The Central Intelligence Agency maintains more than 10 million pages of declassified, post-World War II documents, covering everything from the birth of the CIA to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The documents are publicly available - assuming one is willing to drive to the National Archives complex in College Park, Maryland, sit at one of four computer terminals in the library, and print dozens, hundreds, or thousands of pages.
Steven Aftergood, who runs the Project on Government Secrecy for the Federation of American Scientists, argues that the documents, accessible through the CIA Records Search Tool (CREST), should simply be put online, given their non-sensitive nature. "It's the richest source of agency historical records in the public domain - except that it's not fully in the public domain," Aftergood said. Indeed, only document titles are available on the CIA's Web site, though specific documents can be obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
In an e-mail, CIA spokeswoman Paula Weiss wrote, "When it comes to openness, our record is, quite frankly, unsurpassed among foreign intelligence agencies. As part of our continuing commitment to share this information, we're looking into other ways of providing CREST documents."
Note: If Government Secrecy is of Interest, We Strongly Suggest a Subscription to Steven Aftergood's "Secrecy News." It's a Free Resource and is Available as a Blog, E-Mail Newsletter, and RSS Feed.
FreePint Shop:
VIP LiveWire:
