too secret for the Hill CS Monitor: National security vs. whistle-blowing

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Steven <stevenstevensteven () yahoo com>
Date: January 24, 2006 5:17:14 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: CS Monitor: National security vs. whistle-blowing

01/24/06
National security vs. whistle-blowing
Protections erode for those who allege governmental wrongdoing -  
especially
if going public risks state secrets.
By Alexandra Marks | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0124/p02s01-uspo.html

NEW YORK - Former intelligence officer Russ Tice wants to tell Congress
about what he believes were illegal actions undertaken by the National
Security Agency in its highly sophisticated eavesdropping programs.

But he can't. He's been warned by the NSA that the information is so  
highly
classified that even members of the House and Senate Intelligence  
Committees
- who are charged with overseeing the work of the intelligence  
community -
don't have clearance to hear about them.

[snip]


According to the Government Accountability Office, the number of  
government
employees coming forward to report allegations of wrongdoing within the
government increased 46 percent in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

[snip]


"The laws on the books give the impression that people have somewhere to
turn and they'll be protected, but they don't," says Beth Daley, an
investigator for the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), a nonprofit
organization dedicated to government accountability. "There really  
isn't a
functioning whistle-blower protection program right now."

[snip]

"Congress needs access to not only the information an agency head is  
willing
to release, but things from the middle and the bottom, and that's
whistle-blowing," says Louis Fisher, a senior specialist in the  
separation
of powers at the Congressional Research Service. "In a time of war and
emergencies, it's particularly important because when you concentrate  
power,
the chance of abuse and mistakes increases."

[snip]

....as a result of heightened concerns about terrorism, the Bush
administration has significantly increased the amount of government  
material
that is, or could be, classified. For instance, the Department of  
Homeland
Security has a regulation that forbids disclosure of any document to the
public that is marked "For Official Use Only," or any document that  
could be
labeled that way. An employee who releases such information can be
prosecuted.


Steven Hertzberg



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