Need to Know

Here’s a “war story” for you. When I served in the US Army I had a rather high security clearance. We had access to somewhat euphemistically named “special weapons.” These were tactical nuclear weapons, folks. We were members of N.S.P. or the Nuclear Surety Program. If the call came down from higher authority, i.e. The Commander in Chief, we would assemble the weapon and fire it downrange.
Now, we had the clearance to know where these weapons were stored, how to utilize them, and how to render them safe if necessary. Big deal, right? We had sufficient clearance, but did we know where the unit would be the following day, where the battalion was headed, when the division would move on the enemy? The answer is no, we did not. Why? Although we were cleared for these things, we lacked an important component for having this knowledge. This is the need to know.
Just as our need to know was not essential to the successful completion of the mission, so it is with news organizations who claim that it the American public has the “right” to know all about secret programs designed to keep us safe from Islamic terrorism.
I don’t want to think that the main stream news media would like to see us and our society destroyed by Islamic murderers, but I wonder just the same.