dagblog - Comments for "What Happened to Transparency?"

P.S. If the

artappraiser — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 04:40:01 +0000

In reply to The only reason I chose to

P.S. If the Assange/Manning/Snowden/Greenwald et. al. contingent doesn't take major note of this Gates anecdote, I'll be real surprised.

The only reason I chose to

artappraiser — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 04:29:59 +0000

In reply to I have two different

The only reason I chose to post that point from Gates' book here is that it struck me how a punish-leakers Obama was already apparent in the first month of his presidency. And that bad blood with the NYTimes on "transparency" and security may go back a very long time.

Actually, if one tends to believe so far that Gates book gives Obama a relatively fair shake that is overall positive in the end,* then that point is all the more glaring in the context of promising a very open and transparent government in his campaign. That he would be chomping at the bit to prosecute NYTimes & sources right off the bat to make an example. Suggests to me that a lot of actions and attitudes that Eric Holder is blamed for may actually be sourced further up the chain.

*And so far I do, tending to trust Shanker over Woodward to sum it up accurately.

I have two different

Peter Schwartz — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 03:50:04 +0000

In reply to ....Mr. Gates reveals the

I have two different reactions to the two types of issues discussed here:

• "Secret law"...bad.

• Leaking information on covert action intended to sabotage Iran's suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons...also bad.

In Shanker's piece, Gates doesn't seem all that critical of Obama.

....Mr. Gates reveals the

artappraiser — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:12:24 +0000

In reply to What Happened to Transparency?

....Mr. Gates reveals the depth of Mr. Obama’s concerns over leaks of classified information to news outlets, writing that within his first month in office, the new president said he wanted a criminal investigation into disclosures by The New York Times on covert action intended to sabotage Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons.

Mr. Gates, too, ordered a campaign to stamp out unauthorized disclosures, but grew rankled when White House officials always blamed the Pentagon for leaks. “Only the president would acknowledge to me he had problems with leaks in his own shop,” Mr. Gates writes....

from:

Bipartisan Critic Turns His Gaze Toward Obama
In His New Memoir, Robert M. Gates, the Former Defense Secretary, Offers a Critique of the President
By Thom Shanker, New York Times, Jan. 7/8, 2014