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U.S. Defense Department Seeks Greater WMD Secrecy
A U.S. Defense Department spending request to Congress contains a provision that would exempt all information relating to WMD programs or threats from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, Cox News Service reported today (see GSN, April 21). The Pentagon said the measure is designed to prevent terrorists from obtaining sensitive information. It would allow the department to keep secret any document that discusses a threat that could affect a significant number of people — a definition of weapons of mass destruction so broad that it could inhibit the delivery of crucial information to state and local governments, as well as conceal safety records at U.S. laboratories and plants, said Rick Blum, coordinator of the Sunshine in Government Initiative. The exemption would block access to information about possible health threats and U.S. terrorism protection plans, Blum said. “The scope of the proposal is enormous,” said Steve Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the American Federation of Scientists. “It would allow the Defense Department to withhold any information having to do with chemicals or radiation, not just what we think of as WMD.” The Senate Armed Services Committee has not started debate on the spending request that contains the measure, said Charlie Abell, majority staff director for the panel. Drafting is scheduled to begin Tuesday. “I would tell you that I think we found it a little broad,” said Abell, referring to the WMD measure. Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said the measure illustrates the Bush administration’s inclination toward secrecy. “This provision is another covert attempt to exempt information from public disclosure,” he said (Cox New Service/Chattanooga Times Free Press, April 26).
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