US govt 'gags' Congress on Nuke deal

[bananas]

Source: Indian Express

Washington, May 9: : With the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement remaining stalled, the State Department has issued a ‘virtual gag order’ to the Congress asking it to keep even unclassified information ‘secret’ out of fear that public disclosure could ‘torpedo’ the deal.

Lynne Weil, a spokeswoman for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the State Department provided a lot of information on the deal, but the committee has agreed not to disclose the answers because some data might be considered diplomatically sensitive.

However, The Washington Post said on Friday that the deal was in ‘such desperate’ straits that the State Department had imposed the ‘unusually strict condition’ asking the lawmakers to ‘keep secret’ the answers it has provided.

The State Department made the request to Congress because though the answers were not classified, the officials fear that public disclosure would torpedo the deal, unnamed sources were quoted as saying by The Post.

Read more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/307455.html

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The Washington Post article is at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/08/AR2008050803427.html

[TomInTib]

1. Maybe it's the mangoes.

Damn.

[skepticscott]

2. Congress should basically

flip the State Department the bird, the same way the executive branch has been doing to Congress for the last 7 years, and do and say whatever the hell they please. If Congress has no power under the Constitution to subpoena White House staff and records, then the State Department certainly has no power to restrict ANY action of Congress.

[pleah]

3. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN OPEN GOVERNMENT!

If these assholes do not get a backbone, we will be lost.

[RC]

4. Congress is like 1/3 of the government. the State Department. is just that, a department!

There has been way too much secrecy these last 7½ years. Tell the State Department to stuff it.

[Bandit]

5. If the deal won't stand up to public scrutiny then it probably

is not in our best interests. When they keep such stuff secret you know there must be something they don't want us to know about it....Congress needs to be booed if they knuckle under once again.

[Hosnon]

6. If Congress agreed then it's hardly a "gag order." nt