User talk:Tonylogan10
བརྗོད་གཞི་ཁ་སྣོན།Information Access
Information is the force that drives the world. Important decisions, whether personal, cooperate or national, are based on it. The lack of information is dangerous when making any decision. Major life programs are mostly aimed at making people informed. These include education, training, seminars and conferences. The twenty-first century is an era of information. These days, the much an individual knows determines his or her success in life. However, access to information is guaranteed by the willingness of whoever possesses it. Due to this paramount aspect, the Freedom of Information Act was enacted by the Congress in 1966. It was passed primarily to give public access to information held by the federal government. This Act gives the public the right to request and receive any file, document or record that is kept by any governmental agency. However, this right is subject to certain exemptions. The following paper seeks to explore the validity of the first exemption provided under this Act, namely national security information. Information has an impact on whoever holds it. Its influence may be negative or positive depending on its content. There is some information that is very sensitive and may not be released to the public even upon one’s request. The first of the nine exemptions to the release of information to the public is national security. The latter is a concept that dictates that the government should be able to protect the country and its people against crises that threaten the peaceful existence of citizens or the state. Most of the information that is not given under the exemption of national security is often classified based on a presidential executive order. The office of the president is charged with the responsibility of ensuring security and safety of the American people and the United States of America. For this to happen, there has to be cooperation between the president and intelligence, diplomatic, military, homeland security, public health communities and private partners at the state or local levels. It demands effective and timely sharing of information that threatens the security of the country with the right persons. It should be shared in a responsible, seamless and secure manner. One of the most basic rights in the Constitution is the right to the sanctity of life. Life is important and cannot be undermined in any case, even if it is to uphold another law. Insecurity threatens lives of individuals and should be alleviated at all costs. The inappropriate release of information that threatens people or the state cannot be justified. If data on an impending attack on the American soil were released, the whole nation would spring into panic. Lives of citizens may be at risk since attackers can decide to reschedule the time of the attack in order to fulfill their purpose without disruption by the defense. Thus, for the benefit of the state and citizens, the information on national security is to be regulated. Information that threatens national security also determines country’s relations with other nations. Transnational terrorism, for example, involves an attack on the American soil that has been planned in other countries. Citizen’s knowledge of such intent of other nations can easily destroy diplomatic relations between the victim country and the nation planning the attack. Moreover, some information may cause fights and internal wrangles between various races and tribes in the country. For example, an investigation into a racial conflict can prove the discrimination of one race by another. Terrorism has to be prevented at all costs because it does not only take away the right to live, but also has adverse effects on the environment. The September 11 attack for example caused short-term ailments to over 10000 individuals. A lot of items that were destroyed released toxic gases, polluting the air. Environmental safety is another aspect of the importance of national security. An example of information that was classified as the one at the national security level was the plan and strategy to assassinate Osama bin Laden. The public was only made aware of it after the death of the terrorist. The government ensured that this information was kept secret because of the negative impact it could have on nation’s security. Osama Bin Laden had led several attacks that were conducted either on the American soil or on American embassies in other countries. The worst of all attacks still memorized was the one on September 11, 2001. It was arranged and committed by the Al-Qaeda terrorist group under the leadership of Osama Bin Laden. These terrorists posed a threat even several years after the attack. Releasing the plan to assassinate this leader would have made the operation fruitless since he would have taken all precautions to ensure he remained alive. His life was itself a national security threat to America. Secondly releasing this information to the public would have drawn a debate of people with various concerns. Moreover, killing Bin Laden would have been conflicting for different people. From the discussion above, it is clear that there are two sides of the same coin when it comes to the right to information access. There has been a debate between the proponents and opponents of this exemption. The conflict arises when people need information and when the government should protect citizens. It has however been made clear that the government holds a justifiable ground for the benefit of the latter. Therefore, national security continues to be a matter of more importance than the need for information. Tony Logan is a talented writer at https://sites.google.com/site/bestessaywritingservicereview/. He likes to depict his thoughts on the paper.
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