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Secrecy -- and the conflicts of interest that it promotes -- clouds the decision-making process of government in issues as diverse as medical guidance to the nation's physicians and the acquisition of aircraft. And those are just the instances that have come to light in recent days.
"A huge door is closing within our government," Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy expert at the Federation of American Scientists, recently told the Federal Times. "The message is: 'We don't want you talking to anybody outside of government.'"
As the Bush administration prepares to begin its second term, much has been written about the president's intolerance for dissent or even raised eyebrows among those closest to him. Less attention, however, has been paid to efforts by the White House to restrict access to vast amounts of information and to create an atmosphere in which secrecy is rewarded and criticism silenced.
This is the type of story -- a gradual erosion instead of a single, headline-grabbing event -- that most in the press tend to overlook. Yet in the coverage of government, it may be the most significant event of all. Aftergood's comments came in response to new efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to keep sensitive -- but unclassified -- information out of the public domain. According to a department directive cited by the Federal Times, "employees and contractors can be searched at any place or any time to ensure they are in compliance with the policy. They can also face administrative, civil or criminal penalties if they violate the rules."
