Secrecy grows more common with war on terror as excuse

The terrible events of four years ago might have necessitated a fresh look at the nation's wiretapping laws, for instance. But they did not justify a president ignoring those laws and secretly asserting the power to conduct domestic surveillance without judicial approval, despite specific statutory and constitutional language to the contrary, or the harsh criticism of those who helped make this program public.

Nor is 9/11 an acceptable excuse for hiding ineptitude or covering up a Kafkaesque legal setting at Guantanamo Bay, where detainees are being held without knowing why. Many unquestionably have terrorist connections, but documents recently exposed by lawsuits suggest that a number of detainees are victims of mistaken identity. These include a chicken farmer whose name is similar to that of a known terrorist, and a goat herder found on the Afghani battlefield (looking for some lost goats, he asserts). Many have been held since shortly after U.S. troops moved into Afghanistan in 2002. Lacking more detailed information, it's fair to wonder whether they continue to be held to avoid embarrassment.

Nice editorial. It is also important to add to this, for completeness's sake, that, at least according to Sibel Edmonds, governental secrecy sometimes leads to decreased, not increased, security.

tags: terrorism  incompetence  secrecy  war  abuse  edmonds