(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Why Declassify? A Thought Experiment. [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-08-13
[Originally written as a comment on Crashing Vor’s diary.]
I’m not sure if anyone has addressed the question of why the declassification process is what it is. The sum of my experience inside the national security apparatus is that I once had to fill out an SF-86. Being a geek, I actually read the documentation that came with that initial step towards getting a security clearance. However, I left that job before the SF-86 was processed (which takes months). So, I’m sure there are people here who know more than I do about this, but here’s my shot at it.
It’s a thought experiment.
Suppose you work in a facility where some of your colleagues have Top Secret clearances, but yours is Confidential (and, of course, your colleagues know this.) One day, your boss (who has clearance) hands you a document that is clearly marked TS/SCI. You tell your boss that you can’t handle that document. They say, “It’s OK — it’s been declassified by the President.”
What should you do?
The answer, of course, is that you’re legally obliged to report a potential security breach. And that is indeed what you should do. Doing otherwise could cost you your job, your career, and jail time. Because the document is marked TS/SCI. And those markings need to be taken seriously.
Sometimes bureaucratic red tape exists for a damned good reason.
The idea that a president could verbally declare the document as unclassified, without going through the process of formally declassifying it, would be laughable if it weren’t so deadly serious.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/13/2116374/-Why-Declassify-A-Thought-Experiment
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
