KEEPING SECRETS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403090008-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 17, 2012
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: June 8, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/17: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403090008-1
u r T. 7A _-------
BALTIMORE SUN
8 June 1985
Opinion? Commentary
from the evening sun
Keeping
Secrets
D URING a brief time in gov-
ernment a few years ago, I
enjoyed a "top secret" se-
curity clearance. It was scarcely
a great honor, inasmuch as it
was shared to one degree or an-
other by four million of my coun-
trymen, including John A. Walk-
er Jr., who now sits in a
Baltimore jail cell accused of sell-
ing secrets to the Russians.
Security clearances are be-
stowed in many forms for many
reasons. A guard at the reception
By Ray Jenkins
desk of a sensitive defense indus-
try may have a "top secret"
clearance, even though he may
not have the foggiest notion of
what goes on in the offices which
he guards. Others may possess
only bits and pieces of highly
technical information necessary
to do their jobs, and a bit may be
useless without a piece.
With all those people walking
around keeping secrets, no won-
der some ranking figures in gov-
ernment, including Sen. Sam
Nunn of Georgia and Defense
Secretary Caspar Weinberger,
believe that far too many people
have such clearances.
My own experience tells me
they are right, but I would say
further, too many people have
the authority to classify material
and often exercise that authority
for the wrong reasons.
I got my clearance because I
had access to a vast amount of
information - CIA reports and
the like - which fell into various
classifications, from "confiden-
tial" to "top secret." As I read the
material that crossed my desk it
became readily apparent that a
great deal of "classifying" was
done more to nourish bureau-
cratic egos than to protect gov-
ernment security. I have seen,
for example, idle gossip and
chit-chat in "classified" diplo-
matic cables. Once I even saw a
clipping from the Washington
Post in a "secret" file.
One anecdote might be in-
structive.
As I was about to leave gov-
ernment I got a call from an
agency which must remain
nameless lest I violate the na-
tional security laws. I was in-
formed that some months earlier
I had received, unsolicited, a
numbered copy of a set of very
sensitive documents, which the
agency would like to retrieve
since I had no further use for
them.
For the life of me I could not
remember receiving the docu-
ments, but I promised to locate
and return them. As I went
through the ritual of office-
cleaning the documents were not
to be found. With a growing
sense of urgency the agency
called again and again. When it
became apparent that I could not.
find the documents, there were
menacing suggestions that an in-
vestigation might be in order.
Finally to my great relief I
found the missing papers, locked
securely in a cabinet; the seal
had never been broken.
By this time I was sufficiently
curious that I put my clearance
to one last use to learn the na-
ture of this sensitive information
which had caused such alarm.
As I read I didn't know whether
to laugh or cry. Again, I must be
cautious, but suffice it to say that
the material dealt with contin-
gency plans. This agency had
spent God knows how many dol-
lars and hours putting the day-
dreams of bureaucratic special-
ists into writing which was then
sanctified as "secret."
What was accomplished by
this? Well, I suppose a case could
be made that If we had a contin-
gency plan for providing emer-
ger cy electric service to Denver
in case of a nuclear attack, the
Russians ought not know about
it. So there was a legitimate "na-
tional security" purpose. But a
bigger purpose. I suspect, was
that if the papers had fallen into
the hands of a sensation-seeking
columnist like Jack Anderson,
he would have had a field day
terrifying the populace.
I could cite still other in-
stances where classification
clearly was used to cover a foible
or to protect someone from em-
barrassment rather than to pro-
tect a genuine national interest.
The point is, legitimate gov-
ernment secrecy becomes trivial-
ized when all kinds of bureau-
crats are running around with
rubber stamps marked "secret."
When technology becomes mili-
tarized, there's probably an irre-
ducible minimum number of
people who must have access to
vital secrets, but there's hardly
any doubt that too many people
classify too much material too of-
ten for the wrong reasons.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/17: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403090008-1