Obama orders government secrecy review
President Barack Obama ordered a review of how the US keeps and classifies its secrets and told his administration chiefs to lean towards disclosure whenever possible.
Mr Obama instructed his national security adviser to report to him with recommendations on how to share information among government agencies and with the public.
He said he did not want to leave documents kept secret without a clear reason based on national security.
“While the government must be able to prevent the public disclosure of information where such disclosure would compromise the privacy of American citizens, national security or other legitimate interests, a democratic government accountable to the people must be as transparent as possible and must not withhold information for self-serving reasons or simply to avoid embarrassment,” Mr Obama said in a memo released from the White House.
The president also created a task force led by homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano and attorney general Eric Holder to recommend how to ensure that “the handling and dissemination of information is not restricted unless there is a compelling need”.
Transparency has been Mr Obama’s watchword. He has demanded the details of his £492bn (€566bn) economic stimulus plan be posted to a website, ordered classified memos from his predecessor’s administration released and has streamed White House events online.
On his first day in office Mr Obama reversed a policy on releasing government documents so there was a “presumption in favour of disclosure”. Mr Holder promptly beat Mr Obama’s deadline by two months for issuing new guidelines that urged release unless “foreseeable harm” would result.
That style of governing, though, has left the president open to critics, including former US vice president Dick Cheney, who fears too much information has left the nation weaker.
But Mr Obama and his top aides, sensitive to the criticism, insist their disclosures are in no way threatening the nation.
“While I believe strongly in transparency and accountability, I also believe that in a dangerous world, the US must sometimes carry out intelligence operations and protect information that is classified for purposes of national security,” Mr Obama said last month when releasing the Bush-era memos on torture.
“I have already fought for that principle in court and will do so again in the future.”
The president’s order yesterday asked national security adviser General James Jones to weigh in on what Mr Obama called a National Declassification Centre. If adopted, the panel would bring together agencies and departments to collaborate on making public some documents.
Obama aides have criticised overly aggressive classification and inconsistent restrictions. For instance, there are 107 unique markings for sensitive information and more than 130 different procedures to protect them.
The president also asked for an cross-government review on whether procedures are balanced between transparency and national security.
