Some obvious reasons “they” are fighting disclosure

1) Knowledge is power. Every bit of information that makes its way into the public reduces the power of those who previously had that information in secret. Those with security clearances don’t want to see things they’ve secretly known become public information because they can’t use that information against people who don’t have it. Knowing things someone else doesn’t gives you a certain amount of power over them.

2) Money. Particularly the ability to hide where it’s coming from and where it’s going. Special access programs are largely hidden from budgetary oversight, so the money is hard (if not impossible) to follow. Disclosure shines a light on this rigged system. A few players have likely been receiving illegal advantages in the form of government contracts. When this becomes clear, it will be harder for them to continue rigging the system.

3) Our /true/ government. Perhaps most importantly, they fear what the public will do if/when we find out who is truly in charge (given #1 and #2). One of the most fascinating—if infuriating—aspects of the fight for disclosure has been the cracks in the facade of democracy. We are learning who truly has power, and it’s not the people we elected. Or at least not all of them. Some are inside the circle of power, but others are outside looking in. And it’s mostly the outsiders who want disclosure and the insiders who don’t, which is telling.

Insiders can say “matter of national security” all they want because, again, knowledge is power and we have to just trust them out of fear. But this excuse is failing, and it’s becoming obvious that the people with real power aren’t elected at all. They’re bureaucrats and government contractors who are mostly unknown to the average citizen. They retain power no matter what party controls the various branches of government. We have put up with the secrecy out of naive belief that the Executive and Legislative branches have some kind of oversight of these people. But it’s becoming clear that it’s the opposite. They don’t answer to anyone except themselves…and perhaps even control those we do elect (coughMikeTurnercough). People already have a sense that voting doesn’t change anything, but imagine the anger when they see who is really in charge and what they’ve done with that power. And that there’s nothing we can do—within the system at least—to stop them.