Home » Posts tagged 'secrecy' (Page 8)
Tag Archives: secrecy
Six pages and serendipity
Today I was searching the shelves of my depository for a report related to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance and instead my eyes fell on this publication from the CIA: Donovan and the CIA : a history of the establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency by Thomas F Troy Publisher: [Langley, Va.?] : Central Intelligence Agency, Center for the Study of Intelligence, 1981. SuDoc: PREX 3.10:D71 This is the official story of how the CIA came to be. According to the preface, it was written in 1975 as an account of the agency's origin for new employees. It was promptly stamped SECRET. In 1981, the agency released a declassified edition which the preface hails as being "released for leisurely reading outside the office, and printed in one volume, this history should better serve it's original purpose." What made the CIA decide it could let its secret origin story out of the shadows? According to the preface, it was the excision of no more than six typewritten pages. Obviously, I haven't seen the missing six pages, but doesn't this case make it seem like the classification process is a little whimsical? The book is divided into three sections: "The COI (Coordinator of Information) Story" which covers from about 1929 to World War II, Wartime--The OSS Story and Postwar--The CIA Story, which ends with the establishment of the CIA. If anyone's read this volume, let us know what you think. As far as I can tell, the book has no electronic version. Google Books has a commercial version with no preview. Perhaps one day the government document version, which is in the public domain, will be posted. Might be interesting to run a tag cloud on the text. The electronic world has given us many gifts, but I'm not sure it could deliver an experience of serendipity like the printed shelf did for me today. From welfare to spies.
On a personal note, thanks to everyone who has sent words of appreciation to me regarding my being named as a Library Journal 2008 Mover and Shaker. I really think this is an award that in a real sense belongs to the entire documents community and especially to my co-volunteers here at FGI and the dozens of folks working on State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States. Thanks to each and every one of you who contributes to finding, describing, and making government information available to people in a way that respects their privacy. Without you I'd just be a mouth on legs. Continue reading
Making of the Cheney Regional Defense Strategy, 1991-1992
The National Security Archive has posted more than a dozen declassified documents from 1991-1992 about the Defense Planning Guidance (DPG). These were prepared by the Pentagon under the Secretary of Defense of that time, Richard Cheney.
- "Prevent the Reemergence of a New Rival" The Making of the Cheney Regional Defense Strategy, 1991-1992, National Security Archive, The George Washington University, February 26, 2008.
One aspect of this release that is noteworthy is the insight it provides into government secrecy, classification and declassification, and the accuracy and completeness of the historical record. As the NSA says:
Remarkably, these new releases censor a half dozen large sections of text that The New York Times printed on March 8, 1992, as well as a number of phrases that were officially published by the Pentagon in January 1993. "On close inspection none of those deleted passages actually meet the standards for classification because embarrassment is not a legal basis for secrecy," remarked Tom Blanton, director of the Archive."
The NSA displays the language that the Times publicized side-by-side with the relevant portions of the February 18, 1992 draft that was the subject of the leak.
The documents are fascinating:
Continue readingThe word "preempt" does not appear in the declassified language, but Document 10 includes wording about "disarming capabilities to destroy" which is followed by several excised words. This suggests that some of the heavily excised pages in the still-classified DPG drafts may include some discussion of preventive action against threatening nuclear and other WMD programs. The excisions are currently under appeal at the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP).
Army Says It Will Restore Public Access to Online Library
Army Says It Will Restore Public Access to Online Library. by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News. Feb 21, 2008.
Continue readingThe U.S. Army said today that it would restore public access to the online Reimer Digital Library of Army publications, after having blocked the site on February 6.The U.S. Army said today that it would restore public access to the online Reimer Digital Library of Army publications, after having blocked the site on February 6.
Aftergood says: The next president should open up the Bush Administration’s record
The next president should open up the Bush Administration's record, By Steven Aftergood, Nieman Watchdog February 07, 2008
The next President will have the authority to declassify and disclose any and all records that reflect the activities of executive branch agencies. Although internal White House records that document the activities of the outgoing President and his personal advisers will be exempt from disclosure for a dozen years or so, every Bush Administration decision that was actually translated into policy will have left a documentary trail in one or more of the agencies, and all such records could be disclosed at the discretion of the next President.
Continue reading
Army Blocks Public Access to Digital Library
Army Blocks Public Access to Digital Library by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News, Feb. 13, 2008.
Public access to the Reimer Digital Library, which is the largest online collection of U.S. Army doctrinal publications, has been blocked by the Army, which last week moved the collection behind a password-protected firewall.
But today the Federation of American Scientists filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking the Army to provide a copy of the entire unclassified Library so that it could be posted on the FAS web site.
The Army move on February 6 marks the latest step in an ongoing withdrawal of government records from the public domain....
The move came as a surprise since only unclassified and non-sensitive records had ever been made available at the Library site.
Continue reading
Latest Comments