National Archives participated in document cover-up

It used to be that the Bush administration would just mysteriously "disappear" people. Well, now they're disappearing public documents.

According to yesterday's headlines, the National Archives, whom We The People entrust with the documentation of our nation's history, turns out to have worked with the Bush administration to make certain documents disappear.

Hey, if it's not documented in the National Archives, you can't prove that it happened, I guess. And that apparently includes documentation that had previously been unclassified and accessed by countless researchers.

We can't erase those researchers' memories who may have seen the "disappeared" documents, but we can certainly now challenge their credibility, since there is no longer any official record to back up their claims. Apparently, that's now the American way.

From Capitol Hill Blue:
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The National Archives agreed to seal previously public CIA and Pentagon records and to keep silent about U.S. intelligence's role in the reclassification, according to an agreement released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The 2002 agreement, requested three years ago by The Associated Press and released this week, shows archivists were concerned about reclassifying previously available documents - many of them more than 50 years old - but nonetheless agreed to keep mum.

"It is in the interest of both (unnamed agency) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to avoid the attention and researcher complaints that may arise from removing material that has already been available publicly from the open shelves for extended periods of time," the agreement said.

The agreement was originally stamped "secret." The National Archives and Records Administration provided a redacted copy of the agreement to AP under FOIA this week and then posted the document on its Web site.

The agreement said the archives "will not acknowledge the role of (redacted) AFDO in the review of these documents or the withholding of any documents determined to need continued protection from unauthorized disclosure." AFDO stands for Air Force Declassification Office.

"NARA will not disclose the true reason for the presence of AFDO (redacted) personnel at the Archives, to include disclosure to persons within NARA who do not have a validated need-to-know," the agreement added.

National Archivist Allen Weinstein applauded the release of the agreement and said an internal agency review on how best to handle reclassification requests should be completed by the end of this month.

"It is an important first step in finding the balance between continuing to protect national security and protecting the right to know by the American public," Weinstein said.
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[Read more.]

Shame on the National Archives! I had always assumed that the Archives were run by high-level librarians, and librarians usually seem to care about truth and accuracy.

On the other hand, Laura Bush is a librarian, so never mind.

So what's next? Thought police? Oh, never mind. They're already here.

Let's be thankful for the Freedom of Information Act, for as long as it might remain alive. (Fingers crossed.)