| de vredessite / midden-oosten 2010 | Washington Post Investigates the Intelligence World Responsible for America’s Safety Two-Year Long Review Explores Redundancy, Unwieldiness in Top Secret Government Agencies Press release by The Washington Post WASHINGTON July 19, 2010 - The Washington Post today published the first story in a new series exploring the Top Secret world created in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The series titled "Top Secret America” (www.TopSecretAmerica.com), describes and analyzes a defense and intelligence structure that has become so large, so unwieldy, and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, or whether it is making the United States safer. Among the highlights:
“This country’s top-secret national-security enterprise is both enormous and opaque,” Marcus Brauchli, The Post’s executive editor said. “We have sought through this long-term investigative project to describe it and enable our readers— including citizens, taxpayers, policymakers and legislators—to understand the scale and effectiveness of what has been created. The Post remains firmly committed to this kind of accountability journalism.” In addition to the stories in the series, a blog will anchor the Top Secret America site providing updates on Top Secret America coverage, original journalism and insight around related national security matters. The Top Secret America blog will serve as an online destination for further reporting, discussion, analysis, and interaction. Priest and Arkin will host this continuing conversation throughout the rest of the year, working alongside readers to lead inquiries about dimensions of Top Secret America that remain unexplored. Other multimedia features include:
A third story to be published Wednesday focuses on the economic and cultural impact of a high concentration of Top Secret work within a community located around the National Security Agency. While the rest of the country struggles with an economic recession, in the clusters of Top Secret America, expansion continues and the unemployment rate is low. The NSA plans to expand by two-thirds its current size over the next 15 years. The first installment of the series is available now online at www.TopSecretAmerica.com, as well as at www.washingtonpost.com/topsecretamerica. [See link below, Ed.] Dana Priest is an investigative reporter for The Washington Post. She was the Post's intelligence reporter for three years and its Pentagon correspondent for seven years before that. She has traveled widely with Army Special Forces, Army infantry troops on peacekeeping missions and the Pentagon’s four-star regional commanders. Priest received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for “The Other Walter Reed” and the 2006 Pulitzer for Beat Reporting for her work on CIA secret prisons and counterterrorism operations overseas. She authored the 2003 book, “THE MISSION: Waging War and Keeping Peace With America’s Military” about the military’s expanding influence over U.S. foreign affairs. William Arkin is a reporter for The Washington Post and has been a columnist since 1998. He has been working on the subject of government secrecy and national security affairs for over 30 years and has visited war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the former Yugoslavia. He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books about the U.S. military and national security including seven basic reference works. He has been a consultant for Natural Resources Defense Council, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations, and the U.S. Air Force. The project web site: projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america terug/back | de vredessite / midden-oosten 2010 | |