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Classification of Government Documents Author: David Griffin, Posted: Thu 27 Mar 2003 6:46 am Subject: Classification of Government Documents Following are selected excerpts of an article found at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-2510806,00.html Bush Slows Declassification of Documents Wednesday March 26, 2003 9:50 AM "WASHINGTON (AP) - Millions of government documents will remain sealed under a new executive order that delays their automatic declassification for more than three years and makes it easier to reclassify some papers that might damage national security. Amending a less restrictive order signed by President Clinton, President Bush's action Tuesday gives agencies until the end of 2006 to release the documents, which include military, diplomatic and foreign policy papers expected to shed light on national security decision-making. Historians and declassification experts have mixed reactions to the order that Bush signed three weeks before the government's April 17 deadline for declassifying papers 25 years or older. Some say its provisions are less restrictive than they expected; others argue it further cloaks government activities. ``Given that the Bush administration is the most secretive presidency in recent decades, this order is not as bad as it might be,'' said Steven Aftergood, who directs the Federation of American Scientists' government secrecy project. But others, like Thomas Blanton at the National Security Archive, a group that works to get government documents declassified, says it's a step backwards. He's especially upset over a provision stating that foreign government information is presumed classified. Under the Clinton order, this type of information was kept classified or declassified on a case-by-case basis. ``Making foreign government information presumptively classified drops us down to Uzbekistan's openness norms,'' Blanton said." "The order also makes it easier for the government to reclassify sensitive information that had previously been made public. The administration official said there may be cases in which information that has already been made public needs to be retrieved and made confidential because it compromises national security." |
