by Alec Martin

Created on: September 01, 2009   Last Updated: September 02, 2009

-Why Government Secrecy Protects the American People-

Both sides of the government security debate have arguments that are apparently logical. However, the argument against government secrecy is based on a number of arguments that are logically unsound. The emotional appeal of conspiracy theory can make government secrecy look like democracy's worst enemy, but it is very clear after considering the complexities of the issue that secrecy is very important to protecting democracy.

-The Importance of Protecting Sensitive Information-

Vernon Huffman, author of the top-ranked NO article at the time I wrote this article says in his second paragraph, "Looking back over the fifty-odd years of my life, I have trouble perceiving the threat from which secret military activity has secured me." There's a reason Mr. Huffman has had so much trouble perceiving the threat: covert attack is by far the most effective.

The last time anyone attacked the United States in an overt manner was during the revolutionary war, when British troops announced their arrival with bright red uniforms and shrill marching bands, as was the ridiculous custom of the era. Despite Great Britain's vastly greater pool of soldiers and money, our fledgeling government undermined the might of superior resources using covert tactics.

If every citizen knew every move made by our military, so would every potential enemy. Now that covert tactics and strategies are the default mode of modern warfare in every country, revealing our military information would make America extremely vulnerable. The speed of modern communications and transportation would exacerbate this weakness.

Opening the government in today's world would be the equivalent of Great Britain sending the colonies a parcel containing every minute detail of their battle plans, personnel, and equipment while mandating that its generals update the colonies when they changed plans and allowing four days for the colonies to make plans of their own before attacking.

Furthermore, modern technology allows for the development of weapons far beyond the scope of artillery and infantry rifles - if an enemy begins building the next great weapon, it is imperative that said enemy know as little as possible about our efforts to stop it.

If our government labs are making antidotes to a rogue government's biological agents, revealing the nature of our antidotes would allow the enemy to design around our safeguards.

-Congressional Ignorance Explained-

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