7 Secret Military Bases

Thule Air Base

7 Obscure, Remote and Super-Geeky Military Bases -- Danger Room

The military doesn't always pick prime real estate for its bases. Often it prefers strange, far-flung and obscure parts of the world — particularly when it comes to its geekiest endeavors. Some are out-of-the-way test sites for the latest military and space technology. Others are far-flung spots of particular interest to scientists, in areas few could survive unshielded from the elements. Some are obscure because the Pentagon doesn't like to advertise what they do.

Others face a predicament. Some bases built during the Cold War have found their original reason for existing suddenly disappear. But instead of closing them down, the Pentagon has found new reasons to justify their existence. Others now exist only on life support. There are also the bases built as a consequence of Cold War nuclear paranoia, now acting as a shelter for paranoia over terrorism and global pandemics.

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My Comment: I would hazard a bet that there are probably some super-duper military base that we still do now know anything about.

How Are Secret Files Labeled 'Classified' By The Pentagon

Sorry About That, Chief: A Class in Classification -- Time

Secret documents are important to the U.S. military. That’s why the Pentagon has just issued a 43-page guide called Marking Classified Information.

Sure, some people, including the director of national intelligence, argue that the government classifies too many things. But if they’re going to be classified, they need to be classified properly. That’s where this how-to guide comes in.

You know it’s serious when its cover notes:

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My Comment: Talk about cumbersome bureaucracies.

Pentagon: Secrets In SEAL Book 'No Easy Day'

DOD Confirms: Secrets In SEAL Book 'No Easy Day' -- Politico

The Pentagon says an embattled ex-SEAL’s new book about the Osama bin Laden raid contains “sensitive and classified” information and it won’t back down from a legal standoff with the writer and his publisher.

The Defense Department’s top spokesman, George Little, confirmed for reporters Tuesday that the book “No Easy Day” includes secrets about U.S. special operations, a new objection beyond the Pentagon’s initial point that its author, Matt Bissonnette, had violated his nondisclosure agreement.

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More News On Pentagon Reports That There Are Military Secrets In SEAL Book 'No Easy Day'

Pentagon says ex-SEAL book contains secrets -- Bloomberg Businessweek/AP
Pentagon: Ex-SEAL's bin Laden book has secrets -- CBS/AP
Former SEAL’s Book Reveals Classified Information, Pentagon Says -- SFGate/Bloomberg
SEAL book on Bin Laden raid exposes state secrets: US -- AFP

Update: Lawyer For Ex-SEAL Who Wrote Bin Laden Book Said The Pentagon Has No Room To Sue -- Examiner

Report: Secret Panel Exists To Put American's On "Kill List"

Anwar al-Awlaki (Credit: CBS News)

Secret Panel Can Put Americans On "Kill List' -- Yahoo News/Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials.

There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.

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More News On This Secret Panel

CIA "kill list" panel shrouded in secrecy -- CBS
Secret Panel may put Americans on 'Kill List' -- Military.com
Officals: Secret Panel Decided on Awlaki Killing -- National Journal
Officials: Secret panel decided on Awlaki killing -- Government Executive
Report: The real 'death panel' -- Politico
Inside the Government's Real Death Panel -- Atlantic Wire

My Comment: Where is the outrage? If these panels existed in the Bush administration, The New York Times/Washington Post/L.A. Times/CNN/MSNBC/ABC/CBS/Democrats/academia/everyone and every body would be foaming at the mouth condemning and protesting 24/7.

Instead .... what I hearing are only tumbleweeds in the wind.

Talking About Security Breaches

Wanna Know UK Nuclear Sub Secrets? Just Ask For The Redacted Version -- Techland/Time

Military officials in the British Ministry of Defense released a highly sensitive document about nuclear submarine security with key sections redacted simply by changing the background color from white to black.

The document was given an official release following a Freedom of Information request by anti-nuclear campaigners. Under British law, any information requested by the public must be released unless doing so would be against the national interest. Even then, documents can be redacted to remove sensitive data.

Redaction, though, usually means actually removing the sensitive stuff. Not just changing the background color.

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More News On The Release Of Secret Sub Details

British nuclear sub secrets posted in online blunder -- MSNBC
Whitehall accused of online blunders over secrets -- BBC
Secrets put on internet in Whitehall blunders -- The Telegraph
Internet mistake reveals UK nuclear submarine secrets -- BBC
MoD accidentally discloses nuclear sub secrets -- ZDNet
MoD web blunder says Trident vulnerable to "disaffected sailors" -- Tech Eye
Nuclear Submarine Secrets Spilled In Internet Error -- Huffington Post
Nuclear safety report leaked on the web (Video) -- BBC

Archive Gallery: The Twentieth Century's Best-Kept Military Secrets

From Popular Science:

Death-ray bombs, giant flamethrowers, unclassified airfields, and more of history's deepest military secrets.

It's hard to look at military spending without wondering what's behind the scenes.. For instance, in this month's issue of Popular Science, we investigate what exactly the Pentagon is getting for the $58 billion it has dropped on classified assassination weapons.

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My Comment:View the photo gallery starting here.

Certain Secrets Are Not Going To Be Disclosed

Court Sides With Government In Surveillance Case -- Houston Chronicle/AP

NEW YORK — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that law professors and attorneys who represent Guantanamo Bay detainees cannot force the government to reveal whether an anti-terrorism program eavesdropped on their conversations.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling supported the findings of a lower court judge in Manhattan who also rejected the attempt to uncloak the warrantless electronic surveillance system's targets.

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My Comment: I suspect that the files and transcripts of these discussions must be explosive for the Federal Government to go through all this trouble to make sure that it remains secret.

Maybe in 50 years the truth will come out.

Obama Orders Creation Of Declassification Center -- Washington Post

President Obama created by executive order Tuesday a National Declassification Center to oversee efforts to make once-secret government documents public.

The order comes as part of Obama's promise to push government to err on the side of disclosure as it tackles the need to keep certain information from the public.

In a post on the White House blog, William H. Leary, the senior director of records and access management at the National Security Council, writes that the effort is aimed at shifting the burden of defending secrecy to the government.

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My Comment: It is still too early to comment on what will be the eventual shape of this "National Declassification Center", but the following sentence will ... I am sure .... give everyone pause.

The order comes as part of Obama's promise to push government to err on the side of disclosure as it tackles the need to keep certain information from the public.

To err on the side of disclosure ..... hmmmm .... I have to let that one sink in for a little while.