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All government communications are subject to inspection and should be disclosed as soon as possible. Why does the State Department need to take such extreme me

All government communications are subject to inspection and should be disclosed as soon as possible. Why does the State Department need to take such extreme measures and have special exemption from processes meant to detect and stop all manner of nefarious activity?

fl0wenol 8y ago
All country's diplomatic services have a similar exempt mail/pouch system; it's a service we all extend to each other. Others leave ours alone, and we leave foreign government's alone in turn (at ports or elsewhere). Governments are allowed and expected to keep secrets from each other; this is a way to do it out in the open.
- windows_tips 8y ago
  Governments are a function of their laws. I'm not sure what you mean by, 'are allowed and expected to keep secrets from each other'. I don't actually allow or expect my government to keep secrets. I don't think 'they' are even authorized to. If 'they' could, 'they' would not be a representative government, of, for, and by the people.
  - grkvlt 8y ago
    Of course governments must keep secrets. These are things like order of battle details for the military; location and other details for nuclear weapons; names and addresses of intelligence officers, informants or defectors; algorithms for decryption of foreign ciphers; and so on. However, in western democracies the secrecy is usually time limited. For example in the United Kingdom we have the 30-year rule[0] which provides for public release of confidential government documents after 30 years (and they are moving to 20 years now) which is a good compromise between transparency and the need for operational secrecy and security. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-year_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-year_rule
    - windows_tips 8y ago
      It is a US crime to knowingly and willfully conceal a material fact "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States".[0] [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001
packetslave 8y ago
Because some communication you don't send electronically no matter how good your crypto is. Think "hey, I just recruited Yuri to spy for us" or "the mission to hack NK's nuclear systems will happen next Friday". Some messages are too important to be anything but hand-carried.
- windows_tips 8y ago
  Is that all that's being transported? Communication? Those bags seem to be holding more than just text. I'm not sure the government is actually authorized to spy, per the US Constitution. It seems that it (spying) would only be authorized as part of a military operation.
  - ubernostrum 8y ago
    I'm not sure the government is actually authorized to spy, per the US Constitution. Would you like to revive George Washington and tell his ghost that his spy rings were unconstitutional?
    - windows_tips 8y ago
      As I allowed in my comment, it may be acceptable as part of a military operation. However, the Constitution does not grant Congress or the Courts to spy, or to hire spies, or direct spies, or have anything to do with spies.
      - ubernostrum 8y ago
        Spying and other intelligence gathering was, at the time, seen as a "necessary and proper" part of running a military. And the Constitution explicitly authorizes providing for "the common defense", explicitly authorizes the existence of military forces, and grants the power to make laws "necessary and proper" to carrying out these authorizations. Spying and intelligence are still, in the present day, seen as a matter of national defense. NSA is explicitly under the Department of Defense, for example. CIA is civilian, but is still framed as serving a defense/national security purpose (thus Constitutionally justifiable) and scoped to be foreign-facing (domestic intelligence is primarily the FBI's province, "necessary and proper" for enforcing federal law).
pjc50 8y ago
Quite a lot of this stuff is private (e.g. employment-related), other people's stuff (passports, visas, etc), or actually classified secret.
- bradknowles 8y ago
  The SECRET stuff can actually be sent by the USPS. It just has to be packaged correctly, properly labeled, and you have to select the appropriate options for sending it. I did the courier job briefly when I was working for what was then the Defense Communications Agency, and we were transmitting SECRET documents. I had the hand-carried copy, and they sent a second copy via USPS. I even had a nifty courier badge, which was created by using a typewriter to fill out a small government form that was printed on orange card stock, and then the whole thing was laminated together. No pictures, no fingerprints, no signatures. The security agents at Washington Regional Airport sure took notice....
  - masonic 8y ago
    Presumably using Registered Mail, which is kept under lock and key.
  - windows_tips 8y ago
    It is a crime in the US to knowingly and willfully conceal material facts (including a singular material fact) "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States".[0] [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001
- windows_tips 8y ago
  It is a crime in the US to knowingly and willfully conceal material facts "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States".[0] [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001
grkvlt 8y ago
Because diplomats. The Vienna convention[0] means that they are exempt from interference by foreign governments an d their agencies. Of course, the assumption is that diplomats are not acting 'nefariously' but if it turns out they are, the host country has recourse to various options, including expulsion... 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomati...
- windows_tips 8y ago
  It is a US crime to knowingly and willfully conceal a material fact "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States".[0] [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001

fl0wenol 8y ago

All country's diplomatic services have a similar exempt mail/pouch system; it's a service we all extend to each other. Others leave ours alone, and we leave foreign government's alone in turn (at ports or elsewhere). Governments are allowed and expected to keep secrets from each other; this is a way to do it out in the open.

windows_tips 8y ago
Governments are a function of their laws. I'm not sure what you mean by, 'are allowed and expected to keep secrets from each other'. I don't actually allow or expect my government to keep secrets. I don't think 'they' are even authorized to. If 'they' could, 'they' would not be a representative government, of, for, and by the people.
- grkvlt 8y ago
  Of course governments must keep secrets. These are things like order of battle details for the military; location and other details for nuclear weapons; names and addresses of intelligence officers, informants or defectors; algorithms for decryption of foreign ciphers; and so on. However, in western democracies the secrecy is usually time limited. For example in the United Kingdom we have the 30-year rule[0] which provides for public release of confidential government documents after 30 years (and they are moving to 20 years now) which is a good compromise between transparency and the need for operational secrecy and security. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-year_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-year_rule
  - windows_tips 8y ago
    It is a US crime to knowingly and willfully conceal a material fact "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States".[0] [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001

packetslave 8y ago

Because some communication you don't send electronically no matter how good your crypto is. Think "hey, I just recruited Yuri to spy for us" or "the mission to hack NK's nuclear systems will happen next Friday". Some messages are too important to be anything but hand-carried.

windows_tips 8y ago
Is that all that's being transported? Communication? Those bags seem to be holding more than just text. I'm not sure the government is actually authorized to spy, per the US Constitution. It seems that it (spying) would only be authorized as part of a military operation.
- ubernostrum 8y ago
  I'm not sure the government is actually authorized to spy, per the US Constitution. Would you like to revive George Washington and tell his ghost that his spy rings were unconstitutional?
  - windows_tips 8y ago
    As I allowed in my comment, it may be acceptable as part of a military operation. However, the Constitution does not grant Congress or the Courts to spy, or to hire spies, or direct spies, or have anything to do with spies.
    - ubernostrum 8y ago
      Spying and other intelligence gathering was, at the time, seen as a "necessary and proper" part of running a military. And the Constitution explicitly authorizes providing for "the common defense", explicitly authorizes the existence of military forces, and grants the power to make laws "necessary and proper" to carrying out these authorizations. Spying and intelligence are still, in the present day, seen as a matter of national defense. NSA is explicitly under the Department of Defense, for example. CIA is civilian, but is still framed as serving a defense/national security purpose (thus Constitutionally justifiable) and scoped to be foreign-facing (domestic intelligence is primarily the FBI's province, "necessary and proper" for enforcing federal law).

pjc50 8y ago

Quite a lot of this stuff is private (e.g. employment-related), other people's stuff (passports, visas, etc), or actually classified secret.

bradknowles 8y ago
The SECRET stuff can actually be sent by the USPS. It just has to be packaged correctly, properly labeled, and you have to select the appropriate options for sending it. I did the courier job briefly when I was working for what was then the Defense Communications Agency, and we were transmitting SECRET documents. I had the hand-carried copy, and they sent a second copy via USPS. I even had a nifty courier badge, which was created by using a typewriter to fill out a small government form that was printed on orange card stock, and then the whole thing was laminated together. No pictures, no fingerprints, no signatures. The security agents at Washington Regional Airport sure took notice....
- masonic 8y ago
  Presumably using Registered Mail, which is kept under lock and key.
- windows_tips 8y ago
  It is a crime in the US to knowingly and willfully conceal material facts (including a singular material fact) "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States".[0] [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001
windows_tips 8y ago
It is a crime in the US to knowingly and willfully conceal material facts "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States".[0] [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001

grkvlt 8y ago

Because diplomats. The Vienna convention[0] means that they are exempt from interference by foreign governments an d their agencies. Of course, the assumption is that diplomats are not acting 'nefariously' but if it turns out they are, the host country has recourse to various options, including expulsion... 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomati...

windows_tips 8y ago
It is a US crime to knowingly and willfully conceal a material fact "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States".[0] [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001