In 2015, the Central Intelligence Agency released MOST of a classified report on administrative
failings leading up to the events of 9/11.
However, some politicians still want the rest of the report declassified, which allegedly
details Saudi Arabia’s link to al Qaeda.
So why are those pages still censored?
What kind of information does the US government restrict?
Well, there are three main categories of classified information in the United States, which the
general public cannot access.
These levels are named: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret, in order from least to most
sensitive data.
To access that information, specific clearances must be obtained, requiring extensive background
checks.
Reports estimate that there are 5.1 million people in the US with these security clearances.
The US government has the power to repress ANY information that it judges could potentially
threaten national security.
Some of the early laws to protect classified documents go back to the 1917 Espionage Act,
and the 1954 Atomic Energy Act which helped outline wartime protocol for secrecy.
Leaks of confidential information may cause damage to national security.
But leaks of Top Secret information may cause “EXCEPTIONALLY GRAVE” damage.
Recently, President Obama made an executive order mandating that NO information can be
classified indefinitely.
And every report, even the most secret, must now have a specified date for automatic declassification,
usually within 25 years.
The recently declassified CIA report on events leading up to 9/11, was originally marked
“Top Secret”, and is still partially censored.
Why?
Well, the redacted sections reportedly link Saudi Arabia and the terrorist organization
al Qaeda together, which could provoke increased hostility from Saudi Arabia.
As the nation has sensitive diplomatic ties to the US, the CIA sees declassification as
a risk to international relations.
But even more controversial documents over the years HAVE been declassified.
One memorandum to the Secretary of Defense in 1962 outlined a plan to commit acts of
terror on US citizens, blame Cuba, and use it as an excuse to go to war with them.
It took roughly 40 years for the government to approve the declassification of this document.
Presumably, to do so back in the ‘60s, could have angered Cuba during a sensitive time
and initiated a Cold War.
It’s hard to know exactly how many reports the government is currently restricting from
the public.
However, according to a report from 2009, there may be somewhere around 55 Million.
One Harvard professor has estimated that, since the 1970s, the US may have produced
about a trillion pages of classified information - enough to equal 200 times the holdings of
the entire Library of Congress.