-Caveat Lector- Censoring Sought for China Report By PETE YOST .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- Claiming a need for national secrecy, law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the Clinton administration initially sought to censor almost all of the first seven pages of a congressional report on Chinese espionage. Republicans on Capitol Hill blamed the proposal to obliterate pages of material on the Clinton White House. They circulated page after blacked-out page and a cover sheet titled: ``What the White House would let America know.'' The Republicans said a draft of the report's overview was sent two months ago to the White House, which sent it back with the blackouts. National Security Council spokesman David Leavy said the criticism was unfair. ``We worked in a bipartisan fashion with the committee on all declassification,'' he said. Among the few points that remained in the draft after the proposed deletions: ''A counterintelligence and security plan subsequently devised'' by the Energy Department ``in response to'' a presidential directive signed by Clinton ``is a step toward establishing sound counterintelligence practices.'' ''The Select Committee is concerned that the appropriate committees of the Congress were not adequately briefed on the extent of'' China's ``espionage program.'' The White House's role is ``to facilitate communication between'' the Cox committee, which released the report Tuesday, and the intelligence services, said the NSC's Leavy. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are responsible for deciding what to reveal, he said. ``The White House's view was always that the appropriate law enforcement and intelligence agencies should work with the committee to properly identify the areas that need to be protected because of national security interests,'' said Leavy. ``It was a process that was completed in record time, performed to provide the public with the most information possible. Any attempts to score political points over the declassification process undermines the bipartisan spirit with which the issue is being dealt with by the administration and the Congress.'' ``It is unnecessary partisanship on an issue that both parties should agree it is in the national interest to work together to address,'' added Leavy. If the censored draft of the report had been allowed to stand, there would have been no language stating that China ``has stolen design information on the United States' most advanced thermonuclear weapons.'' Among the other language that would have been excised from the report: ''The stolen information includes classified information on seven U.S. thermonuclear warheads, including every currently deployed thermonuclear warhead in the U.S. ballistic missile arsenal.'' ''The stolen information also includes classified design information for an enhanced radiation weapon commonly known as the `neutron bomb' which neither the United States, nor any other nation, has yet deployed.'' DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
