Posted on 07/26/2010 4:42:33 PM PDT by Nachum
A clarifying bomblet drops in the final paragraph of the opening installment of the big Washington Post series on what is best described as National Intelligence Sprawl:
"Soon, on the grounds of the former St. Elizabeths mental hospital in Anacostia, a $3.4 billion showcase of security will rise from the crumbling brick wards. The new headquarters will be the largest government complex built since the Pentagon. ..."
National security meets mental hospital: How tragically appropriate. And yes, these inmates will definitely be running the asylum -- some of the Post-estimated 854,000 Americans with top secret clearance now filling massive new government complexes all over the country -- another unwanted legacy of 9/11.
Some of my conservative brethren worry that the Post series reveals national security secrets. The question is, with nearly a million people possessing top secret clearance, how many secrets are left to reveal? Is it possible that our national security apparatus has gotten too big not to fail?
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
More like the East German Stazi. Where up to a quarter of the population was spying on the other 3/4.
The vast number of those with Top Secret clearances could mean that lots of great work is being done in a wide variety of areas to advance our abilities to defend ourselves against our foes.
Or it could mean vast amounts of duplication, obfuscation, waste, fraud, and abuse.
We'll never know.
You need a Queens level security clearance to find that out? < /sarcasm>
Diana West could profit a great deal from learning the difference between having a clearance, and having access to secret stuff.
Shame they’ll tear up St. E’s for this. Although it’s in DC’s war zone, it’s been around since the Civil War. The grounds are beautiful and the buildings (although some are falling apart) are fine examples of late 1800’s architecture. Arguably, it’s the longest maintained area of DC.
I worked there in the early 90’s. The grounds were amazing. There were Civil War graves pre-dating Arlington, and the magnolias were huge.
That’s the idea of classifying it
Bingo !
Need to know an compartmentalization needs to be reinforced across the board....
You are correct;
I have had a TS with access to Secret Compartmented Information, Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information and level One Presidential Access for 21 years and I can count on one hand the times I have been exposed to TS info. Except for the area 51 alien thing but that’s another story.
Too many TS clearances given out. The Stasi wasn’t privy to all State secrets, just those the agent needed to know. Our actions regarding TS clearance mirror those of the former GDR.
One time I had to know the CG of a nuclear warhead that I was designing some stuff for on the cruise missile. I went to the security area to check out the drawing and somebody else had it. I called him on the phone and asked what the location of the CG was. He told me that he could not tell me as he did not know if I had clearance. But we settled on playing 20 questions to get the answer. I was a lot more patient in those days.
Imagine the 30,000 or so employees having to schlep out to Anacostia. There is no Metro access there. The traffic in that area already is a nightmare and the streets are inadequate. If they move the entire department out there, it will be a disaster. It is my understanding they are going to move the Coast Guard headquarters there first.
There are about 18 levels of security clearance above top secret.
Monica had top secret when she ‘worked’ at the Pentagon.
Top Secret does not really give you access to the highest level of security.
There are no friends left behind if we all do the Safety Dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7movKfyTBII
BHO doesn’t have a security clearance. He’s not required to & couldn’t qualify for one anyway.
http://joytiz.com/2009/barry’s-got-the-nuke-codes-but-no-security-clearance/
Don't worry: their very existence will warrant one.
I had a TS Clearance when I was in the DoD world plus COMSEC. However, I went out of my way not to see or learn the “goods” or the classified information. On COMSEC, management wanted me to have access to the COMSEC Safe and I told them I rather not have the combo and refused it. I would deal with the equipment part but didn’t want the combo. Plus if you screwed up with COMSEC, they throw your @$$ in jail for a long, long time ! I didn’t want to deal with their painful audits either.
I don’t miss having a clearance now since I am out of the DoD contracting world except the part to be able to apply for jobs that require the clearances.
I think that what’s happening here is that the Washington Post doesn’t understand that there is a specific meaning to the term “Top Secret” - Looking at the WaPo article, I have to wonder if they’re counting everyone from TS/SCI to Secret right down to Confidential clearances in their “854,000” “top secret clearances.”
Considering that they routinely confuse an AR-15 with a machine gun, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what’s going on here. I’d be stunned if there’s nearly a million people going through a SSBI every three years. How many investigators and polygraphers would that take? That’s nearly 800 people per day!
What I find amazing about this entire story...is that there are actually over 800,000 Americans who can pass a Top Secret clearance. To be kinda honest....if the investigators or smart guys ever drilled down into the bulk of these guys...barely 100,000 would pass the investigation.
I worked with a guy who was on the verge of getting his TS...when the investigator accidentally figured out the guy went to Honduras for 120 days approximately two years prior. Then he asked the medical guys there if this guy had been treated for anything, and their response was a STD. Naturally, that killed his clearance chances. If the investigator hadn’t stumbled onto this part of his career...the guy would have gotten his clearance.
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