Well, if NORAD had hoped to keep what it regarded as potentially “security sensitive information” (SSI) out of the public eye by this maneuver, we’d have to call the mission an abject failure. Chat rooms, news services and aviation groups are frothing over the agency’s order (no, it was not a request) that the FAA remove from its Web site the transcript of a copiously recorded, televised and reported-upon public meeting concerning the government’s proposal to make the Air Defense Identification Zone around Washington permanent. As is normal with meetings such as this, held in a hotel conference center with speakers invited (in fact, actively encouraged) to speak their minds so that government leaders can weigh their proposed actions against the sense of the public, a transcript of the proceedings was prepared and posted for use by those who couldn’t make it to Washington that day. Now, in the interest of national security, it’s gone. Last week, the FAA was ordered to remove the transcript while security officials checked it for sensitive information. If they were hoping no one would notice, they were to be disappointed. The buzz about NORAD’s strategic informationectomy has so far been pretty much confined to aviation interests, most of whom were already familiar with the content and tone of the hearings.
