The Pentagon's Report On The Importance Of Not Classifying Everything Is Redacted

Can the Pentagon Inspector General investigate irony?

After the Pentagon released a report on over-classification, and saw fit to redact portions of it, it may be time to launch an official inquiry.

Misclassification is a serious issue in the armed services. Executive Order 13526, signed Dec. 29, 2009, dictates that information be classified at the lowest possible level, to prevent creating a culture of secrecy without public access to information.

The report from the Defense Department watchdog found that for the most part, the guidelines for classification were followed, but there is definite room for improvement.

Not much of the IG's report is redacted, but it should have occurred to someone that the optics of this are terrible. And who are we supposed to contact for more information, since that's apparently a state secret?

The irony wasn't lost on the foreign affairs community either, but not much gets past Noah Shachtman, Foreign Policy's executive editor:

The Pentagon's internal review of over-classification is redacted. Of course. http://t.co/cKalaCrPjY

- Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) October 25, 2013