On Jan. 24, 2003, a new law enforcement and investigatory agency whose duties include functions taken from as many as 22 other federal agencies came into existence. The reorganization of these operations reportedly marks the biggest government bureaucratic shake-up since the creation of the Department of Defense half a century ago.
Even before the new Department of Homeland Security opened its doors, controversies arose over not just how it would operate and exercise its powers, but what level of access to information it would allow, and how it would respond to news media requests. Will new exemptions be carved out of the FOI Act, either by law or by practice? Will officials and agents feel free to tap phones of journalists, or subpoena their records during investigations? Will the new director consider procedural safeguards, like those adopted years ago by the Department of Justice, to ensure that freedom of the press will not be denied? And will those practices be followed?

But "homeland" security is not the only concern for journalists covering anti-terrorism initiatives; military actions abroad often present a greater challenge, as questions over disclosure of information, access to troops, and restraints on reporting seem to resurface anew with each conflict.

Questions and issues like these led the Reporters Committee to launch this "weblog," so that there will be a centralized site on the Internet for journalists who want to follow these issues and pass along information they learn while covering — or worse, being covered by — the new department and other anti-terrorism actions. Please submit comments and pass along tips to make this project as useful, thorough and up-to-date as possible.

A few words about what this project will not do. We do not intend to cover many of the issues that will undoubtedly come up as the Department takes shape, even if those issues are the ones generating headlines. We will cover information access and free press issues, but will not follow debates over many civil liberties issues that, while important, are outside of our domain.

Funding for the launch of this site was provided by The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation.

Apr. 30, 2003

GOVERNMENT USING "SLEIGHT OF HAND" TO CLOSE MOUSSAOUI PROCEEDINGS. Eleven media organizations organizations contend the government is using "sleight of hand" to keep proceedings secret in a dispute over terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui's access to an al-Qaida prisoner. The brief filed Tuesday in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by the group, which includes the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, contends the public's right to attend hearings and view the court record is not eliminated by a law guiding use of classified information in court proceedings. — Posted at 11:18 am

Apr. 29, 2003

ANOTHER SECRET MATERIAL WITNESS BECOMES A DEFENDANT. Maher "Mike" Hawash, the Intel engineer who was detained last month as a material witness with no public disclosure about why he was being held, was yesterday charged with conspiring to aid Al-Qaida and the Taliban. His criminal arraignment was to be conducted in open court, in contrast to all other proceedings in the case so far. According to The New York Times, Hawash was charged with one count of conspiring to levy war and two counts of conspiring to provide material support to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The government alleged Hawash collaborated with a group of six Portland residents arrested on terrorism charges last year, and tried to enter Afghanistan with them in October 2001 after meeting up with them in Hong Kong. The case highlighted the government's controversial practice of using the "material witness" detention statutes to hold suspects without charges while prosecutors prepare a case against them, as they did earlier with James Ujaama. "It now seems clear they used it as a form of preventative detention while they were taking their sweet time getting their ducks in a row," David Fidanque, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, told the San Jose Mercury News. "It seems clear he was a suspect at the time he was held as a material witness. If they had probable cause to indict him, they should have indicted him at the time." The hearing at which prosecutors presented an affidavit detailing the conspiracy allegations had been requested by The Oregonian, the newspaper reported, after it challenged the secrecy of Hawash's arrest and confinement. The charges were announced one day before a federal judge had scheduled a hearing on whether Hawash could still be held as a material witness. — Posted at 6:00 pm

SECRET CEASE-FIRE. American forces in Iraq signed a cease-fire with an Iranian opposition group on April 15, The New York Times reported, but the military did not disclose that fact until today. The group, known as the People's Mujahadeen, has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, but under the agreement, "United States forces agreed not to damage any of the group's vehicles, equipment or any of its property in its camps in Iraq, and not to commit any hostile act toward the Iranian opposition forces covered by the agreement," according to the report. The Times also noted that "as recently as April 22, the Central Command spokesman in Doha, Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, declined to say whether a cease-fire with the People's Mujahadeen ... had been signed." — Posted at 4:52 pm

MORE EMBEDDING NEWS. Just when everyone thought news about the embedded reporters in Iraq must have run out, reporter Brett Lieberman of the Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa., was forced to leave his position with the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines and sent out of the country, according to his newspaper. The commanding officer reportedly decided that Lieberman's April 25 story describing the unit's mission of patrolling Nasiriyah revealed too much operational detail. The reporter was sent out over the weekend without a chance to appeal the decision up the chain of command, although most Pentagon offices were closed anyway. — Posted at 3:21 pm

Apr. 28, 2003

RIFT OVER ACCESS. The Associated Press reported over the weekend on a newly exposed rift among members of the independent commission examining the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. One member "criticized the panel's leaders for not demanding immediate and total access to documents compiled during a congressional inquiry on the terrorist attacks," according to the account. — Posted at 6:12 pm

GREATER SNOOPING THROUGH EAGER DATABASE PROVIDERS. Declan McCullagh's politech list discusses database company Sybase's extensive efforts to allow database administrators to better enforce the USA PATRIOT Act's snooping provisions "by implementing an automated process for continuous monitoring that is operationally unobtrusive, secure and cost effective." All transactions can be cross-checked against a wide variety of government databases. — Posted at 5:00 pm

EPA GAGS EMPLOYEES ON ROCKET FUEL. Peter Waldman of The Wall Street Journal reported today that the Environmental Protection Agency today ordered employees not to discuss pollution from perchlorate, a rocket-fuel component which may be contaminating drinking water and produce, pending the outcome of a review of EPA findings by the National Academy of Sciences. The White House's recommended National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 in Section 316 would excuse industries that need to concentrate on military readiness from compliance with some environmental laws, thus allowing continued perchlorate seepage. Three congressman have challenged the necessity for that measure in a March 6 letter. Sen. Barbara Boxer on April 8 introduced a bill to limit perchlorate seepage into groundwaters. The EPA gag order came as newspapers reported that a laboratory test of lettuce purchased at Northern California supermarkets showed substantial quantities of perchlorate. The study by Texas Tech University was funded by the Washington, D.C.,-based Environmental Working Group. In March 2002 EPA issued a risk analysis of perchlorate that has been challenged by the Department of Defense. — Posted at 3:54 pm

WERE READERS AND VIEWERS WELL SERVED BY WAR COVERAGE? Twelve journalists, of perhaps 1,500 in the Iraqi war zone, died in three weeks, a far higher casualty rate than that suffered by U.S. forces. Now that the shooting is over, Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz says these questions hang in the air: What did the media accomplish during the most intensively and instantaneously covered war in history? Did the presence of all those journalists capture the harsh realities of war or simply breed a new generation of Scud studs? Were readers and viewers well served or deluged with confusing information? And what does it portend for coverage of future wars? — Posted at 11:04 am

Apr. 25, 2003

GAO ENCOURAGES BETTER ANTHRAX NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES. Full, immediate, proactive disclosure time of anthrax information is the best method for communicating with employees and others, the General Accounting Office found in a study released this month. The U.S. Postal Service's decision not to tell its employees at the Wallingford, Conn., facility about quantitative anthrax study results until nine months after the study, demonstrates a need for new federal guidelines, the GAO wrote. Numerous lessons can be learned from the experience, GAO wrote, "such as the need for more complete and timely information to workers to maintain trust and credibility and to help ensure that workers have essential information for making informed health decisions." Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) asked GAO to conduct the study after the employees' union at Wallingford was unsuccessful in gaining timely results of the study conducted in December 2001. The union sought results in January and February 2002 but did not get access to them until September 2002. GAO said the decision not to immediately release quantitative test results was understandable, given the challenging circumstances of the time, advice from public health officials, an ongoing criminal investigation, and uncertainties about the sampling methods used. But the failure to disclose the information at the union's request violated guidelines of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which noted in a letter to the Postal Service that "failure to effectively communicate issues which can have an effect on a worker's health and safety can lead to fear and mistrust." GAO recommended that all federal agencies working on hazardous substance issues revise guidelines to require prompt communication. The anthrax scare, in the wake of the events of September 11, resulted in 23 cases of the disease, 5 deaths and the contamination of numerous postal facilities. There were no deaths at the Wallingford facility but it did test positive for anthrax. — Posted at 6:18 pm

JUSTICE GAGS EMPLOYEES. The New York Times reports today that the Justice Department has directed its employees "to clear any contacts with Congress with its Congressional liaison office" According to the Times report, the March 27 directive told officials to inform the Office of Legislative Affairs "ahead of time and as soon as possible -- of all potential briefings on Capitol Hill and significant, substantive conversations with staff and members on Capitol Hill." Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has called the order ""an attempt to muzzle whistle-blowers." — Posted at 6:05 pm

POWELL DEFENDS PALESTINE HOTEL ATTACK. The New York Times reports today that Secretary of State Colin Powell "has written to Spain's foreign minister defending the decision by U.S. troops to open fire on a hotel in Baghdad used as a base for foreign journalists." On April 8, two journalists were killed, a Spanish television network cameraman and a Ukrainian cameraman working for Reuters, and four others were injured when a U.S. tank fired on the Palestine Hotel. "Our review of the April 8 incident indicates that the use of force was justified and the amount of force was proportionate to the threat against United States forces," Powell's April 21 letter said. — Posted at 5:18 pm

A "GLOBAL SHOW OF AMERICAN POWER AND DEMOCRACY"? ABC News is reporting that administration officials now admit that emphasizing the issue of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction was done to gain the legal justification for war and to stress the danger at home to Americans, while the real purpose of the war was "a global show of American power and democracy." "We were not lying," one official told ABC News. "But it was just a matter of emphasis." — Posted at 4:58 pm

Apr. 24, 2003

MOUSSAOUI SECRECY LIFTED -- SLIGHTLY. A little light was shed this week on the appeal of Zacarias Moussaoui, who is fighting the government's attempt to overturn a judge's decision allowing him to interview another accused terrorist. While all documents in the Fourth Circuit appeal are still filed under seal, and the court has yet to address a news media petition for access, prosecutors did release a redacted version of their opening brief. The redacted brief was released in response to a request from Moussaoui to see it (he's not allowed to see it because of classified information; his lawyers can -- but he's not working with them). According to a Minneapolis Star Tribune report on the brief, prosecutors criticized the trial judge's "inexpert assessment of the impact" of allowing the deposition, and said she had "commandeered partial operational control over an intelligence mission." The New York Times reported that the department argued, "By seeking access to depose high-ranking Al Qaeda leaders captured abroad, defendants could be guaranteed that they would either hobble interrogation efforts directed at their comrades overseas or ensure the abandonment of prosecutions against themselves." The case docket lists the titles of all the sealed documents filed. Usually, an appellee simply files a "Brief of Appellee," but Moussaoui's documents include titles such as "ASHCROFT POLITICAL SENSURE OF THE TRUTH," "MOHAMMED ALIBI TESTIMONY DESTROY THE NEW ASHCROFT 5TH PLANES THEORY", and "5TH PLANE MUST LAND ON MOUSSAOUI RUNAWAY." — Posted at 5:23 pm

Apr. 23, 2003

ACLU SUES OVER SECRETIVE "NO-FLY" LISTS. Because the government has refused to disclose "even basic" information on how the government compiles its "no-fly" transportation watch lists, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal district court April 22 in San Francisco seeking immediate disclosure of records requested through FOI requests. According to a press release by the ACLU chapter, the lawsuit is filed on behalf of two peace activists and co-publishers of War Times, a newspaper that first began publication after September 11, 2001. They were told that their names appear on the list and were held up at San Francisco International Airport. They expressed "deep concerns" at the secret lists and the lack of government accountability for them. — Posted at 5:49 pm

EMERGENCY DETAILS WITHHELD. Colorado Governor Bill Owens on Tuesday refused to publicly release details of the state's plan to fight terrorism and respond to emergencies, citing security concerns, according to the Associated Press. The Governor's office said that the records are exempt under an open records law exemption, which allows authorities to withhold criminal justice records they believe are necessary to protect the public. — Posted at 4:46 pm

Apr. 22, 2003

SOME MOUSSAOUI DOCUMENTS CAN BE UNSEALED. In response to requests from several major news organizations and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Justice Department said Monday that much of the now-secret court record in the case against Zacarias Moussaoui could be made public. But the New York Times reports that the Justice Department urged the trial judge to keep a handful of documents under seal because they "disclose confidential, sensitive details about the foreign relations of the United States." Moussaoui is the only person charged in an American court with conspiring in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. — Posted at 10:27 am

Apr. 21, 2003

THE COVERAGE CONTROVERSY CONTINUES. The question of whether embedding reporters with troops was a good thing for the notion of an independent news media may never be settled (although all seem to agree that it served the military well), but most commentators found it a success. Jim Romanesko's column at Poynteronline links to a collection of stories on embedding, including a Portland Oregonian columnist who says, "In my opinion, most of the mainstream media coverage of Iraq consists of stenography for the Pentagon -- not the balanced and accurate reporting necessary in a democracy." But an AP television writer and a San Francisco Chronicle columnist praise the success of the embedding program. Meanwhile, an article in Sunday's New York Times explored whether television's coverage of the war in Iraq was successful or incomplete. Some criticism of the coverage, the article reported, came from Pentagon officials. "You have the Pentagon flaying the media, saying it's unpatriotic to ask questions," said NBC Nightly News executive producer Steve Capus. "I consider myself a patriot. But when there are questions to be asked, I'm going to ask them." Another article in the paper examined the Bush administration's effort to spin news on the war in Iraq, and labelled it a resounding success. A key factor was "the powerful cinema verite journalism of reporters and photographers, whose words and pictures humanized the American soldiers." Marvin Kalb, senior fellow at the Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard, told the Times that the Pentagon's embedding program "served the Bush administration by providing more sympathetic coverage, by being understanding of the soldiers and therefore of that slice of war that each reporter saw." — Posted at 4:19 pm

LIBRARIANS WARNING PATRONS. Librarians across the country are shredding records, posting warning signs and handing out leaflets to warn patrons that what they read may no longer be private, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Under the USA Patriot Act, federal law-enforcement officials seeking to seize library records and hard drives, or to trace e-mail, no longer have to go to open court and show probable cause. They may go to a secret court to get a judge's order. They need only certify that what they are requesting is relevant to a foreign-intelligence investigation. — Posted at 2:04 pm

EMBEDDING PROGRAM A "MASTERSTROKE." In a Sunday column, Star Tribune Editor Anders Gyllenhaal described the Pentagon's embedding program as a "masterstroke." Gyllenhaal, also a former freedom of information committee chairman for the American Society of Newspaper Editors, said, "Not only did the coverage serve the American people, providing a full and detailed portrait of war that only comes from firsthand observation. It also did justice to the military rank and file, who haven't been portrayed on the front line in such depth since World War II." The coverage also served the rest of the world, he said. War news delivered from a lectern would not have been well received in the many places where skepticism toward the United States runs high. Instead, the U.S. put its commitment to a free and unfettered press on the line at a time when much was at stake. "We should not forget how effective this simple approach can be," he wrote. — Posted at 11:44 am

CITIES DEFY THE USA PATRIOT ACT. Arcata, Calif., (pop.: 16,000) has become the first city in the nation to pass an ordinance that outlaws voluntary compliance with the USA Patriot Act because it violates the civil liberties of citizens. The Arcata ordinance may be the first, but it may not be the last, according to The Washington Post. Across the country, citizens have been forming Bill of Rights defense committees to fight what they consider the most egregious curbs on liberties contained in the Patriot Act. The 342-page act, passed by Congress one month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with little input from a public still in shock, has been most publicly criticized by librarians and bookstore owners for the provisions that force them to secretly hand over information about a patron's reading and Internet habits. (RCFP note: The Justice Department has said the same provision that allows law enforcement officials to search bookstores and libraries applies to newsrooms.) — Posted by Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director, 11:03 am

Apr. 18, 2003

COURT SCOLDS GOVERNMENT LAWYER. A government lawyer for Vice President Cheney received a scolding Thursday from a panel of federal appeals judges over the Bush administration's use of an unusual legal maneuver to avoid disclosing information about Cheney's energy policy task force. Arguing for Cheney, Justice Department lawyer Gregory G. Katsas said that the appellate court should intervene to halt a district court effort to force Cheney to release records about the task force. But Judge Harry T. Edwards said it was hard to see why the case merited preemptive action. "There's not one single case anywhere that supports what you're asking," Edwards told Katsas. The Washington Post reports that the spirited scene at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington was the latest development in a two-year effort by public-interest groups and Congress to obtain information such as who attended those meetings and for what purpose. — Posted at 5:30 pm

RUMMY DISAPPOINTED WITH RETIRED GENERALS, IMPRESSED WITH EMBEDS. At a "town hall" meeting with Pentagon employees this week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld criticized "retired military officers" who opined on television and in the newspapers during the war in Iraq. On the other hand, according to the Washington Post, Rumsfeld strongly endorsed the reports that came from the hundreds of journalists "embedded" with units fighting the war. "The American people were able to see slices of what took place," he said. "They could see accurate presentations and representations and written accounts of what the men and women in uniform were doing." — Posted at 3:25 pm

EXAMINING IRAQ CONTRACTS. Comptroller General David Walker said Thursday that the General Accounting Office will launch a broad-scale probe into methods and secrecy that surrounds awarding of contracts to rebuild Iraq. Walker announced the plan during an interview with National Journal and CongressDaily reporters Thursday. According to a report by CongressDaily, "Walker said his agency's probe will be wider than an internal inspector general investigation under way by the U.S. Agency For International Development, which has come under fire from members of Congress." — Posted at 12:42 pm

DOCTOR COMPLAINS ABOUT OFFICIAL RESCUE STORY. An Iraqi doctor who treated Private Jessica Lynch complained to a reporter for The Times of London that the videotape of her rescue shown to the media omitted scenes where four doctors and two civilian patients -- one still connected to an IV drip -- were handcuffed and interrogated. "They were doctors, with stethoscopes round their necks," Dr Harith al-Houssona said. "Even in war, a doctor should not be treated like that." Harith alleged that the rescue in al-Nasiriyah met with no resistance and terrified unarmed doctors and patients who were struggling to save Lynch's life. "They said that there was no medical care in Iraq, and that there was a very strong defence of this hospital. But there was no one here apart from doctors and patients, and there was nobody to fire at them." He added that he had earlier ordered an ambulance driver to take Lynch to an American post outside the city, but the driver turned back when he was fired upon by American forces. — Posted at 10:37 am

Apr. 17, 2003

THE SECRETS EASON JORDAN KEPT, CONT'D. The Poynter Institute's Bob Steele says the ethical controversy raised by CNN news chief Eason Jordan's New York Times column last week, is "a journalism ethics case that will go in the books. It's an example of moral complexity with multiple dilemmas that defy simple answers." Jeff Jacoby writes in today's Boston Globe that "News organizations boast that they cover even the toughest beats without fear or favor. Sometimes it's true. But sometimes journalists choose to censor themselves instead - to toe a vicious regime's line, to soft-pedal its ruthlessness. They may do it to save their skin or to ingratiate themselves with the dictator or to protect the bragging rights that come with access to a big story. Whatever the excuse, the results are the same: The public is cheated, the news is corrupted, and a despot is strengthened." Dante Chinni writes in today's Christian Science Monitor: "The question in Jordan's case then is not whether CNN should have withheld information to save lives, but rather whether their reporting adequately explained that picture of Iraq to the public during the past 12 years. That's probably only a question CNN itself or a severely sleep-deprived news junkie can answer." — Posted by Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director, 3:16 pm

SECRECY ENVELOPING EXECUTIVE BRANCH. A mantle of secrecy continues to envelop the executive branch, largely with the acquiescence of Congress and the courts, in the 18 months since the September 11 attacks, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights says in a new report called "Imbalance of Powers." The administration's insistence on secrecy makes effective oversight impossible, upsetting the constitutional system of checks and balances at a time when the executive branch is accruing vast new powers. "The constitutional ideal of separation of powers has been severely undermined over the last 18 months," said Michael Posner, executive director of the committee. "In the last six months in particular, the executive branch has taken a series of measures to consolidate its authority and these actions have, in some cases, prevented Congress and the courts from playing their safeguarding roles. In other cases, Congress and the judiciary have been too submissive or deferential." — Posted at 2:45 pm

Apr. 16, 2003

PATRIOT ACT FACING RESISTANCE FROM POWERFUL REPUBLICAN. The Bush administration's plans to expand the USA Patriot Act is facing resistance from a powerful House Republican who says he's not even sure he wants the government to keep its new powers. House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin complains that the Justice Department isn't sharing enough information for lawmakers to make a judgment on how well or poorly the USA Patriot Act is working. "I can't answer that because the Justice Department has classified as top-secret most of what it's doing under the Patriot Act," Sensenbrenner told the Associated Press. — Posted at 5:50 pm

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUED FOR DOCUMENTS. Immigrant advocates and civil rights groups sued the Justice Department Monday for documents explaining the extent state and local police are to enforce noncriminal immigration laws. The suit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, comes after the advocates and groups tried to obtain the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request, according to Newsday. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel concluded that local law enforcement authorities had the right to make arrests for civil violations of federal immigration laws, such as the overstaying of visas. That reversed a 1996 Justice Department decision that precluded local police from doing so. — Posted at 5:43 pm

MOUSSAOUI COMPROMISE SOUGHT. A federal appeals court on Tuesday gave the government a chance to reconsider its refusal to allow Zacarias Moussaoui access to a key al Qaeda detainee, seeking a middle ground that could allow the trial of the only person charged in the United States in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to proceed. The Washington Post reports that the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government should be allowed to propose alternatives, known as substitutions, to a January trial court order that allowed Moussaoui's attorneys to interview Ramzi Binalshibh, the self-described planner of the Sept. 11 attacks. Moussaoui had sought to question Binalshibh, arguing that the al Qaeda operative could help his defense. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema agreed and, in a sealed order, told the government to allow Moussaoui's attorneys access to Binalshibh. The government objected and appealed to the 4th Circuit. Yesterday, the 4th Circuit sent the case back to Brinkema's court in Alexandria with the hope that the two sides could find an alternative and the much-delayed, high-profile trial could go forward. Meanwhile, the Star Tribune's Washington bureau reported Wednesday that federal prosecutors are operating on the theory that Moussaoui had been training to pilot a fifth airliner into the White House. — Posted at 4:11 pm

RATHER ON LOOTING. Asked by Larry King in an interview earlier this week about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's complaint that the media has given an exaggerated picture of looting and lawlessness in Iraq, activities that the secretary attributed to "exuberance," CBS News anchor Dan Rather, reporting from Iraq, said that had the secretary been there he "might have worded that at least in a different way." Noting that "It's not a time to argue," Rather said that "as a reporter, I can simply say that I don't --I've never seen anything like the looting here. I don't think anybody else has seen anything like the looting here." Rather said, though, that "the secretary has a lot to talk about, and he probably would want to take back that word himself, if he had a chance to do so." In the interview, Rather said he thought that the embed experiment turned out very well, despite his initial skepticism that government would talk about letting the embeds have access and then not let them. "I was wrong," Rather said, "because they did." It wasn't perfect, Rather said, but "there's a lot to applaud." — Posted at 1:05 pm

Apr. 15, 2003

MARINES SEARCH PALESTINE HOTEL, JOURNALISTS' ROOMS. The Associated Press reported that U.S. Marines, apparently looking for Fedayeen paramilitary fighters early Tuesday, searched rooms in the Palestine Hotel, where most foreign journalists in Baghdad are staying. "The raids hit the 16th and 17th floors, where journalists with CNN, Turkish TV, Japanese TV and other networks were staying. . . . The Marines had keys to the rooms, but in cases where the doors were bolted, they kicked them down, rousting journalists from their beds and pointing M-16s in their faces . . . A CNN producer, Linda Roth, said she opened her door to find armed Marines, who ordered her to get down while they searched the room without explanation." — Posted at 6:20 pm

NO PLANS TO COUNT IRAQI DEAD. Pentagon officials announced they do not plan to determine how many Iraqi civilians were killed in fighting during the war, even as Congress indicated that the military should help in the effort to identify and assist the families of those Iraqi civilians who were killed or injured, according to a Washington Post account. — Posted at 6:16 pm

DHS PROPOSES CII RULES. Proposed rules issued today by the Department of Homeland Security broaden the scope of the Homeland Security Act's protections for critical infrastructure information. The proposals would implement widely criticized secrecy provisions mandated by the act. To convince businesses to share information about vulnerabilities in the infrastructure that could be exploited by terrorists, the new law assures that the information will be kept confidential. It provides for criminal penalties for and removal from office of anyone who leaks the information. Although the act applies only to information submitted to the Department of Homeland Security, the proposed rules significantly expand its scope and require that other federal agencies pass on to DHS critical infrastructure information they receive from submitters outside the government. When the Homeland Security Act was before Congress, a House amendment to extend CII protection government-wide was rejected by a recorded vote of 195-233. That measure did not include any other issues. The Federal Register notice of the proposed rules states that the Department will rely upon the discretion of the submitter as to whether the information it provides meets the definition of critical infrastructure information set out in the act. It is to the submitter's advantage to have a determination that the submissions really involve critical infrastructure information. If there is any wrongdoing involved, the submitter may enjoy immunity from prosecution under the terms of the act. — Posted by Rebecca Daugherty, FOI Service Center Director, 6:01 pm

ROBBINS SAYS IT'S TIME TO GET ANGRY. Actor and activist Tim Robbins on Tuesday challenged the news media and political leaders to stand up to efforts by the Bush Administration to restrict civil liberties and discourage protest. "When people all over the country fear reprisal if they use their right to free speech, it is time to get angry," said Robbins in a speech at the National Press Club. "The journalists in this country can battle back at those who would rewrite our Constitution in Patriot Act II -- or Patriot, The Sequel, as we would call it in Hollywood. We are counting on you to star in that movie." Robbins said his close family members have been threatened because of his antiwar statements and those of his partner actress Susan Sarandon. The Baseball Hall of Fame canceled an event celebrating the 15th anniversary of the movie Bull Durham because of their antiwar stance. And other entertainers have told Robbins they feel intimidated from speaking out because they fear reprisals from Clear Channel radio network and other media companies. "A chill wind is blowing in this nation," Robbins said. Joining Robbins at the press club was Tom Andrews, national director of Win Without War. — Posted by Tony Mauro, Steering Committee member, 6:00 pm

BREYER SAYS THE CONSTITUTION MATTERS. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer Monday told members of New York's bar that lawyers and judges must ensure that civil liberties are protected in the government's efforts to prevent terrorist attacks. The Associated Press reports that in remarks prepared for delivery before the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Breyer said, "The Constitution always matters, perhaps particularly so in times of emergency." — Posted at 11:14 am

JUSTICE SAYS SECRECY FEARS "UNFOUNDED." The Justice Department told a federal judge in Alexandria, Va., Monday that it is confident it can prosecute Zacarias Moussaoui at a public trial, saying that concerns about excessive secrecy are "premature and therefore unfounded." The Washington Post's Jerry Markon reports that prosecutors defended their continuing need to classify intelligence and other pretrial data, saying that in the war against al Qaeda, "the national interest dictates great care in the handling of this sensitive and life-saving information." Judge Leonie Brinkema had recently issued an order in which she questioned Moussaoui's ability to get a fair trial due to the government's secrecy efforts. — Posted at 11:04 am

SEATTLE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO AIDING THE TALIBAN. A Muslim convert admitted in federal court in Seattle yesterday that he conspired to aid the deposed Taliban government in Afghanistan, part of a deal with prosecutors that could lead to criminal charges against a radical London cleric linked to al Qaeda. The Seattle Times and The Washington Post reported Tuesday that James Ujaama, 36, who was charged last August with attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon, said that he sought to provide "jihad fighters, currency, computers, software, computer disks and other items" to the Taliban. Ujaama, a well-known African American activist in Seattle, originally was held as a material witness to terrorist activities. While Ujaama was held as a material witness, news media around the country wanted to tell the public why he was being held. Particularly interested were media in Denver, where he was arrested in July, and in Seattle, where he was a Muslim activist. But media efforts to gain access to Ujaama's hearings and proceedings were thwarted by the courts. — Posted at 10:50 am

CNN CONTROVERSY CONTINUES. CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan on Monday sent a memo to his staff defending his decision to withhold information about how Saddam Hussein's regime had intimidated, tortured and killed Iraqis who had helped the cable news network over the years. "Withholding information that would get innocent people killed was the right thing to do, not a journalistic sin," Jordan said in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post's Lisa de Moraes. Jordan appeared on CNN and wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times last week that described his efforts to negotiate for access to Iraq with Saddam Hussein's regime over more than a decade. Meanwhile, an editorial in Tuesday's Washington Post said Jordan's decision "is especially worrying because of CNN's special position in the Middle East. In the past, the network has been watched avidly in the region, and nowhere more so than in Baghdad. It is widely perceived around the world as a voice of the United States. If CNN did not fully disclose what it knew about the Baathist regime, and if CNN deliberately kept its coverage bland and inoffensive, that would help explain why the regime was not perceived to be as ruthless as it in fact was, in the Arab world and elsewhere. — Posted by Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director, 10:31 am

Apr. 14, 2003

MEDIA GROUPS SEEK ACCESS TO SECRET MOUSSAOUI PROCEEDINGS. Eleven media organizations, including the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, asked a federal appeals court Friday to allow open oral arguments and to release documents in the case against alleged terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, accused in the Sept. 11 attacks. The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has kept most documents secret and scheduled a closed May 6 hearing as it considers the government's appeal of a trial judge's order. Prosecutors objected when the lower court ruled secretly that Moussaoui could have access to an Al Qaeda prisoner to help his defense. — Posted at 10:16 am

Apr. 11, 2003

THE "UNEMBEDDING" BEGINS. Many journalists seem to be "unembedding" from troops in Baghdad so they can report more freely, but the military isn't happy with the decisions. CNN reporters said on air Thursday night that military personnel even gave them an escort to the Palestine Hotel, where much of the foreign press has stayed, and The New York Times reported that journalists with ABC, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post have broken their links with the military. "We would really rather they not do this," Maj. Tim Blair, the Army officer in charge of the embedding program, told the Times. — Posted at 6:38 pm

MEDIA CAMPAIGN DESIGNED TO WIN OVER IRAQIS. American and British forces are undertaking a media campaign to win over Iraqis, according to a New York Times report. President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared yesterday on Iraqi airwaves recently seized by allied forces. Administration officials also plan to broadcast American network newscasts to Iraq, including nightly news shows produced by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS. CNN reportedly declined to provide programming, saying in a statement that it would be inappropriate for an independent news organization to participate in a transmission sponsored by the U.S. government. — Posted at 3:22 pm

GARNER KNOWN FOR SECRETIVENESS. Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs' profile of Jay Garner, the retired three-star general charged with the reconstruction of Iraq, notes that although Garner won "high marks" for a very successful humanitarian relief operation in northern Iraq after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, his current mission has "stirred controversy," particularly in the Arab world, because of ties to Israel and the "mystery and secretiveness" surrounding his operation. Dobbs notes in his April 10 piece that the Pentagon has referred questions about Garner to the White House but that neither the administration nor a spokesman for Garner, who is currently in Kuwait, have returned phone calls. A news conference scheduled for April 7 in Kuwait was cancelled without explanation. — Posted at 3:14 pm

CNN CHIEF WITHHELD STORIES. CNN's chief news executive, Eason Jordan, wrote in a New York Times op-ed today of horrifying stories from Iraq that the network refrained from reporting for fear of retaliation from Iraqi officials. Jordan visited Iraq 13 times over the last 12 years. He said over that time, CNN learned of numerous incidents of torture and planned assassinations that were never reported. CNN employees and sources in Iraq suffered torture and murder themselves, simply for being affiliated with Western media. — Posted at 3:08 pm

Apr. 10, 2003

STONEWALLING SECURITY. House National Security Subcommittee Chairman Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) has been unable to obtain an Energy Department report titled "Design Basis Threat" (DBT), which details how the Department of Energy assesses potential terrorist attacks on U.S. nuclear facilities and which he describes as the "single most important document in determining the Department[of Energy]'s future safeguards and security requirements." Project on Government Oversight Director Danielle Brian examines roadblocks to Congressional examination of the government's counterterrorism measures in "Stonewalling Security," published on TomPaine.com. — Posted at 4:59 pm

MOUSSAOUI EXCLUDED FROM APPEALS HEARING. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will not allow Zacarias Moussaoui to argue in person that he should have access to al-Qaida prisoners, who potentially could help his defense against charges that he conspired with the Sept. 11 hijackers. The Associated Press reports that the appeals court has ordered the May 6 hearing closed because classified information will be discussed. The court issued a one-page order Wednesday denying Moussaoui's request to appear in person at the hearing. — Posted at 3:30 pm

TRANSCRIPT OF CHENEY SPEECH. Answering questions from the audience following his speech yesterday to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in New Orleans, Vice President Dick Cheney denied that the Bush Administration is a foe of government openness. — Posted at 2:54 pm

LIBRARIANS ON THE RAMPAGE. Across the country, librarians are rising up in anger and rallying against a law the Justice Department calls one of its most important new tools to help catch terrorists before they strike, according to The Washington Post. The USA Patriot Act, swiftly approved by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, gives federal investigators greater authority to examine all book and computer records at libraries. The law requires investigators to get a search warrant from a federal court before seizing library records, but those proceedings are secret and not subject to appeal. It also forbids libraries from informing patrons that their reading or computer habits are being monitored by the government. Meanwhile, Ohio librarians report that Department of Homeland Security agents are posing as library patrons and removing local hazardous materials emergency plans from public libraries. The officials remove the materials and substitute a letter stating that the haz-mat manuals will be "available for public inspection" at local Homeland Security Offices, although "proper ID may be required" to access them. — Posted at 2:30 pm

DETAILS MISSING ABOUT COALITION AIRSTRIKES. Author Stephen Budiansky writes in The Washington Post that U.S. military officials "have provided only minimal details about coalition airstrikes so far" resulting in a misleading focus on the strategic targeting of Baghdad. In a column published April 6, he says a few dozen bombs fall on government buildings in Baghdad each night but coalition aircraft fly more than 1,000 sorties a day primarily targeting the Republican Guard and other Iraqi forces. — Posted at 1:24 pm

WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM STILL UNANSWERED BY JUSTICE. The Senate Judiciary Committee reportedly still has not received a reply to its March 11 written question to Attorney General John Ashcroft about how the Department of Justice is dealing with whistleblower Jesselyn Radack, the former DOJ attorney who had revealed departmental misconduct in the questioning of John Walker Lindh and pointed out to superiors when evidence had not been turned over in preparation for Lindh's trial. The New Yorker had revealed in its March 10th issue that Radack's opinion on the impropriety of questioning Lindh without counsel obtained for him by his father had been disregarded by officials, and later email messages detailing the problem were never given to the federal court. The written questions from the committee asked Ashcroft for his take on the facts in the magazine article and asked, "Is Ms. Radack in fact now the target of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office? For what conduct is she being investigated?" — Posted at 12:48 pm

ONLY 'IDIOTS' BELIEVE JOURNALISTS WERE TARGETED? Editor & Publisher reports that Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed the suggestion that military forces targeted foreign journalists in Iraq. "The suggestion that somehow the United States would have somehow deliberately attacked journalists is absolutely false. With all the efforts we've taken so that journalists can report [the war] in real time, the idea that we would somehow deliberately attack journalists makes no sense at all. You'd have to be an idiot to believe that." On the deaths of journalists in the war zone: "We try to remind people, especially reporters, that if you go into a war zone, there are dangers. We try to minimize the risks as much as possible ... but unfortunately it's the sort of thing that happens in warfare." Cheney's comments echoed those made by Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke earlier: "I personally have probably had 300 individual conversations with news organizations and bureau chiefs and some individual correspondents. And the essence of every one of those is: war is a dangerous, dangerous business, and you're not safe when you're in a war zone," she said. — Posted at 11:37 am

Apr. 9, 2003

BILL WILL AMEND NO-BID PROCESS ON REBUILDING OF IRAQ. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee, plans to introduce a bill tomorrow to bring "much needed accountability and transparency" to the process of letting contracts for rebuilding Iraq, according to The Washington Post. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) plan to join in the bill although the three failed last week to get a similar provision attached to the president's supplemental war budget request. Wyden said in an interview with the Post about the $2.4 billion legislation, "To allow something like this to goforward with a significant number of no-bid, secret contracts does a disservice to taxpyers, does a disservice to businesses hungry for work and ultimately to national security." — Posted at 3:43 pm

RESOURCE ON MATERIAL WITNESS DETENTIONS. Journalists reporting on the secretive detention of Maher (Mike) Hawash should review the Material Witness section of our guide, "Secret Justice: Access to Terrorism Proceedings." The guide points out that most of the hearings, except the actual grand jury testimony, are traditional judicial proceedings that are presumptively open to the public. "But, as in any case, the judge may close the proceeding or seal records in some circumstances," the guide points out, and the judge in Hawash's case has done just that. What is unusual about this case is that the judge has apparently set a time limit -- April 29th -- for a material witness' detention. But, not surprisingly, that hearing will be closed to the public. — Posted by Gregg Leslie, Legal Defense Director, 10:51 am

Apr. 8, 2003

DEATHS OF JOURNALISTS PROMPT PROTESTS. The deaths today of more journalists in Baghdad prompted protests and allegations that the journalists were being targetted. A U.S. tank fired a round at the Palestine Hotel, where many foreign journalists are staying, and a U.S. bomb hit the building that houses the al-Jazeera correspondents. Cameramen from Reuters and a Spanish television network were killed in the hotel shelling, while the al-Jazeera strike killed a cameraman for the network. The military said that the decision to fire on the Palestine Hotel was made by a tactical commander on the ground, and that the journalists "bore some responsibility for their own deaths because they continued working in Baghdad even after U.S. officials warned them in the days leading up to the war they should pull out for their own safety", according to The Washington Post. The French group Reporters Without Borders accused the U.S. military of "deliberately firing at journalists," according to a press release issued by the group. The group's spokesman said that the evidence "does not match the US version of an attack in self-defence and we can only conclude that the US Army deliberately and without warning targeted journalists. US forces must prove that the incident was not a deliberate attack to dissuade or prevent journalists from continuing to report on what is happening in Baghdad," he said. Meanwhile, The World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum have asked President Bush in a letter to ensure that "a full and frank investigation" is carried out into the death of British journalist Terry Lloyd, who was apparently killed by coalition forces last week while traveling in a marked news media vehicle. — Posted at 5:18 pm

TRIBUNAL TIME IS NEARER. The New York Times reports that "After nearly 18 months of planning, the Pentagon is at last ready to put in place its system of military tribunals to try people captured in the war in Afghanistan, officials and lawyers outside the government say." The work of setting up and staffing the tribunals, which will be held at Guantanamo Bay, will be complete in the next few weeks, the paper reported. The report did not address issues of public and press access to the proceedings, which under standard military rules should be open. — Posted at 4:36 pm

LITTLE LIGHT SHED ON SECRET WITNESS DETENTION. The judge who authorized the detention of Maher Hawash, the Intel employee and U.S. citizen who is being held in prison as a material witness, yesterday released an order describing why the material witness hearing had been held in secret and stating that the U.S. should bring Hawash before a grand jury by April 25. The judge released the basic information about Hawash's "identity, status as a material witness [and] detention" because, "To withhold that information could create public perception that an unindicted member of the community has been arrested and secretly imprisoned by the government." Yet the judge, citing the requirement of grand jury confidentiality, did not describe any of the underlying facts in the case that were used to justify holding Hawash indefinitely, including in what investigation he is a witness. Under the material witness law, a party (here, the government) must demonstrate by affidavit that the testimony is "material in a criminal proceeding" and that it "may become impracticable to secure the presence of the person by subpoena." — Posted at 3:12 pm

Apr. 7, 2003

ACCURACY OF COMMUNICATIONS REPORTS QUESTIONED. The Chicago Tribune reports that critics are questioning the truthfulness of President Bush's new Office of Global Communications, which the reporter says exists to "issue daily scripts on the Iraq war to U.S. spokesmen around the world, auditioning generals to give media briefings and booking administration stars on foreign news shows." It cites anecdotes which are frequently repeated by administration spokesman but for which no supporting details or other information has been found. The newspaper reports: "One oft-repeated anecdote, for example, concerned an Iraqi woman who ostensibly waved at a U.S. military unit. When the unit returned to the area, the story goes, it found the woman hanged from a lamppost. Yet U.S. officials never specified where that happened or gave any further details, and they declined to say how they know about it beyond citing 'intelligence reports.'" — Posted at 5:42 pm

AL JAZEERA BAN LIFTED The Al Jazeera network resumed coverage from Iraq Friday after the Iraqi government ended its ban on the network's two correspondents in Baghdad. The network had refused to cover the war while its correspondents were barred. The Iraqi government gave no reason for lifting the ban. — Posted at 4:08 pm

WAR CORRESPONDENTS OVER TIME A report in Sunday's New York Times provides a history of the difficulties and perils of being a war correspondent in each of the wars in which the United States has participated. "Since the secretary of war began handing out press releases to correspondents during the Civil War, the United States government has tried to manipulate the news," writes Julie Salamon. Each war, including the current one in Iraq, has seen different levels of access for reporters who risk their lives to cover them. — Posted at 3:28 pm

Apr. 6, 2003

NBC REPORTER DAVID BLOOM DIES IN IRAQ NBC reporter David Bloom, 39, died of a pulmonary embolism while covering the war in Iraq. Bloom had given up his position as co-anchor of the weekend Today show to cover the war. — Posted at 3:30 pm

BREYER PREDICTS COURT WILL SOON TAKE TERRORISM CASES Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer said Friday the court will soon face difficult cases that ask whether the government has gone too far in the war on terrorism, according to the Associated Press. "We know that terrorism is a problem. We also know we live in a country that wants to protect basic civil liberties," Breyer told the American Society of International Law in Washington. — Posted at 3:24 pm

PORTLAND MAN HELD AS MATERIAL WITNESS An Intel Corp. software engineer who was born in Nablus on the West Bank and is a 15-year U.S. citizen who lives near Portland, Ore., is being held as a material witness in a federal terror prosecution, The Washington Post reported Saturday. The Justice Department said it would release no information about Maher Hawash. "We do not comment on material witnesses or even confirm whether someone is or is not a material witnesses," said Mark Corallo, a spokesman in Washington. In a letter released Friday, U.S. Attorney Michael W. Mosman said that a federal judge has issued a "very specific" order prohibiting his office, defense lawyers or the FBI from saying anything about Hawash. The letter was sent to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who had sought information about Hawash, whose detention has alarmed his family and friends. — Posted at 3:16 pm

Apr. 4, 2003

MOUSSAOUI JUDGE QUESTIONS EXCESSIVE GOVERNMENT SECREY. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said in a court order filed Friday that she was disturbed the government had classified so many pleadings, orders and court opinions in the criminal prosecution against Zacarias Moussaoui. Brinkema said she joined in Moussaoui's skepticism about the government's ability to prosecute him in open court. — Posted at 5:45 pm

NATIONAL SECURITY V. OPEN GOVERNMENT. National Security Archive Director Tom Blanton on Friday published "Beyond the Balancing Test: National Security and Open Government in the United States." The research paper will be presented at a May 5 symposium in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Open Society Institute and the Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University. According to Blanton, "The government has successfully framed the debate after 9/11 as terrorism fighters versus civil libertarians, as soldiers versus reporters, as hawks versus doves. In wartime, the poundage of the former will always outweigh the latter, and the Bush administration has guaranteed wartime for the foreseeable future. So our task is to reframe the debate and leave behind the balancing act. We need to place openness where it belongs, not only at the center of our values, but also at the center of our strategy for security." — Posted at 3:20 pm

NEWS ORGANIZATIONS CHALLENGE MOUSSAOUI SECRET FILINGS. A group of newspapers and broadcasters challenged the sealing of filings in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui yesterday, the Washington Post reported. In a brief filed by several media organizations, including the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, lawyers noted that Brinkema has agreed to unseal some filings. But since her Sept. 27 order, only four of 63 documents have been unsealed. The media acknowledge Moussaoui's right to a fair and prompt trial, and the national security issues, but they argue that Brinkema could redact motions or take less drastic steps. Click here to link to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia's Moussaoui website. — Posted at 1:35 pm

JOURNALIST MICHAEL KELLY KILLED IN IRAQ. Journalist Michael Kelly, the Atlantic Monthly editor-at-large and Washington Post columnist, was killed in a Humvee accident Thursday while traveling with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Kelly, the first American journalist killed in the war, had also served as editor of the New Republic and National Journal. — Posted at 1:26 pm

Apr. 3, 2003

IT'S DANGEROUS TO BE A UNILATERAL. "Unilateral" reporters in Iraq are trying to provide the kind of far-reaching reporting that isn't possible as a conscript in the Pentagon's embedding program. But Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post reports that the dangers of wandering around Iraq were underscored Wednesday when a BBC cameraman was killed by a land mine. An Australian cameraman and British television reporter were also killed in Iraq last month, and two Newsday correspondents and two freelance photographers were imprisoned by the Iraqis for a week before being released Tuesday. — Posted at 3:18 pm

EMBEDDING A GIANT STEP FORWARD. Most of the reporting that television viewers get from journalists embedded with troops in Iraq is anecdotal, rich in detail but often lacking perspective, a study released this week by the Project for Excellence in Journalism has found. Nevertheless, the study finds the Pentagon's embedding policy a giant step forward in access from the first Gulf War and last year's conflict in Afghanistan. — Posted at 2:48 pm

A LOOK AT CLARKE. Pentagon spokesperson Victoria Clarke has the job of keeping the Defense Department "on message" and easing tensions between the military and the media. In a profile in today's New York Times, Clarke is characterized as being in favor of media access. "I really want the American people to see how incredible these young men and women are," Clarke is quoted as saying, in response to questions about the Pentagon's embedding program. Nevertheless, according to the Times, "When she chooses to withhold, she can be maddeningly tight lipped." — Posted at 11:37 am

AL JAZEERA BARRED FROM BAGHDAD. The Al Jazeera Network said its correspondents have been barred by Iraqi officials from reporting in Baghdad, according to a report in The New York Times. The Iraqi government, which has previously had close ties with the popular Arab network, gave no reason for the ban. — Posted at 10:15 am

Apr. 2, 2003

THE SECRET REBUILDING PROCESS. The U.S. Agency for International Development continues to defend its secretive bidding process that was set in place for contracts to rebuild Iraq, the Wall Sreet Journal reported today (no online link available). The agency claims that a similar secret bidding process was in place in the wake of the Afghanistan and Bosnia campaigns. The administration's secret postwar plans for Iraq have stirred charges in Europe that all major rebuilding work will go to U.S. concerns. The Idaho Statesman weighed in on the rebuilding contracts, noting that the bidders are major companies that see a $600 million contract as a small project that will help them get a jump on competitors. An ABC News report pointed out that secret bids and awards can lead to less oversight and thereby jeopardize the ultimate success of the project, while nongovernmental relief organizations told the network that leaving those groups, with their mission of involving locals, out of the process is "a recipe for failure." — Posted at 6:46 pm

FRIENDLY CONSTITUTIONAL REMINDER. General Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, criticized the news media in a news conference he held with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday. "Don't forget the Constitution," Rumsfeld jokingly reminded the general, who was pressed during an exchange with a reporter for comment on his view of the media's coverage of the war. A report on the press conference in The New York Times said Myers was unhappy with the media's practice of "analyzing, criticizing and reporting anonymous dissent on a secret war plan they have never seen." — Posted at 2:44 pm

THE "OTHER" VIEW OF THE WAR IN IRAQ. USA Today London correspondent Marco R. della Cava reports that most Americans would be surprised by the saturation coverage of the war in Iraq produced by non-American media. "Channel-surf from Britain's BBC to Germany's ZDF, or flip through newspapers from Spain to Bangkok, and one finds stories that tilt noticeably against the war and in favor of besieged Iraqi civilians," della Cava notes. "Often, these are emotional first-person accounts of visiting hospitals or bombed-out apartments, accompanied by graphic photos of the dead and dying that would never appear in U.S. outlets." — Posted at 1:59 pm

MORE ON MOUSSAOUI'S SECRET TRIAL. Federal prosecutors are citing a World War II-era Supreme Court decision as part of their effort to overturn a judge's ruling that Zacarias Moussaoui's lawyers can interview Ramzi Binalshibh, the self-described planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Washington Post's Jerry Markon reports that the arguments have been made in classified briefs filed with the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. If the government's argument is accepted by the 4th Circuit and ultimately the Supreme Court, it would hold far-reaching implications for the war on terrorism and the power of the courts. It would create a legal standard for accused terrorists or enemy combatants that differs from how courts have treated criminal defendants for generations. — Posted at 11:42 am

Apr. 1, 2003

EXPELLED JOURNALISTS TURN UP IN JORDAN; GERALDO KICKED OUT BY MILITARY. The three American journalists who have been missing in Iraq turned up at a border crossing in Jordan today, after spending most of the last week in jail in Baghdad. Newsday's Matthew McAllester told his editors that he and Moises Saman were detained by Iraqi authorities last Tuesday morning, handcuffed and taken to prison until finally being released yesterday. They reported being interrogated several times by intelligence officials. Freelance photojournalist Molly Bingham, who had been reported missing at about the same time, was also with the journalists at the border crossing, as was another Dutch photojournalist. And a second journalist has been kicked out of Iraq by the U.S. military. Following the booting of Philip Smucker last week, the military has send Geraldo Rivera packing, allegedly for giving out too much information on the air while drawing a map in the sand for Fox News viewers. Neither Smucker nor Rivera were "embedded" journalists, but both had nonetheless travelled with U.S. troops into Iraq. — Posted at 5:53 pm

SENATOR PROPOSES MOYNIHAN OPENNESS TRIBUTE. A fitting tribute to the late Sen. Patrick Moynihan would be a "heightened recognition of the damage that excessive secrecy exacts on our government's credibility, and to recommit ourselves to a government which trusts its people to know the truth," Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) said in a statement March 31 on the Senate floor. Moynihan was a strong proponent of openness in government. Graham, a former chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said this administration is "excessively cautious" in keeping information from the public, and chided the President for amendments to the executive order on classification. "Ultimately, excessive secrecy will undermine the public's confidence in our government and its essential institutions," he said. The Senator called for declassification of a joint House-Senate inquiry, which he chaired, into the events of September 11, 2001, to help the public understand what the government knew about potential threats from al Qaida prior to the attack, and how intelligence and law enforcemnt agencies responded. — Posted at 3:40 pm

ACCIDENTAL DISCLOSURE. The Department of Homeland Security learned of a planned attack on U.S. Web sites, but didn't intend to tell the public, according to a Washington Post report. The department's National Infrastructure Protection Center accidentally posted the warning on its Web site after distributing the warning to government officials and select companies. In industry circles, the inadvertent openness on safety issues is apparently being treated as an "embarassment" for the department. — Posted at 1:27 pm

NUMBERS MISSING ON CIVILIAN DEAD, ASYLUM SEEKERS. Amnesty International called on British Prime Minster Tony Blair's office to release more information about civilian deaths in Iraq, according to a Washington Post report March 31. Amnesty representatives also criticized the United States government for detaining an unknown number of asylum seekers from Iraq. — Posted at 12:23 pm