Steve Chapman on the Drone War's Secrets and Lies
Barack Obama promised to install his administration in a glass house lit up like the Super Bowl, with everything visible to the citizenry he serves. So you will not be surprised to learn that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper wants nothing more than to keep the public well informed. The administration, he said in a recent letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee, "is exploring ways in which it can provide the American people more information about the United States' use of force outside areas of active hostilities."
That's what he said. Then he laughed so hard he fell off his chair.
The president says he has kept his campaign promise to be more open: "This is the most transparent administration in history." But when it comes to the subject of blowing people up with unmanned aerial vehicles, the windows are painted over and boarded up, writes Steve Chapman. You can look all you want; you just can't see.