Editorial from Las Vegas Review Journal, Monday, June 19, 1995

TOSSING OUT CHAFF

* Air Force accountability not detectable.

Everyone knows why we have military security.  In time of war, 
even seemingly innocuous hits of information can be pieced 
together by an enemy, putting men and operations at risk.

Those responsible for security in the military are brought up on 
such tales, and their instinct is to err on the side of caution. 
But on the other hand, this is a democratic republic, where the 
military is subject to civilian oversight. We are not at war, and 
the fact is that far too much "military secrecy" these days is 
designed to keep things secret not from the likes of the Serbs 
and the Iraqis, but from precisely the citizens who are paying 
for it.

This is demonstrated in spades by the Air Force's ongoing 
behavior in the lawsuit in which workers at the secret Groom Lake 
base claim they have contracted cancer and suffered other ill 
effects from illegal and careless burning of toxic wastes on the 
base.

Representing the plaintiffs, Professor Jonathan Turley of the 
Georgetown University School of Law has filed briefs charging the 
Air Force with seeking to "over-classify" information which might 
reveal its guilt.  In order to demonstrate this tactic, Turley 
says he introduced in court the Air Force Manual from the base, 
which was "clearly marked unclassified."  Professor Turley 
pointed out that this unclassified document contained much of the 
information which the Air Force has been claiming to be 
classified.  The Air Force responded on June 15 by ordering 
Professor Turley's motion and brief themselves, declared 
"classified."

Although Turley's pleadings point out that "Aircraft of various 
sizes can be seen taking off and landing from the facility from 
public lands," the Air Force has refused to answer, on grounds of 
military security, whether any jet fuel is kept at the base.

The military's strategy, evidently, is to give ground so 
grudgingly that the plaintiffs' patience and finances will be 
exhausted before the real issues can ever come to judgment.

No one expects or wants the Air Force to present blueprints for 
secret aircraft at this trial. But the military would be well 
advised to remember that the single most important requirement 
for their security is the continued faith and trust of the 
American people. Civilian employees do not sign away their rights 
to due process when they go to work for the military ‹ the United 
States government must remain as liable for harm caused by 
negligence as any other defendant.

The vast majority of Nevadans love the Air Force, and are proud 
to have played such a large role in its development. Maybe the 
service really is blameless in these illnesses -- though if so, 
we would think the government would be anxious to so prove in 
open court.

No long-term good can come from this pattern of stonewalling. 
Leaders whose very stock in trade is courage should demonstrate 
the courage now to whistle in the hounds, and either settle this 
suit (if wrongs were done), or allow the real issues to be 
resolved, promptly and fairly, in open court. 

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REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION