> Behalf Of Gary Nunn
>
> Back to my original rant, I think that there should be a federal
> moratorium
> on the press disclosing any specific information about any military base,
> location or movements - including videotaping. I realize that the free
> speech advocates would scream about that, but under the
> circumstances, lives
> DO hand in the balance.
>
Here in Oz and also in Britain this sort of situation is handled by what's
called a "D Notice". These are notices the government sends to the various
media requesting that the specified topic/information not be published in
the interests of national security. It is a voluntary restriction, although
the government reserves the right to prosecute should the notice be
infringed.
Sometimes the restrictions do go too far. For example, it is far easier for
an American to get information about what goes on in our "Joint Facility" at
Pine Gap than it is for an Australian. In fact, Australian politicians are
not even given the same level of information as their American counterparts.
Activities of the Australian SAS are usually covered by D notices, as was
security procedures for last year's Olympics.
Brett
