By William Tucker
Starting yesterday and running throughout the week, the Washington Post is running a series of articles entitled Top Secret America. The purpose of the article is to ostensively discuss the growth of the US intelligence community and the reliance on private contractors in the post-9/11 world. The authors claim that the series is two years in the making and relies heavily on first hand interviews and substantial research. In reviewing the first two articles it is easy to see that the series does indeed have an agenda, but many aspects of the content should not be dismissed. One such claim is that the US has 854,000 people with a top secret clearance. This number, if correct, is far too high. Unfortunately, the authors do not cite a source nor do they separate active clearances – those that still have needed access – from those whose access has been terminated. Regardless, this number should be investigated by the government. As far as the bad goes, the authors give locations of facilities – government and private – that conduct top secret work. This information is unnecessary for the claimed purpose of the articles and puts the lives of these people at risk. I strongly urge everybody to read these articles and leave your impressions in the comments section.
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