Secrecy, Government, and Politics
Peter Schultz
Secrecy is integral, even intrinsic to government and politics because it affords (and preserves) the illusion of power. It preserves the illusion of being in control – until it doesn’t.
Consider this passage from John Newman’s JFK and Vietnam, about the duplicitous lengths the US went to preserve the illusion of control.
“This, then, is how the intricate cover story to hide the order authorizing US aircraft to shoot down Soviet planes over Vietnam was put together. It seems tragic, somehow, that the disparate bureaucracy in Washington, Honolulu, and Saigon could come together with such efficiency, coordination, and energy to fine-tune a false cover story, and yet work with the agility and pace of a turtle on the true problems of the war. Unfortunately, controlling the public impression of the war consumed an inordinate amount of command attention.” [215]
Take note: an “intricate cover story … was put together.” So, much time and effort were devoted to this story indicating that it was important, even crucial stuff. Why? Because such a story was indispensable for disguising what was actually happening in Vietnam and indicating that the US was not in control to the extent that it was shooting down Soviet planes. That the US had to shoot down Soviet planes was a good indication that the US was not in control and, so, this policy had to kept secret.
Take note: the story was “fine-tuned.” And great care was given to it as it was being “put together.” Note too should be made that there were no objections to this duplicity. While some details may have created some controversy, the duplicitous actions were accepted as legitimate by all those who were involved, including of course the President. Hence, “the inordinate amount of command attention” was not inordinate for those involved. It was what they did and what they were convinced should be done. It, the duplicity, was the right thing.
Government officials and politicians are always, i.e., intrinsically duplicitous. This is a fact of life, so to speak. And it is a fact of life for the powerful, the decision-makers, those acting politically, socially, militarily, and economically. It is how they preserve the illusion(s) of control, thereby legitimating and fortifying their claim to rule. But that duplicity is demanded by the lack of control, which does not exist to the extent these powerful persons think it does. The reality of this lack of control confirms the presence and power of chance, a power denied by modern science, both physical and political. And chance is pervasive, so much so that “The deception had become integral to the routine, so much a part of the way business was carried on … that no one … noticed when a fiction of a different sort emerged, a deception within a deception … directed at the President himself.” [219]
