[iwar] [fc:Lessons.From.Leaks]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-29 07:24:15


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Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 07:24:15 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Lessons.From.Leaks]
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National Journal
October 27, 2001
Lessons From Leaks
By Alexis Simendinger
This was the week in which President Bush's wartime information challenges
suddenly looked more formidable. At one podium, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld spent more time railing against anonymous Pentagon employees who
spoke freely with reporters than he did giving those same reporters useful
information about the nature of military action in Afghanistan as it shifted
from air to ground.
At another podium hours later, Tom Ridge, the new homeland security
director, and an array of anxious government officials strained to resolve
questions about "evolving" anthrax science, the hunt for faceless murderers,
and the extent of an unprecedented threat.
Bush may be fighting the first war of the 21st century, but he is also
shadowboxing with some old enemies at home. How much information is too
much? Two U.S. servicemen died in a helicopter crash in Pakistan, but the
Pentagon left details scarce. Two U.S. Postal Service workers died after
inhaling anthrax spores in Washington, and the Administration produced
information to counteract rising alarm that danger loomed just a postage
stamp away.
The President's recent fuming about leakers in Congress, which prompted him
to briefly attempt to limit the number of lawmakers privy to classified
briefings, centered on his assertion that secrecy in the assault against
terror would save U.S. lives. One issue debated this week was whether enough
information was given to postal employees to protect their lives. In a long
war, which Bush has promised, the Administration's concentration on secrecy,
on the one hand, and the public's expectations of fuller disclosure, on the
other, are both likely to intensify. It is, it seems obvious to say, an
uneasy tension.
Rumsfeld, in particular, sounded this week as if Bush's battle was being
waged as much inside the Pentagon as outside it. Knowing full well that a
patriotic citizenry sides with its commander in chief, he complained in
front of the television cameras that information anonymously disclosed to
The Washington Post and other media outlets jeopardized clandestine military
operations, to the benefit of the enemy.
"I think that the release by a person in the government who had access to
classified information ... clearly was a violation of federal criminal law,
and second, it was something that was totally in disregard for the lives of
the people involved in that operation," the Defense Secretary said on
October 22. "I couldn't care less where the source of the leak is; the
responsibility is the same. It puts people's lives at risk, and it's just
terrible."
Rumsfeld admonished reporters: "How the press handles this new conflict will
also contribute to the success of it." How the Administration handles the
truth about its new kind of war is surely the more important burden.
Some old lessons still hold true. First, nonsanctioned disclosures of
government information are a fact of life for all Administrations; and,
second, all Presidents hate leaks. Bush's desire to control information
about his assault on terrorism is not novel. What is important is how far
his Administration decides to go to keep its confidences, believing it knows
best about the public's right to know.
John F. Kennedy in 1962 was so concerned with disclosures to The New York
Times about Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles that he briefly
weighed Clark Clifford's suggestion to establish a CIA unit to investigate
journalists. Lyndon Johnson so despised leaks to the media that he once
switched his choice of an appointee because The New York Times stole his
surprise, and he discouraged memorandums from advisers on sensitive matters
because he feared the memos would find their way into print. An obsession
with information funneled to reporters was, of course, part of Richard
Nixon's undoing.
Ronald Reagan at one point considered imposing a blanket ban on all
background and off-the-record interviews, and he approved an executive order
requiring federal officials to get White House clearance before talking to
the media about national security matters. George H.W. Bush believed leaking
was the height of disloyalty, and he launched internal probes on more than
one occasion to identify culprits in hopes of firing them. One such
investigation, which involved copies of documents slightly altered to trace
routes into journalists' hands, eventually revealed that Bush's own budget
director, Richard Darman, was a leaker. He kept his job. Bill Clinton "was
in a rage," former White House press secretary Jake Siewert recalls, when
internal deliberations about ground troops in Bosnia made their way into the
press. "He would tell [National Security Adviser] Sandy [Berger] to `find
out who this was, and stop them!' " Siewert said, "but it was always a
fruitless task."
When the pressure is on, there is always an instinct in any Administration
to tighten the circle of those close to important information while still
appearing to the public to be forthright. The smaller circle satisfies the
need for control, but does nothing about the appetite for candor, or the
tendency in Washington for frustrated policy makers shut out of the circle
to drop their advice on the President's desk via a newspaper.
To hear White House officials tell it, the federal government has everything
under control; the bureaucracy is coordinating smoothly and responding
appropriately; the President has not lost sleep or changed his routine; and
victory is certain. All of those assertions, without any partisan overlay,
are suspect. If candor about what the United States doesn't know, about
presidential worries and perceived risks, and about how and why decisions
are made comes from anonymous truth-tellers rather than from government
podiums, Americans should be relieved. And the Administration should be
forewarned. 

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