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In article . net, Tankfixer
wrote:

If it were classified secret FAS would have been closed for publishing
it to the web.

Actually, that's not true.

Are you saying one can post current classified publications on the net
and not get in trouble ?

Yes.

Look up the example of the classified history of the CIA's involvement in
the Iranian coup in the 1950s. Short story: the classified document was
leaked and put on the web. The government did nothing.

It is actually not illegal to publish classified information (with some very
specific exceptions). Newspapers do it all the time. If you want other
examples, next time you go to a big bookstore, look for books by Bill Gertz.
Gertz (a reporter for the conservative newspaper The Washington Times) has
published classified documents in the back of several of his books. He has
never been charged with anything.

If you're interested in learning about the subject, go to the FAS website
and read multiple issues of Secrecy and Government Bulletin. You'll get a
sense of the limitations concerning the press and classified information.



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