Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Odd and Somewhat Inexplicable

U.S. Reclassifies Many Documents in Secret Review
[...] The program's critics do not question the notion that wrongly declassified material should be withdrawn. Mr. Aid said he had been dismayed to see "scary" documents in open files at the National Archives, including detailed instructions on the use of high explosives.

But the historians say the program is removing material that can do no conceivable harm to national security. They say it is part of a marked trend toward greater secrecy under the Bush administration, which has increased the pace of classifying documents, slowed declassification and discouraged the release of some material under the Freedom of Information Act.

Experts on government secrecy believe the C.I.A. and other spy agencies, not the White House, are the driving force behind the reclassification program.
That last graf makes sense when you read this a bit further on in the article:
One reclassified document in Mr. Aid's files, for instance, gives the C.I.A.'s assessment on Oct. 12, 1950, that Chinese intervention in the Korean War was "not probable in 1950." Just two weeks later, on Oct. 27, some 300,000 Chinese troops crossed into Korea.
Hee!

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oddly, this program began in 1999. This leads one to conclude that government silliness is truly a bi-partisan activity.

4:15 PM  
Blogger Bill said...

Finally, something we can all agree on!

4:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, we also all agree on " Funny = Good " .

11:29 AM  
Blogger Bill said...

Yes, "Funny=Good" remains a mantra for the ages. And, with each passing year, for the aged.

11:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What ?

( cupping hand by ear )

6:03 PM  

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