The U.K. government has a responsibility to keep secrets in some circumstances. It also has a responsibility not to abuse that power for other purposes.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
It is up to the government to keep the government's secrets.
There is a very intense culture of secrecy in Britain that hasn't yet been dismantled. What passes for transparency here would serve any secret society well.
We don't have an Official Secrets Act in the United States, as other countries do. Under the First Amendment, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of association are more important than protecting secrets.
People intrinsically know there are secrets being held from us. Look at WikiLeaks: There are secrets that are really true to the world.
But in the first Gulf war the United Kingdom was not under any threat from Iraq, and is still less so in the second one. Then there is no justification for obstructing freedom of information, particularly as nations have a right to know what their soldiers are being used for.
If Britain is going to investigate journalists as terrorists - take and destroy our documents, force us to give up passwords and answer questions - how can we be sure we can protect our sources?
If governments did not mislead their citizens so often, there would be less need for secrecy, and if leaders knew they could not rely on keeping the public in the dark about what they are doing, they would have a powerful incentive to behave better.
The U.S. government places considerable trust in those given access to classified information, and we are committed to prosecuting those who abuse that trust.
Politicians often claim secrecy is necessary for good governance or national security.
I believe good governments have nothing to hide. We want to ensure we maintain confidence in our public institutions.
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