USA

Palestinian Chronicle: Secret Saudi History

"I smiled at my own joke, but the clerk's smile disappeared. 'Ask again,' he hissed, 'and I will call security to remove you from the building and have you barred as a security risk ..'"

"I'm sorry," the clerk at the U.S. National Archives says: "You can't see the Saudi Arabian documents." I'm surprised. All the National Archive's documents are already reviewed and then declassified or removed. In theory, whatever's there is no longer secret.

Until 911.

"It's part of the Patriot Act," the clerk averred, referring to Public Law 107-56, the hastily-passed legislation entitled, "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001."

"The U.S. State Department records you requested are indeed declassified and theoretically available. But they also may contain information that terrorists can use, like names and addresses and information of U.S. citizens." I gave a blank look. "So?" The clerk's brow furrowed with concern. "A terrorist could come into the National Archives and try to steal their identities or target them for assassination."

I protested: "The documents I seek are over thirty years old and even older." Now the clerk's smile became nothing but teeth, his eyes narrowed with suspicion