The annual Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) Report to the President is probably the best tool we have to analyze the classification system in the United States. Here are some of my quick reactions to the report, which was released in April 2011.
- When it comes to classification, the majority of agencies don’t listen to the president. President Obama set a December 2010 deadline for agencies to issue regulations to implement his (generally pretty good) Executive Order on Classification. The Report states that only 19 of 41 agencies have complied with the president’s
requestsuggestionideafavorORDER. What should the Leader of the Free World do when the US agencies he controls do not comply with his executive ORDER? One participant at a recent Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) meeting suggested firing the heads of the non-compliant agencies. At any rate, “ISOO sees this as the biggest impediment to implementing the reforms called for by the President and as a real threat to the efficient and effective implementation of the overall classification system.” The Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of Justice are among the agencies who have ignored the president’s Executive Order on Classification. (more…)
