Secrecy, National Security, and Democracy in America

Many of us who worked for Barack Obama’s election have been seriously disappointed by his administration’s actions against openness and accountability in our national security agencies. If things continue as they have, many of us won’t vote for him the next time around, not to speak of working on the campaign.

Why do we feel this way? Isn’t a strong national security something necessary to our safety and world peace? Well, yes. The problem is that what he and the leaders of his justice department and intelligence agencies have been doing is actually diminishing the rule of law and the competence and relevance of our security agencies for supporting a democratic society both here and in foreign countries.

The founders, coming fresh from their armed confrontation with a colonial tyranny, instituted a balance of powers among the executive, congress, and the courts. Even the conduct of war was divided between among the powers, and the courts were given the power to limit war powers in the interests of the citizens.

Yet, presidential actions and edicts have recently been used to upset these much needed balances. President Obama and President Bush before him have gone against our laws to eavesdrop extensively on citizens without court orders. There is absolutely no national security interest that requires the by-passing of the wisdom of our judges in the balancing of national security interests and those of citizens. Many times in human history, national security agencies have become abusive when freed from the rule of law and accountability before citizens. Frequently, such abuses have been carried out at the behest of presidents. When security agencies do not have to justify their policies and practices to the people’s representatives and to judges that they become abusive. Abusive security agencies never enhance their countries security. Their engagement in illegal and counter-productive activities only hurts national security and it is fatal to democracy.

It is a sad fact that few human organizations are able to effectively investigate and punish incompetence or possible wrong-doing within. The most common stance is defensive: deny, cover up, and keep doing the questionable activities. This is one of the reasons for the balance of powers. When Presidents Bush and Obama weakened judges supervision over their surveillance of citizens, they helped to weaken the competence and relevance of surveillance.

Just as President Bush erred grievously in allowing illegal arrest, imprisonment, and torture in US and allied countries’ prisons abroad, so did President Obama in not investigating and punishing the destruction of the torture films and records. Most interrogation experts agree that torture is not necessary or helpful in getting good intelligence. It usually is practiced for misplaced revenge or hatred of an ethnic, racial, class, or national group. Rather than solve national security problems, it deeply corrupts the practitioners and spawns yet more terrorists among those harmed by the practices.

Let us work for our and our country’s safety and security by holding our executive accountable for his responsibilities to uphold the constitution that is the reason our country is great.