zakur
7th April 2003, 08:09 AM
Judge Decries Secrecy in Moussaoui Case
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030405_520.html
Warning prosecutors that she was disturbed by government secrecy in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, a judge is questioning whether the government can offer a fair trial to the lone U.S. defendant accused of conspiring with the Sept. 11 hijackers.
U.S. District Judge Leona Brinkema's written comments Friday criticized the government's "shroud of secrecy" and could make it more likely the government would have to consider moving the case to a military tribunal.Secrecy Cloaks Patriot Act
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0909-03.htm
WASHINGTON - Ten months after it was passed because of the Sept. 11 attacks, the USA Patriot Act remains shrouded in complexity and secrecy.
The legislation, overwhelmingly approved by Congress after the White House demanded new tools to prevent the next terrorist assault, resulted in the largest expansion of police powers in decades.
Yet Americans know little about it, Congress is having difficulty getting questions answered, and Bush administration officials won't say how it has been used.Presidential Secrecy: What Is It They're Trying to Cover Up?
http://www.aps.org/WN/
You probably thought we'd progressed beyond the custom of hereditary authority, but in November 2001, Executive Order 13233, "Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act," extended that executive privilege to a deceased President's descendants. Warning that Executive Order 13233 could severely limit investigations of former Administrations, Rep. Doug Ose (R-CA) has now introduced a bill to revoke the order. Just last week, we reported that President Bush had signed yet another Executive Order that would postpone automatic declassification of documents from the same era.Keeping secrets / Bush clamps down on declassification
http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/20030405edsecrecy0405p2.asp
The Bush administration is working diligently in its continuing attempt to become the most secretive keeper of government information in American history.
This time, the White House has rewritten a Clinton-era executive order that requires declassification of most federal documents that are at least 25 years old. The administration has put off from April 17 until the end of 2006 a requirement for automatic declassification of information from foreign governments. The Bush initiative also allows reclassification of certain documents after they have already been made public.
...
In either case, excessive government secrecy is an affront to a democratic government and an open society. The documents in question are more than two decades old, and most cannot be said to have actual national security implications.An obsession with secrecy
http://www.iht.com/articles/91740.html
Taken individually, each of these actions might raise eyebrows for anyone who values open government. Taken together, they are reminders that this White House is obsessed with secrecy.At War With Liberty
http://www.prospect.org/print/V14/3/schulhofer-s.html
Secrecy across the board, without any obligation to present case-specific reasons for it in court, has less to do with the war on terrorism than with the administration's consistent efforts, firmly in place before 9-11, to insulate executive action from public scrutiny.The Bush Administration's Suffocating Secrecy
http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.03.28/oped1.html
In just its first year in office, the Bush administration created an astonishing 33 million new secrets, according to the federal Information Security Oversight Office. This was a 44% increase over the last year of the Clinton administration. Furthermore, whereas the Clinton administration held public hearings before adopting its secrecy policy in 1995, Bush officials see no need for such a step today.
So to describe the Bush administration as "secretive" is more than a rhetorical jibe; it is an empirical fact. In the current state of military conflict, moreover, this secrecy is bound to grow.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030405_520.html
Warning prosecutors that she was disturbed by government secrecy in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, a judge is questioning whether the government can offer a fair trial to the lone U.S. defendant accused of conspiring with the Sept. 11 hijackers.
U.S. District Judge Leona Brinkema's written comments Friday criticized the government's "shroud of secrecy" and could make it more likely the government would have to consider moving the case to a military tribunal.Secrecy Cloaks Patriot Act
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0909-03.htm
WASHINGTON - Ten months after it was passed because of the Sept. 11 attacks, the USA Patriot Act remains shrouded in complexity and secrecy.
The legislation, overwhelmingly approved by Congress after the White House demanded new tools to prevent the next terrorist assault, resulted in the largest expansion of police powers in decades.
Yet Americans know little about it, Congress is having difficulty getting questions answered, and Bush administration officials won't say how it has been used.Presidential Secrecy: What Is It They're Trying to Cover Up?
http://www.aps.org/WN/
You probably thought we'd progressed beyond the custom of hereditary authority, but in November 2001, Executive Order 13233, "Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act," extended that executive privilege to a deceased President's descendants. Warning that Executive Order 13233 could severely limit investigations of former Administrations, Rep. Doug Ose (R-CA) has now introduced a bill to revoke the order. Just last week, we reported that President Bush had signed yet another Executive Order that would postpone automatic declassification of documents from the same era.Keeping secrets / Bush clamps down on declassification
http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/20030405edsecrecy0405p2.asp
The Bush administration is working diligently in its continuing attempt to become the most secretive keeper of government information in American history.
This time, the White House has rewritten a Clinton-era executive order that requires declassification of most federal documents that are at least 25 years old. The administration has put off from April 17 until the end of 2006 a requirement for automatic declassification of information from foreign governments. The Bush initiative also allows reclassification of certain documents after they have already been made public.
...
In either case, excessive government secrecy is an affront to a democratic government and an open society. The documents in question are more than two decades old, and most cannot be said to have actual national security implications.An obsession with secrecy
http://www.iht.com/articles/91740.html
Taken individually, each of these actions might raise eyebrows for anyone who values open government. Taken together, they are reminders that this White House is obsessed with secrecy.At War With Liberty
http://www.prospect.org/print/V14/3/schulhofer-s.html
Secrecy across the board, without any obligation to present case-specific reasons for it in court, has less to do with the war on terrorism than with the administration's consistent efforts, firmly in place before 9-11, to insulate executive action from public scrutiny.The Bush Administration's Suffocating Secrecy
http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.03.28/oped1.html
In just its first year in office, the Bush administration created an astonishing 33 million new secrets, according to the federal Information Security Oversight Office. This was a 44% increase over the last year of the Clinton administration. Furthermore, whereas the Clinton administration held public hearings before adopting its secrecy policy in 1995, Bush officials see no need for such a step today.
So to describe the Bush administration as "secretive" is more than a rhetorical jibe; it is an empirical fact. In the current state of military conflict, moreover, this secrecy is bound to grow.