Events of Interest: Spy Museum: Secrecy in a Free Society (April 14)
The International Spy Museum in Washington, DC will have an event: “America on a Need-to-Know Basis: Secrecy in a Free Society.” Tickets are $15 for nonmembers.
“Secrecy and deception will always create problems in a free society…” – former State Department intelligence chief Roger Hilsman, 1967
Government secrecy — necessary evil, essential protection, ready cover-up, or useful bureaucratic measure? Americans wrestle with the concept of government secrecy, but tend to find it more acceptable when they feel threatened. But how much secrecy is too much and when does classification become control without bounds? Moderator Shelby Coffey III, senior fellow of the Freedom Forum and former editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times, will engage a panel of experts in an exploration of these crucial questions. Join Thomas S. Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive; Peter Earnest, former chief of the CIA office responsible for FOIA, privacy, and litigation issues in the clandestine service; Ronald Goldfarb, author of In Confidence: When to Protect Secrecy and When to Require Disclosure; and Mike Levin, former chief of information policy at the National Security Agency; for a lively exchange of views on the inherent tension between the public’s right to knowledge and the government’s duty to safeguard vital national security information.
Date: April 14, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Location: International Spy Museum; 800 F. Street NW; Washington, DC
For more information: http://tinyurl.com/db9n9o
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