Secrecy Wars: National Security, Privacy, and the Public's Right to Know [Paperback]

Philip H. Melanson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2002

The public and the media are fascinated by U.S. government secrets, real and imagined, yet very few people know how the process of obtaining formerly secret documents works. Secrecy Wars is a look inside the American secrecy system as it is accessed through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act. With its perspective that of a political legal drama, this important new book will not only entertain and inform but also influence the legal, journalism, and political communities.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Since the passage of the Freedom of Information Act in 1966, the U.S. government has had an official policy of providing public access to its internal files. But as Melanson argues in this scathing indictment of Washington's culture of secrecy, this official policy rarely matches reality; the FBI, CIA and other agencies have fought the FOIA tooth and nail since its inception. Claiming national security, they've successfully kept millions of documents, on subjects ranging from the Martin Luther King assassination to the CIA's coup against Allende in Chile, hidden from public view. Melanson, who has previously written books on Lee Harvey Oswald and the RFK assassination, believes that the national security claims are largely intended to cover up embarrassing or illegal activities, such as the FBI's COINTELPRO project against civil rights and antiwar groups in the 1960s and '70s. Furthermore, Melanson alleges, documents have been known to turn up "missing" when it suits the government's agenda witness the suspicious disappearance of chemical weapons logs from the Pentagon after veterans' groups began investigating Gulf War syndrome. This is heady stuff for conspiracy buffs, but it can be found elsewhere in greater detail. The real value in Melanson's book is its practical advice for researchers and the general public in unraveling the bureaucratic intricacies of the FOIA. Case studies show successful investigations; an appendix reprints sample information requests; one chapter profiles other knowledgeable lawyers and researchers. The overall goal is to help readers understand and circumvent the roadblocks that keep them from learning what the government's files have to say about, say, Marilyn Monroe or readers themselves.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Political-science professor Melanson has made a career out of penetrating government agencies' classified files, and this volume is primarily a history of his key tools: the 1966 Freedom of Information Act and the 1974 Privacy Act. Both laws have, over the years, been subject to interpretation by presidents and congressional majorities and to delay and obstruction by key agencies. (Congress has been exempt from FOIA since its enactment; the CIA and FBI later achieved substantial exemptions.) Melanson has been involved in so many high-profile records searches--about the assassinations of the '60s and military exposure to radiation in the '40s and to unknown substances in the Gulf War, for example--that his flow of anecdotes sometimes disrupts his argument. But both argument and anecdotes are valuable contributions to the enduring debate about the proper balance between national security and the public's right to know. Appendixes supply examples of released documents and samples of the types of letters that can be used to initiate these requests. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc. (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574885456
• ISBN-13: 978-1574885453
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,316,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Knowing about what we don't know, May 26, 2006

By 

Newton Ooi (Phoenix, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secrecy Wars: National Security, Privacy, and the Public's Right to Know (Paperback)

One of the great ironies of American history is how a country built on the principle of freedom can have so many more secrets and ways of keeping secrets than just about any other country that has ever existed. This is the likely conclusion of any reader of this book. From political assasinations, covert military attacks, illegal trade deals, and exposing citizens to nuclear fallout and toxic chemicals, this book gives a first-hand history of cover-ups and secrets that the US government has aided in throughout modern history. The authors of the book are experts on this topic due to their relentless efforts in aiding those trying to expose these secrets. The book's subject matter is great, and the authors have done their homework, but the book is not the best written and could have benefitted from a better editorial process.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How the Freedom of Information Act operates, May 6, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrecy Wars: National Security, Privacy, and the Public's Right to Know (Hardcover)

National security, privacy, and the public's right to knowledge are the major issues covered in Secrecy Wars, a view of the US government's secrecy system and how the Freedom of Information Act operates. Details from formerly classified files blend with surveys of government resistance to releasing public information to make for a thought-provoking presentation which is a highly recommended addition to American Political Science and Military Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.