Secure Often Means Secret Post-9/11

"In the eight months since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, the Bush administration has moved more quickly than any administration since World War II to make government activities, documents and other information secret," reports USA Today. "Hundreds of thousands of public documents have been removed from government Web sites. Other public information has been edited, and access to some materials has been made more difficult. Some government materials yanked from the Internet, such as EPA reports on the consequences of industrial accidents at chemical plants, may be viewed only in government reading rooms. Visitors must have an appointment and have to be accompanied by a government escort. ... A growing number of critics, including several federal judges, say the administration's secrecy effort is beginning to look more like opportunism than enhanced security."