With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Obama Keeps Mum on Military Secrets

President Obama will withhold the release of millions of pages of military and intelligence documents even though the information was scheduled to be declassified at the end of the year. The decision runs counter to a White House that promised transparency and openness, the Boston Globe reports. The documents are all more than 25 years old, with some dating back to World War II. “The national-security bureaucracy is deeply entrenched and is not willing to give up some of the protections they feel they need for their documents," said a researcher at the National Security Archive. Critics fear that if Obama can extend deadlines at will, it sets a bad precedent for all future declassifications. “It is a bit of a test," said one Obama appointee. "You have an administration that has committed to certain things and tried to shape the direction, but then you have the bureaucracy which is very adept at resisting change.’’
Read entire article at The Daily Beast