A group of 10 former government employees who have blown the whistle on issues from Vietnam to Iraq issued a public memo Sept. 9, calling upon current government officials to disclose classified information being wrongly withheld from the public. The officials worked for the Defense, Labor and State Departments, the FBI and the CIA. The group listed 12 specific documents that should be disclosed, including information on FBI misconduct, terrorism prisoners, security breaches, as well as costs and troop number estimates for the Iraq war.

The group asserted that government deception and secrecy actually costs lives and reduces national security, an opinion shared by the 9/11 commission, which concluded that information restrictions contributed to the success of the terrorist attacks. The group's memo acknowledges that whistleblowers currently have little actual protection under the law, and often face retaliatory actions such as the job loss.

Whistleblowers Unsatisfied

Another group of 25 homeland security whistleblowers released a letter critical of the 9/11 commission's report, claiming it does not accurately reflect their testimony and fails to hold any individuals accountable. While the commission acknowledged the contribution that information restrictions and excessive secrecy played in allowing the terrorists to succeed, it did not attach responsibility to any specific officials. The group believes that without this direct accountability, efforts to reform the intelligence community will be ineffective.

The whistleblower letter also criticizes Congress for not hearing testimony from field intelligence and national security employees with knowledge of corruption and mismanagement during recent hearings on sweeping intelligence and security reform.