Bush's chamber of secrets
Slate
by Jack Shafer
05/03/06
Every time the Bush administration cracks down on openness, it creates new sources for journalists inside the bureaucracies. Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, says the strategy of decertifying the press works only if you can block the press from obtaining alternative sources of information. That's something the administration hasn't been able to do, says Blanton, citing the blockbuster stories about the Bush's secret prisons, secret torture programs, secret rendition operation, warrantless wiretaps, and so on. Blanton attributes such scoops to a 'revolt of the JAGs,' his shorthand for the recent round of whistle-blowing by career civil service and career military officers. It's not that these whistle-blowers oppose secrecy, he notes, giving the example of the FISA court, which issues secret warrants. In the 20-plus years of FISA warrants, not one has been leaked ... He contrasts the public FISA process with the secret machinations of the 'torture lawyers' -- Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, John Yoo, et al. -- whose primary goal is to enhance presidential power...
http://www.slate.com/id/2140996/
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Jack Shafer
05/03/06
Every time the Bush administration cracks down on openness, it creates new sources for journalists inside the bureaucracies. Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, says the strategy of decertifying the press works only if you can block the press from obtaining alternative sources of information. That's something the administration hasn't been able to do, says Blanton, citing the blockbuster stories about the Bush's secret prisons, secret torture programs, secret rendition operation, warrantless wiretaps, and so on. Blanton attributes such scoops to a 'revolt of the JAGs,' his shorthand for the recent round of whistle-blowing by career civil service and career military officers. It's not that these whistle-blowers oppose secrecy, he notes, giving the example of the FISA court, which issues secret warrants. In the 20-plus years of FISA warrants, not one has been leaked ... He contrasts the public FISA process with the secret machinations of the 'torture lawyers' -- Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, John Yoo, et al. -- whose primary goal is to enhance presidential power...
http://www.slate.com/id/2140996/
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
rudkla - 4. Mai, 16:06
