for the site atop Mount Charleston
where 14 men were killed in a Cold War mission plane crash the government
covered up for years afterwards.
A bill that could lead the way to
an official memorial was reintroduced in the Senate on Feb. 26 by Sens. Harry
Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev. Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., submitted
a similar bill in January.
The legislation creates a Cold War
Advisory Committee in the Interior Department to inventory landmarks and
resources of the era, generally acknowledged as the years between 1945 and
1991.
With funding authorized at $300,000 for a three-year study, the committee
would be called on to recommend which sites could be included in the national
park system or nominated for designation as national historical landmarks.
Reid said the legislation could lead
to an official remembrance of the Nov. 15, 1955, crash 50 feet from the
summit of Mount Charleston
The victims were engineers, aircraft
designers and CIA agents headed from Burbank, Calif., to the secret desert
base at Groom Lake to work on the U-2 spy plane.
The event was described at the time as a business flight gone awry, while
the truth and details were kept secret even from family members until about
five years ago. Steve Ririe, a Las Vegas insurance broker and Boy Scout
leader, has led efforts to win recognition for the victims.
Other Nevada landmarks also could gain new attention, Reid said.
"Not only were nuclear bombs tested
at the Nevada Test Site, but new flight technologies like the top-secret
spy plane called the U-2 were developed at the Naval Air Station in Fallon
and the Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base," Reid said.
"This legislation provides an important
reminder of the service and sacrifice of Americans, including Nevadans,
during the Cold War," Ensign said.
Other possibilities for designation include Great Plains silos that held
intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at the Soviet Union and the command
center at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado.
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Area 51: Bush Exempts Secret Base From Environmental Laws Senior Space Writer posted: 09:35 am ET 30 December 2002 |
That super-secret Air Force base near Groom Lake, Nevada -- purported site of everything from captured aliens to the highest of high-tech aircraft -- has been exempted by President Bush from environmental laws that would disclose classified information regarding base operations.
President Bush's decision about Groom Lake was made last September and published December 24 in the Federal Register.
Groom Lake has been the target of litigation
brought about by former workers at the base. That legal action focused on
health effects resulting in the handling and disposal of hazardous wastes
at the secret locale.
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Bush judged that "it is in the paramount interest of the United States" to prevent disclosure of information about Groom Lake.
The Presidential decision exempts the Air Force activity at Groom Lake, Nevada, "from any Federal, State, interstate or local provision respecting control and abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal that would require the disclosure of classified information concerning the operating location to any unauthorized person."
The exemption shall be effective for a full one-year statutory period.
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BIRD OF PREY REVEALED
Nevada's
secret military base, Area 51, is the birthplace of some of our country's
most classified programs, including the U-2 spy plane, the Blackbird and
the Stealth. Now a new bird of prey is flying over Nevada skies. What is
it? How will it be used to protect our country? And how much did it cost?
Developed
by the Boeing Phantom Works advanced research-and-development
organization, the Bird of Prey was among the first to initiate the use
of large, single-piece composite structures; low-cost, disposable tooling;
and 3-D virtual reality design and assembly processes to ensure the aircraft
was affordable to build as well as high-performing. Military officials have
confirmed the existence of a new super-secret aircraft, a plane that represents
Nevada latest contribution to national security. The plane is called the
"Bird of Prey" and it's believed to have been test flown at Nevada's
Area 51 military base. But now, it is said to be under wraps once again.
George Knapp of the Channel 8 I-Team shows you what the bird of prey can
do and why it might now be hidden at another secret Nevada base. The top-secret
test facility at Groom Lake, best known as Area 51, has produced numerous
military milestones--including the U2 spy plane, the amazing SR71 Blackbird
and the Stealth fighter. Meet Area 51's latest contribution to aerial domination:
the bird of prey, built by Boeing in total secrecy. It's been flying since
1996, although its existence was virtually unknown until Boeing and the
Pentagon showed it off in late October in St. Louis, then quickly put it
back under wraps and declined to say anything further. Aviation writer Jim
Goodall, author of one of the first books on stealth technology, has spent
several years poking around the Nevada desert to find out what new planes
might be flying here. Three years ago, a friend from Groom Lake showed him
a patch, and hinted that it represented a new secret plane called Bird of
Prey: He's been at Area 51 several times. There's no way they gave
me this information without the blessings of his bosses. Was this tested
at Area 51? ‘Absolutely,’ he said when he gave me this patch.
I've seen this thing fly.”Aviation experts say bird of prey is a
stealth plane, stealthy even in daylight, which makes it a huge advance over
the F-117. Different versions could be either manned or unmanned. It most
likely would be an attack plane or, as one expert called it, a silver bullet.
Boeing's Phantom Works unit produced it for $67 million, a pittance in aerospace
dollars. The prototype unveiled in St. Louis will be retired, but that leaves
the questions---is it operational somewhere, and if so, where? For decades,
the vast Tonopah Test Range has been used as the next stepping stone after
secret projects leave Area 51: the Stealth Fighter followed the path from
Groom Lake to Tonopah, and aviation expert Jim Goodall is pretty sure that's
what's happened to the bird of prey: “That's why they built TTR?
They can't have an operation force at Area 51 They move it to a separate
location like Tonopah. “The name ‘Bird of Prey’ is
taken from the alien space ships in the Star Trek series. Let's see: alien
space ships...from Groom Lake...where have we heard all that before?
First
Look:
Bird of Prey
Popular Science presents worldwide debut of
Boeing's top-secret Bird of Prey
Watch Videos of Boeing Unveiling Bird of Prey Stealth
Technology
Roadrunners
Internationale:
Organization of former CIA Spy Planes test pilots at Groom Lake,
NV
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