The Obama Administration appears more concerned with controlling what people think than just about anything else these days.
By Cliff Montgomery – May 21st, 2013
The U.S. Defense Department has released to lawmakers its most current annual report on China’s militaryand security capabilities. But this year, the study is curiously missing its normal assessment of Chinese nuclearforces.
The suppression of such information “decreases transparency of Chinese nuclear forces and undercuts thePentagon’s complaint that China is too secretive about its military posture,” recently stated Hans Kristensen ofThe Federation of American Scientists, a think tank which specializes in international security issues.
Previously, such details were freely shared with Congress and the American people. In 2010, for instance, thePentagon’s report on China provided a detailed analysis of that country’s various ballistic armaments.
But it was a different matter in 2011 and 2012, when the Defense Department’s annual report supplied a shortassessment that only displayed the most basic data on China’s nuclear missiles.
And the 2013 study? It possesses no direct analysis whatsoever of China’s nuclear forces. Now just a fewfacts may be found on this very important issue, and they are scattered throughout the 92-page report.
Cynics might say that such suppression of information is becoming a habit for the Obama Administration.
In fact, the Obama Administration appears more concerned with controlling what people think than just aboutanything else these days. The more famous revelations of the last several weeks seem to provide evidence ofthat.
Our view? Democrats were among the first to point out that the desire to control information was an uglycharacteristic of the Administration of George W. Bush. It would serve them well to be just as furious if theirman in the White House is beginning to display the same odious tendency.
