Do We Need More Secrecy Regarding Our Secret Secrets?

Former congressman Lee Hamilton, longtime chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission, complains in the Christian Science Monitor about classified-secret fever, offers up a "need to share" principle in opposition to the current obsession with "need to know," and concludes that

when too little information is made public, the public lacks the facts for informed judgment, and support for policies is shallow. Those controlling information are tempted to use it to control the debate. Malfeasance in the shadows of government is not ferreted out, and constructive input–from the media, academia, and citizens–is less probable.

Matt Welch lambasted government's secrecy obsession in Reason's Aug./Sept. 2004 issue, and blogged the numbers last April on Bush administration classification and declassification.