I'd say something about glass houses if I knew which house was glass
Privacy Act, Order Shielded U.S. Names on List
By Charles Lane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 8, 2004; Page A30
CIA analyst Charles A. Duelfer's report on Iraq's weapons programs included lists of governments, political parties, companies and individuals from at least 44 nations who received vouchers to buy oil -- both legally and otherwise -- from the Iraqi government during Saddam Hussein's reign.
The names on the politically explosive list are French, Russian, Chinese, Canadian and Japanese; if Duelfer had had his way, U.S. companies and individuals would have been included, too.
But he was overruled by CIA lawyers. The report instead lists some voucher recipients only as "U.S. person" and "U.S. company," explaining in a footnote that disclosure was barred by the 1974 Privacy Act and "other applicable law."
The Privacy Act would indeed prohibit the unconsented disclosure of intelligence on "persons" who are either U.S. citizens or permanent residents, according to lawyers knowledgeable about the law and a detailed explanation of the statute on the Justice Department's Web site. But the Web site adds that "[c]orporations and organizations . . . do not have any Privacy Act rights."
So company names may have been ruled out by "other applicable law."
