>> In order to provide a more thorough understanding of the program, I have directed that certain information related to the “business records” provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act be declassified and immediately released to the public.
This is the only part of this release I really take issue with. If you can immediately direct that the information be declassified without first taking pause to think if it, combined with other information, could be dangerous then it should never have been classified in the first place. It takes a lot of care to properly evaluate that. If you had thought about it before, and still came to that conclusion then it shouldn't have been done in a secret court anyway. Secret courts are for really specific things... they are limited in supervision and accountability and aren't for stuff you'd rather not have your citizenry, whom you are responsible to and for, asking questions about.
> it should never have been classified in the first place
The system is big with lots of moving cogs in it. The bigger it is the higher the chance one of the cogs will pull a Manning. They see the idiocy and waste. Classifying stuff that is shameful and sweeping it under the carpet works for a while, but soon enough someone will say fuck it, this is going against the principles of my country and my moral standards and they'll leak the shit out of it.
From their side, it is imperative to persecute and punish whistle-blowers, leakers as harshly as possible. In order to set examples.
This is the only part of this release I really take issue with. If you can immediately direct that the information be declassified without first taking pause to think if it, combined with other information, could be dangerous then it should never have been classified in the first place. It takes a lot of care to properly evaluate that. If you had thought about it before, and still came to that conclusion then it shouldn't have been done in a secret court anyway. Secret courts are for really specific things... they are limited in supervision and accountability and aren't for stuff you'd rather not have your citizenry, whom you are responsible to and for, asking questions about.