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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: June 2009

May 2009

• Review of Government Secrecy Ordered by Carrie Johnson, Washington Post, May 28. "President Obama directed his national security adviser and senior Cabinet officials yesterday to examine whether the government keeps too much information secret."
• Obama's Not-So-Open Government by Dan Froomkin, Washington Post White House Watch, May 28. "The Obama administration has taken three significant steps toward greater openness in government in the past week."
• Mixed reception for Obama declassification directive by Josh Gerstein, Politico, May 27. "A new directive from President Barack Obama aimed at reforming the classification and declassification process is getting a mixed reception."
• White House Announces Open Government Website, Initiative, news release, May 21. "Today, the White House is announcing a groundbreaking new means of engaging the public in policymaking at www.whitehouse.gov/open and through a formal outreach published in the Federal Register. This innovative approach provides several ways to supplement the expertise of government employees with the knowledge and know-how of the American people. It also will result in a more open, accessible federal decision-making process."
• White House Solicits Recommendations on Transparency and Open Government, Federal Register, May 21. "Members of the public are invited to participate in the process of developing recommendations via email or the White House Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/open offering comments, ideas, and proposals about possible initiatives and about how to increase openness and transparency in government."
• Secret memo reveals Bush was given humane, legal alternative to harsh interrogation by John Byrne, Raw Story, May 18. "The Bush administration was given clear and unequivocal advice encouraging a detainee interrogation system that followed humane practices that adhered to US and international law, a previously secret memo reveals."
• Experts Say Obama May Need to Classify Photos by Scott Shane, New York Times, May 15. "The Obama administration’s strongest option as it fights to keep hundreds of photographs of prisoner abuse secret may be to classify them and claim they are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, experts on government secrecy said Thursday."
• Newly declassified data reveals insurgent use of white phosphorus, CENTCOM news release, May 11. "Today, CJTF-101 has declassified a report of 38 events in which insurgents have used or stockpiled white phosphorus munitions in the Regional Command-East area of operations. The declassification and release are in response to claims that insurgents do not use, nor have access to, white phosphorus."
• Senators Graham, Lieberman Encourage President Obama to Fight Photographs Release, news release, May 7. "U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Joe Lieberman (ID-Connecticut) today wrote to President Obama expressing grave concern over the impending release of photographs of detainees captured in the war on terror and held by American military personnel."
• Army manual: Focus on root causes critical, United Press International, May 6. "A new U.S. Army field manual calls on troops to address an insurgency's root problems and suggests military solutions alone cannot solve them."
• Bush-Era Secrecy Still Hiding Gov't Data by Justin Rood, ABC News, May 4. "While watchdog groups have hailed President Barack Obama's moves towards greater government openness, millions of bytes of once-public government data have yet to be returned to the Internet after being removed during post-9/11 security efforts."
• US to drop charges against AIPAC pair by Hilary Leila Krieger, The Jerusalem Post, May 3. "The US government has decided to drop charges accusing two former pro-Israel lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman of illegally disclosing classified information just weeks before their four-year-old case was set to go to trial."
• Case against AIPAC lobbyists dropped by Eli Lake, Washington Times, May 2. "The Justice Department Friday ended the high-profile prosecution of two former pro-Israel lobbyists suspected of having sought and distributed classified information involving Iran and Iraq — a decision that could strengthen the rights of reporters, lobbyists and social activists to obtain and publicize government secrets."

  Older News: April 2009

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Updated May 31, 2009