CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS for REVIEW

OOOO We have yet to decide what our criteria will be for this page. We do know, however, that there are certain primary documents which should be of interest to our readers. When we run across them, or are informed of them, we will post them here. We highly recommend George Washington University's National Security Archive which collects and published declassified government documents acquired through FOIA, Columbia University's HotDocs, and Gary Price's ResourceShelf. You might also try the useful site, memoryhole.org, and the very comprehensive DocuTicker. For legal and law-related documents, see FindLaw's Document Archive. There are also numerous sites providing access to Congressional Reseach Service Reports, bi-partisan and generally well-respected analyses on the many issues brought before Congress. The best way to find them is a google search on "Congressional Reseach Service".


ACLU et al. v. NSA
Judge Anna Diggs Taylor's finding that the Administartion's warrantless telephone surveillance was un-constitutional.
Section 1227 Report on Iraq
The President's April 2006 Report to Congress, mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act, and paralleling the November report below.
Iraq: U.S. Military Operations
May 2006 Congressional Research Service report to Congress.
Country Reports on Terrorism
The State Departments annual spring report to Congress. This is the 2006 report for 2005.
National Plan Review: Phase 2 Report
The Department of Homeland Security's report on the preparedness of the nation for disaster or terrorist attck.
Presidential Authority to Conduct Warrantless Electronic Surveillance to Gather Foreign Intelligence Information.
The January 2006 report on the legality of the NSA's warrantless wiretaps, from the Congressional Research Service. Also see the updated (2.6) National Emergency Powers
Kitzmiller et al v. Dover Area School District
The decision of Federal Judge John E. Jones III that intelligent design is not science, but theology, and as such its teaching or endorsement in public schools is inherently religious and a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
National Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Official White House version of President Bush's November 2005 plan.
Judge Samuel Alito's 1985 personal statement on his judicial and political views including abortion.
From Findlaw.com
WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications
The January 2004 study from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace detailing what was known, and what might have been known, regarding Saddam Hussein's WMDs on the eve of the war.
Volcker Report on Corruption in the Iragi Oil-for-Food Program
From the Independent Inquiry Committee's web site.
The Report of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform
From the panel's web site.
The Indictment of I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby
From The New York Times.
The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction
The President's Commission investigating intelligence failures prior to the invasion of Iraq. Readers should bear in mind that there were alternative analyses, and that the administration's own agenda may have driven the analysis that eventually prevailed. The latter question the Commission has avoided by stating "...we were not authorized to investigate how policy makers used the assessments they received from the intelligence community." However, as the commissioners state, "...it is hard to deny the conclusion that intelligence analysts worked in an anvironment that did not encourage skepticism about the conventional wisdom."
Richard Clarke's January 2001 al-Qaeda memo to Condoleeza Rice
Considered the first al-Qaeda memo allerting the Bush Administration to the dangers posed by the terror organization, it requesting an "urgent" move toward a policy on the group. Attached to the memo were two Clinton-era policy proposals regarding al-Qaeda.
The Interrogation Documents: Debating U.S. Policy and Methods
The Justice Department's "Torture Memos" as provided in a convenient list by George Washington University's National Security Archive. Compare with the actual Geneva Convention Agreements as provided by Yale's Avalon Project.
Report of the The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
The 911 Commission's report in PDF format from the Commission itself.
Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations in the Global War on Terrorism [PDF]
This is the Department of Justice draft report outlining their opinion as to the responsibility of the United States, and the President as Commander-in-Chief, for the treatment of prisoners during questioning and detention.
Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq
Direct from the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Annals of National Security: Seymour Hersh's New Yorker articles on the toture at Abu Ghraib
Torture at Abu Ghraib: American soldiers brutalized Iraqis. How far up does the responsibility go? [05.10.04]
Chain of Command: How the Department of Defense mishandled the disaster at Abu Ghraib. [05.17.04]
The Gray Zone: How a secret Pentagon program came to Abu Ghraib. [05.24.04]
You might also visit the New Yorkers full coverage of the war.
Executive summary of Article 15-6 investigation of the 800th Military Police Brigade by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba
From MSNBC.
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
The 9/11 Commission. View the statements of staff - often withering indictments of officials and agencies - and of major witnesses.
Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US
The declassified memo from August 6, 2001 via National Public Radio.
H.R. 3162
Because we recognize the power behind a name - and because we know the power to name is the power to rule - we will not call this the U.S.A. Patriot Act. It is simply H.R. 3162, and you should judge it for its content, not its "name".
Cost of War
Not a document, per se, but a running total of the current cost of the Iraqi war and occupation. The data purports to be from the Congressional Budget Office, which we neither affirm nor deny. We just thought you might be interested.
Joint Resolution on Iraq (Public Law 107-243)
The full text of Congress' authorization of the invasion of Irag, from PBS Newshour.
Use of Force Resolution
The full text of Congress' authorization of the use of force against the terrorists responsible for 9/11, from PBS Newshour.
The Geneva Accord
The full text as provided by Tikkun with maps.
Department of Defense Inspector General's Directive
In December 2003 the DOD Inspector General changed the criteria for placing information on his web site. The IG site has traditionally been where DOD internal investigations are reported. We are especially interested in the line: "Information of questionable value to the public". We would appreciate the public's being allowed to decide that question.
David Kay's Weapons of Mass Destruction Report
The full text as provided by the BBC.
Iraqi Provisional Constitution
That signed Monday, March 8. Unfortunately, the only copy we could find was from Fox News.