I Could Tell You What You Already Know, But That's Classified

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There's not a lot of new information in this New York Times article about Bush Administration secrecy, but this quote was interesting:

Thomas H. Kean, chairman of the Sept. 11 commission and a former Republican governor of New Jersey, said the failure to prevent the 2001 attacks was rooted not in leaks of sensitive information but in the barriers to sharing information between agencies and with the public.

"You'd just be amazed at the kind of information that's classified—everyday information, things we all know from the newspaper," Mr. Kean said. "We're better off with openness. The best ally we have in protecting ourselves against terrorism is an informed public."

Mr. Kean said he could not legally disclose examples he discovered of unnecessary classification.

Best quote of all comes from elaborately monikered National Security Council spokesman Frederick L. Jones II:

"The administration is proud of its record of openness," Mr. Jones said.

Of that I have no doubt. Link via Sploid; I took a pass on this topic a year ago.