The release of more than 90,000 classified documents by Wikileak this week has opponents of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan peeing in their drawers. Journalists are also staining their britches. Nothing causes a reporter to get more excited than acquiring a document marked “Secret.”  Having spent three decades of my life in pursuit of secrets, I’m quite familiar with the loose bladder syndrome.

As an investigative reporter, most of the secrets I revealed were non-military—notable exceptions being my disclosures about the U.S. invasion of Panama to capture dictator Manuel Noriega, and my futile effort to uncover evidence to save the jobs of colleagues who produced a CNN segment accusing the American military of using a nerve chemical to kill enemy forces in Vietnam.

As an aside, what I found out in the aftermath of the nerve gas controversy makes interesting reading in my non-best selling memoir, Odyssey of a Derelict Gunslinger. (I’m getting damn good at sneaking in book plugs).

Anyway, uncovering secrets and secret documents is often a waste of time. But the sheer bulk of the Wikileak material suggests there is important information included that will shed new light on the Afghanistan war. Even so, the initial response by the Obama Administration and the Defense Department indicates much of the material is old news—information that has already been reported, or falls into the category of undocumented raw intelligence.

Regardless, the threshhold for causing controversy is low nowadays. Viral e-mail and video currently flooding the Internet is proof that proof is not required to spread to false information. Still, my guess is a thorough analysis of 90,000 classified documents will uncover a few revelations to embarrass people in both the current and past administrations.

After reading about the Wikipedia material, I decided to skim several thousand de-classified CIA documents that I acquired in my follow-up of CNN’s Vietnam nerve gas fiasco—stories stemming from a military operation called “Tailwind.”

http://www.aim.org/publications/special_reports/NewsStand06-07.html

While scanning the dated CIA material, I paused to read excerpts from a couple of documents that seemed eerily contemporary. They were cables distributed to top echelon military and diplomatic officials in April, 1968, shortly after President Lyndon Johnson announced his decision not to seek reelection.   

THE PRESIDENT SAID HE WAS SINCERE WHEN HE DECLARED IT WOULD PROBABLY BE POSSIBLE FOR THE ALLIES TO REMOVE SOME OF THEIR TROOPS BY THE END OF 1968. HE THOUGHT AT LEAST ”SEVERAL BATTALLIONS” SHOULD BE PHASED OUT AT THAT TIME AS A TOKEN INDICATION OF GVN (government of Vietnam) DETERMINATION TO PLAY A LARGER ROLE IN ITS OWN DEFENSE. 

HE (the South Vietnamese President) IS TAKING SOLACE IN THE PRESIDENT’S STATEMENT THAT THE U.S. HAS NEVER LOST A WAR AND IS NOT ABOUT TO LOSE THIS ONE.

These excerpts relate to an attempt by U.S. officials to assure the leadership of South Vietnam that the U.S. commitment to the war remained solid. In short, classifying a document as “Secret” or higher is not a testimonial to accuracy. The content is frequently propaganda. Indeed, secrets are in the eyes of the author. Consequently, much information under the label of confidentiality is relatively mundane. And plodding through stacks of classified material often raises the question, ”What is the big secret?”

Now for my secret. While serving in the Air Force many years ago in Okinawa, I was dispatched to mainland Japan as part of a two man team assigned to measure radar bomb scoring. Basically, we plotted the likely location of phantom bombs aimed at designated targets. Based on an array of factors—altitude, heading, wind drift, the point of “bombs away,” etc.—the score was calculated on a chart laminated to a flat 12-by-12 wood board. The chart was classified “Secret” because it allegedly mirrored the bombing approach to potential targets in the Soviet Union.

After 90 days on temporary duty in southern Japan, a plane was sent to return me to Okinawa’s Kadena Air Force Base. The aircraft was a B-25, which even then had been retired from strategic and/or combat use by the military (damn, I’m old). Unfortunately, the huge scoring chart was too big to fit into the bomb bay of plane. Following  after a few minutes of deep thought, everybody agreed that we throw the damn thing in the trash. Although I tried, I could not destroy the “secret” information on the chart. Thus with the acquiesence of the pilot, co-pilot and navigator—all of whom helped me haul it away—American secrets were stacked next to an air base trash pile. Given the fact that the U.S. never went to war with the Russians, I now feel comfortable revealing my secret.

I know the long ago tale is boring. I couldn’t even keep barroom pals interested in my drinking days. But in the future I promise to write about more intriguing secrets—like Elvis Presley’s income tax returns.

My memoir, Odyssey of a Derelict Gunslinger, is available at amazon.com and independent bookstores. It offers much more than $19.99 worth of laughs. The book is an account of my illustrious (I choose the adjectives) career.