WaPo wants more disclosure of FBI spying:
More information is needed. The Justice Department's inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, ought to investigate, and report to Congress and the public. And as conferees put the final touches on the reauthorization bill, they should write into the law requirements that the FBI more fully disclose whom it has targeted in its domestic spying operations, what information it is gathering and what use is being made of it.
I appreciate the civil liberties concerns, I really do. But it strikes me as more than a little odd that the FBI is supposed to make its covert operations public. Doesn't that jeopardize the covert operations? And even if a particular covert operation is finished, doesn't its disclosure reveal to our enemies how we investigate? The line between protecting citizens from government invasion and protecting them from enemies is tough to draw, no doubt about it. But I don't think James Bond would be very effective if everyone knew his tricks.
The column even admits that the executive branch agency called the Intelligence Oversight Board is making a legitimate effort to curb potential abuses. I realize it's not ideal for the federal government to police itself (might as well have Johnny Torrio police Al Capone), but I don't know what other options we have.
Paradoxically, our open society requires that parts of it stay closed. This needs to be admitted, so the debate can focus on how much of it stays closed.
