General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Report Indicates Snowden/Greenwald Lied About Key Claims [View all]NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)[Has Top Secret America changed under the Obama administration?]
"And on top of that, you could argue that its worse, because this administration has gone after so-called leakers, the leak investigations, in a larger way than the Bush administration [did]. Theres an unprecedented number of indictments and investigations of subjects accused or thought to have released classified information to, usually, reporters. So they are actively trying to stop the flow of that information and using the courts to do that, which the Bush administration, although it criticized reporters, did not do.
In addition, the only things that Obama stopped was the secret sites
and the enhanced interrogation techniques.
So those were two things that were created as secrets; then they were outed; then they were debated. And many people rejected them, so it was pretty safe to disband them.
His administration did a review of all covert actions, and my reporting says that they kept just about everything that has been going on since 9/11. They have taken the previous administrations drone war and run with it. Theyve increased the number of lethal drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan manyfold. Theyve adopted the targeted killings approach, both on the ground and from the air. The number of organizations working on terrorism has increased. The number of companies working on it has increased.
So as far as Top Secret America goes and the structure thats now firmly in place to do all this, this administration has only furthered that. Theyve done nothing to roll it back. Theyve done very little to look inside of it, to say: What is it that works? What doesnt work? What do we really need? And in this time of economic hardship, what dont we need?"
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/iraq-war-on-terror/topsecretamerica/dana-priest-top-secret-america-is-here-to-stay/
Her thoughts from Sept 2011
Very good read. Mainly deals with the Bush administration and the build up of secrecy. Makes me wonder where her new found trust has come from.