Obama Moves To Curb Federal Secrets, Encourage DeclassificationANNE FLAHERTY | 12/29/09 11:25 PM |WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered the federal government to rethink how it protects the nation's secrets, in a move that was expected to declassify more than 400 million pages of Cold War-era documents and curb the number of government records hidden from the public.Among the changes is a requirement that every record be released eventually and that federal agencies review how and why they mark documents classified or deny the release of historical records. A National Declassification Center at the National Archives will be established to assist them and help clear a backlog of the Cold War records by Dec. 31, 2013.Obama also reversed a decision by President George W. Bush that had allowed the intelligence community to block the release of a specific document, even if an interagency panel decided the information wouldn't harm national security.Advocates for a more open government are cautiously cheering the move."Everything will depend on implementation," said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. But the order "has tremendous potential to reduce the level of secrecy throughout the government."In a memo to agency heads, Obama said he expects that the order will produce "measurable progress" toward greater openness in government while also protecting the nation's most important secrets."I will closely monitor the results," he promised.The still-classified Cold War records would provide a wealth of data on U.S.-Soviet relations, including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin Wall, diplomacy and espionage. A Soviet spy ring in the Navy led by John Walker headlined 1985, which became known as "The Year of the Spy."On his first day in office, Obama instructed federal agencies to be more responsive to requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act and he overturned an order by Bush that would have enabled former presidents and vice presidents to block release of sensitive records of their time in the White House.The government spent more than $8.21 billion last year to create and safeguard classified information, and $43 million to declassify it, according to the Information Security Oversight Office, which oversees the government's security classification. The figures don't include data from the principal intelligence agencies, which is classified.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/29/obama-moves-to-curb-feder_n_406725.htmlhttp://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1402291.html

You need to be a member of Ashtar Command - Spiritual Community to add comments!

Join Ashtar Command - Spiritual Community

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • He cant arrest the criminals...because the criminals are the ones on top who make the decisions...
    the legs cannot kick on against the head....the legs just do what the head tells them to...
    • But it looks as if he IS trying to arrest the criminals. Haven't you all read the Human Rights Act that he just signed? It ties into this, and came first.
  • Its a small step but he is going to have to do alot better than that to instigate real change. He could start by arresting all the criminals that have been deceiving this world for so long
    • Dear CoMdr, i'm definitely not an expert in politics but i think that indeed it's a small step or maybe another false illusion, who knows... I recently read that in all cases the Obama government couldn't afford to keep on wasting so much money on secret files and this article is just a confirmation.

      Who's side am i on ? LOL guess ;)
    • I agree, arrest the criminals behind it all is the only real change I can imagine,
      anything else is just bullshit,....and besides that, as the GFL has all of earths history recorded
      anyway, whats the point of all this in the first place? ;-)))
This reply was deleted.

Topics by Tags

Monthly Archives

Latest Activity

Ꮙℓἇ∂ἇ.. ኔጡ። commented on AlternateEarth's blog post US Surrogate shocked to learn baby’s dad is Chinese billionaire with 100+ kids
"In America yes it appears so.."
2 hours ago
Justin89636 left a comment on Comment Wall
"Like I said earlier some doctors help get their patients these meds. A lot of cancer patients risk it and order the meds from holistic sites online to. Hell there have even been people who said screw it and bought these meds from pet stores. I'm at…"
3 hours ago
Ꮙℓἇ∂ἇ.. ኔጡ። left a comment on Comment Wall
"@Justin, It sounds like you have done your homework on this Ivermectin medicine?, I was trying to help naturally as I've read the opposite conflicting evidence,that there is a distinct lack of clinical data proving ivermectin benefits cancer…"
4 hours ago
AlternateEarth posted a blog post
14 hours ago
AlternateEarth commented on AlternateEarth's blog post US Surrogate shocked to learn baby’s dad is Chinese billionaire with 100+ kids
"Anything goes in 2026"
14 hours ago
AlternateEarth left a comment on Comment Wall
"Sorry to hear about your condition, Justin. I'm sure you're stressed. I know I would be. To say you didn't learn anything in this life may be an exaggeration. For one you were guided here and are now part of the GFL. That's not a nothing burger.…"
14 hours ago
enigmabfd left a comment on Comment Wall
"Hey everyone.

I've been on this site and reading your comments for quite a while now, seeing people come and go, but I chose to remain in the shadows for lots of different reasons.
I've learned a lot in the process but the most important part for…"
18 hours ago
Justin89636 left a comment on Comment Wall
"Appreciate the support Vlada, but with regards to your opinions about Ivermectin and other anti parasitic drugs its already been proven they work as there are now some doctors who actually have compassion and are now using them to treat people.…"
yesterday
More…

THE THREE MOUNTAINS:INITIATION,RESURRECTION,ASCENCION


                                                                                   CHAPTER III

                                                                                      SPIRITISM

I was still a lad of twelve summers when,…

Read more…
Views: 24
Comments: 0