Improving Declassification
Abstract
Understanding history is essential in a democracy. Without such an understanding, the public cannot know which candidates to vote for or which policies to support. They cannot judge the best course for the country. Without historic understanding, the mistakes of the past are destined to be repeated; the triumphs, unappreciated. Yet, the public cannot always be told all that its Government is doing. To do so would reveal information that might harm the country's interests. Diplomatic problems might be created, military capabilities could be undermined, or the ability to gather information about threats to security might be damaged. To protect sensitive information, the U.S. Government, like other democratic Governments, has established a classification system whereby such information is identified, marked, handled, and stored in a manner designed to prevent its unauthorized disclosure. For the most part, the public has accepted, and continues to accept, the need for such controls on information. At the same time, the public believes its Government often keeps information classified longer than it needs to be. Eventually, all classified information will lose its potential to cause serious and demonstrable harm to U.S. security interests should it be disclosed. It might take 100 days for this to happen, or it might take 100 years, but eventually events, circumstances, and the passage of time will erode the reason for restricting access to the information. The public expects the Government to make its best effort to ascertain the point when this occurs and to make historically significant information available. Declassified information, whenever made available, is often important essential, in fact to understanding the decisions and actions taken at crucial junctures in the country's history. History, after all, is cumulative: it has no finality.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA477270