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Which secret gov't docs will be declassified on 12/31?
HowStuffWorks.com ^ | December 23, 2006 | Julia Layton

Posted on 12/28/2006 6:50:51 PM PST by rvoitier

Which secret government documents will be declassified on December 31?


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Which secret government documents will be declassified on December 31?
by Julia Layton

 
December 23, 2006
This New Year's Eve, at midnight on the dot, hundreds of millions of pages of U.S. government secrets will be revealed. Or at least they'll no longer be official secrets -- it may actually take months or more for the National Archives and Records Administration to make those pages available for public consumption. The NARA is already dealing with a multi-million page backlog.

But in theory if not in immediate practice, what was set in motion by the Clinton administration in 1995 is coming to fruition. Executive Order 12958 declared that in 2000, every classified document 25 years of age or older would be automatically declassified unless the classifying agency had already sought and received that document's exemption (anything that could cause an "identifiable" risk to national security, would violate a person's privacy or involves more than one agency is exempt). After two three-year extensions granted by the Bush administration in response to cries from the CIA, FBI, NSA and other agencies that they didn't have the manpower to review all of their papers in time, the final deadline has arrived. And President Bush is enforcing it.

Scholars of history, conspiracy theorists and freedom-of-information activists everywhere are doing a happy dance like none you've ever seen. We're talking about a treasure trove of historical documents, secrets that have been kept for decades, suddenly stripped of its Top Secret, Secret or Confidential status. According to Michigan State University, the trove can include letters, telegrams, background checks, reports from war zones and cabinet-level meeting minutes, for a start.

Any government agency that has classified documents is involved in the declassification process. Organizations that deal in secrets, like the FBI, CIA, NSA and Department of Defense are releasing the largest volumes of paper: The FBI alone will be declassifying 270 million pages. The NSA is declassifying at least 35 million.

So what can we expect to learn when these pages become accessible to the public? We're not talking about small secrets here. Experts says the documents will tell us about the inner workings of such events and periods as World War II; the Cold War; the McCarthy-era search for Communist sympathizers in the United States and the very real presence of Soviet spies in the U.S. government's upper ranks; the Cuban missile crisis; the Vietnam War and the government's anti-war-protestor activities including surveillance and penetration of activist groups; the CIA's secret experiments with LSD; the Camp David Accords that resulted in a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt; the Iran hostage crisis in 1979; and the Soviet Union's attack on Afghanistan that same year.

What we won't be finding out about are specific war strategies, information on weapons of mass destruction, spy identities and other documents that would put specific people or the United States at risk.

Before this Executive Order for automatic declassification, scholars and the general public had to file a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a specific document to be declassified after its classification status had run out. If no one filed a request, a document remained secret even though technically it was no longer classified.

For more information on declassified government documents and related topics, check out the following links:

Sources


1 posted on 12/28/2006 6:50:54 PM PST by rvoitier
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To: rvoitier

It really doesn't matter. It will be "old news" to the liberal "media" anyway. Classified documents are their specialty. They have reams of them.


2 posted on 12/28/2006 6:55:04 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (When I was a kid, "global warming" was known as "the weather.")
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To: rvoitier

3 posted on 12/28/2006 6:56:32 PM PST by Cobra64 (Why is the War on Terror being managed by the DEFENSE Department?)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

I care


4 posted on 12/28/2006 6:56:41 PM PST by Boner1 (Its Time to change are drug laws for some have gone on to be POTUS while other's have been inprison)
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To: rvoitier
...what was set in motion by the Clinton administration in 1995 is coming to fruition. Executive Order 12958 declared that in 2000, every classified document 25 years of age or older would be automatically declassified unless the classifying agency had already sought and received that document's exemption (anything that could cause an "identifiable" risk to national security, would violate a person's privacy or involves more than one agency is exempt).

Oh, geez, I'd forgotten about that treasonous EO. Well, what I'd really like to know is how many treasonous acts the Clintons actually committed. Is that classified?

5 posted on 12/28/2006 6:59:14 PM PST by LibWhacker
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To: Boner1

So do I.


6 posted on 12/28/2006 7:02:12 PM PST by sarasmom
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To: rvoitier

Does this mean we don't have to wait for 30 some more years to find out the real deal about Kennedy?


7 posted on 12/28/2006 7:04:50 PM PST by ritewingwarrior (Where does free speech end, and sedition begin?)
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To: Cobra64
Its about time!


8 posted on 12/28/2006 7:05:21 PM PST by operation clinton cleanup
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To: ritewingwarrior

Yea, right. NOT


9 posted on 12/28/2006 7:05:25 PM PST by Snoopers-868th
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To: Boner1
So do I.

That still doesn't take away from the fact that classified documents are being leaked to the liberal "media" everyday and no one is doing anything to stop it. (The point of my post by the way.)

10 posted on 12/28/2006 7:06:12 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (When I was a kid, "global warming" was known as "the weather.")
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To: Snoopers-868th

I found this after i posted from Wiki.

"However, in 1992 Congress enacted the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. Congress questioned the legitimate need for continued protection of such records after three decades of secrecy. The purpose of the Act was to gather and accelerate the public release of assassination related documents.

The Act requires all documents related to the assassination that have not been destroyed to be released to the public by no later than 2017."

So only 10 more years!!!


11 posted on 12/28/2006 7:06:47 PM PST by ritewingwarrior (Where does free speech end, and sedition begin?)
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To: sarasmom

I would like to know the identity of the shooter on the grassy knoll, the connection between the Third Reich and the Bushes, as well as exactly what caused the hole in the Pentagon on 9/11/01.


12 posted on 12/28/2006 7:06:54 PM PST by nwrep
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To: FlingWingFlyer

Don't tell SWAMPSNIPER.


13 posted on 12/28/2006 7:07:56 PM PST by cripplecreek (Peace without victory is a temporary illusion.)
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To: LibWhacker
Well, what I'd really like to know is how many treasonous acts the Clintons actually committed. Is that classified?

Of course. And it's Sandy Burglar's job to make sure they the evidence is "disappeared" before the 25 years expire.

14 posted on 12/28/2006 7:09:50 PM PST by LexBaird (98% satisfaction guaranteed. There's just no pleasing some people.)
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To: nw_arizona_granny; DAVEY CROCKETT

Oh boy - more reading material!


15 posted on 12/28/2006 7:10:00 PM PST by Velveeta
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To: rvoitier

Roswell!


16 posted on 12/28/2006 7:11:06 PM PST by uglybiker (A bunch of radical Unitarians left a flaming question mark on my lawn!)
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To: rvoitier
Well, I am of the opinion that classifying a document is something that should be done ONLY when absolutely necessary and only for as long as necessary. I would think a 25 year absolute requirement for declassification with the exception of the names of agents currently alive would be fine. I would like it as hard to have a document classified as it should be to go on welfare, that is to say a major PITA that ain't going to happen without a stringent justification and only for as long as necessary.
17 posted on 12/28/2006 7:11:55 PM PST by RedStateRocker (Nuke Mecca, Deport all illegals, abolish the IRS, ATF and DEA)
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To: LibWhacker
Oh, geez, I'd forgotten about that treasonous EO. Well, what I'd really like to know is how many treasonous acts the Clintons actually committed. Is that classified?

Treasonous? Releasing old work product from the government we pay dearly for? Hardly. The exemptions are broad enough to drive a train through. What justification can there possibly be for keeping WWII documents secret? Secrecy in government should be kept to an absolute minimum, because secrecy in government is inherrantly evil. Sometimes it is a necessary evil, but after enough time passes, we deserve to know what our government has been up to.

18 posted on 12/28/2006 7:29:46 PM PST by zeugma (If the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.)
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To: operation clinton cleanup
Don't you mean "The Hardly boys"?

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

"Oooh, I'm getting a raging clue..."

19 posted on 12/28/2006 7:32:23 PM PST by digger48
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To: zeugma
Clinton's EO was a deliberate attempt to overwhelm analysts and make it impossible for them to examine everything. If obeyed, many, many secrets would get out that we'd be nuts to publish.

But that was BJ's plan all along. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Also, regarding WWII, it's conceivable to me that there are many methods of intelligence gathering, and details of actual operations, that we'd be better off keeping to ourselves, even today.

I'm sure much is classified that doesn't need to be. But it would take decades to sift through it all even if every agency had the dedicated staff to do it, which they don't. However, blanket declassifications like Clinton's can only be designed to hurt the country. IMO.

20 posted on 12/28/2006 7:47:30 PM PST by LibWhacker
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