The documentary film Secrecy: With homeland security and the war on terror becoming increasingly important issues, the U.S. government has grown more and more secretive, allegedly to protect the country and save lives. But is this culture of secrets at odds with democracy? This documentary examines both the pros and cons of government concealment by focusing on classified secrets and the arguments the government makes in the name of national security. The topic is approached from both sides of the fence, going into detail about military intelligence that did not remain secret and came back to hurt us, and concurrently talking about events that were kept confidential for the wrong reasons (to protect the government from fault, legal action, etc). The point is: the government long-ago in a complete disregard for the sanctity of democratic principles decided under a fascistic principle present within our military leaders to impose a secrecy mandate to protect its rear in violation of two major tenets of a free and open society based on Democracy! Namely: 1) Accountability to the people who paid for the hardware of military tactical weapons: the Citizenry who paid the taxes!, and 2) Responsibility: standing up when they screw up and admit it to the people who ultimately write their paychecks: the American People. Good documentary that showed both sides of secrecy rationale in the American Government. The conclusion is that secrecy is unhealthy for any democracy. The consolidation of power during Bush/Cheney coupled with special interest corporatism makes for a military and diplomatic agenda that is at the beck and call of the Fortune 500 CEO's. At the conclusion of the film, more questions are raised than answered…if secrecy is important and necessary to our national security, then who makes the final decision on what truly must remain secret? Where is that line drawn? How can you have checks and balances when the information being protected is classified sensitive intelligence? How can we know for sure if it's deserving of that label if no one else can see it? The question of secrecy is an important one and this looks at both sides and does not suggest an answer. I do think you will end up with the same opinion as you went in with, though you may understand the other side a little better. Documentary 2008 NR 81 minutes.
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