JG Vibes
The CIA is blaming budget cuts on their new effort to close the department that releases declassified documents to the public
Motherboard reported that the Historical Collections Division is described on its website as “an important part of CIA’s ongoing effort to be more open and to provide for more public accountability.” It is a “voluntary declassification program that focuses on records of historical value,” including information on the Vietnam War, spy satellites, the Bay of Pigs and other historical scandals and operations.[1]
Multiple sources have reported that this office is closing, apparently due to sequestration cuts, while trillions are continually spent by the military industrial complex on empire building.
The CIA claims that the work of the Historical Collections Division will continue though. “As a result of sequestration, elements of one program office were moved into a larger unit to create efficiencies, but CIA will continue to perform this important work,” said Edward Price, a CIA spokesman.[2]
“This move is a true loss to the public,” said Mark Zaid, a Washington lawyer who frequently litigates against the CIA. He said the CIA office that handles Freedom of Information Act requests “is the most obstructionist and unfriendly of those I have dealt with during the last two decades.”
“This is very unfortunate,” said Robert Jervis, a Columbia University professor who chairs the CIA’s Historical Review Panel. “There will be fewer releases. We shouldn’t fool ourselves.”
Sources:
[1]The CIA Is Closing the Office That Declassifies Historical Documents– Motherboard
[2] CIA closes office that declassifies historical materials – LA Times
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JG Vibes is an Intellihub.com investigative journalist and staff writer. He is also the author of “Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance”, an 87 chapter e-book and is an artist with an established record label.
