NSC Summaries

David Lindsey filed this request with the Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America.
Submitted Sept. 9, 2016
Est. Completion None
Status
Fix Required

Communications

From: David Lindsey

Subject: MR#27929-279104 - Freedom of Information Request: NSC Summaries

Fax

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

I request all summary memos for National Security Council and NSC Principal's Committee meetings prepared for Secretary Rumsfeld between April 1, 2002 and April 1, 2003 for meetings that discussed Iraq. Additionally, I request all attachments to these memos, as described below, on the subject of Iraq.

Secretary Rumsfeld established a system for producing such memoranda under which his "plus one" for each NSC/PC meeting prepared a memo on each meeting within 24 hours. The memo outlining this system can be found at library.rumsfeld.com/doclib/sp/1063/2002-11-26%20re%20Records%20of%20NSC-PC%20Meetings.pdf and is likely held by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under the title "Records of NSC/PC Meetings." These memoranda included, according to that document:
"1) Date and time of the meeting
2) Names of all present in the room
3) Location of the meeting
4) The agenda should be attached
5) All papers circulated before or during the meeting should be attached to the
memo.
6) An accurate record of the meeting should be kept"

To assist the Office of the Secretary of Defense in locating these documents, I note that Secretary Rumsfeld designated Rachel Billingslea as the person responsible for ensuring that he received these memoranda.

I request a waiver of all fees associated with this request as it serves a compelling public interest in better understanding the causes and conduct of the Iraq War. This request is made for the purposes of research into the functioning of the Department of Defense in planning and executing the war in Iraq. I hold a PhD in political science, focused on international security and U.S. foreign policy and am well-positioned to use responsive documents to advance public understanding of the operations of the U.S. government (I have carried out such research using declassified documents in the past - see my website, davidalindsey.com for details). I will disseminate conclusions derived from responsive documents through papers, publications, and a book manuscript currently in progress. The addition to public understanding is likely to be significant given that the content of NSC discussions and Secretary Rumsfeld's participation in them has not previously been made public in a systematic manner. At present, this information is known only through various leaks through journalists, which do not allow systematic analysis of the nature of the deliberative process. If further information is needed in order to grant a waiver of fees, please do not hesitate to contact me.

If a waiver of fees is not available, I request classification as an educational institution requester. I am a post-doctoral research fellow in the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and this request is made under the auspices of Princeton University solely for the purposes of academic research. In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

David Lindsey

From:

Subject: RE: [Non-DoD Source] RE: Freedom of Information Request: NSC Summaries (UNCLASSIFIED)

Email

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

Good Morning,

Please understand this is not the correct email address for the OSD/JS FOIA Office, the correct address is whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.osd-js-foia-requester-service-center@mail.mil. I forwarded your request to OSD/JS for you.
Regards,

Jim Hogan

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