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Focuses on the climate in the United States of keeping sensitive security information (SSI) concealed for fear that terrorists may use the information. Comments from Melissa Rudinger of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association regarding the policy requiring pilots not to fly near nuclear reactors while the government keeps the location of reactors a secret; History of the concept of SSI, which originated in 1974 and has expanded under 2002's Homeland Security Act; Reference to another information classification called "Sensitive but Unclassified" (SBU); Other classifications of certain types of information, including FOUO (For Official Use Only) and UCNI (Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information), indicating the government's desire to keep information that is not considered top-secret from being released to the public; Comments from Jack Johnson Jr., the former chief security officer for the Department of Homeland Security, regarding the kind of information that is vital to national security.

Reports that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is in communication with a Pentagon official suspected of passing secrets to Israel. How the FBI is seeking to gain the cooperation of analyst Larry Franklin in their espionage investigation, according to government officials; Possibility that Franklin provided classified documents to a pro-Israel lobbying group, which included a sensitive report about U.S. policy toward Iran; Why U.S. policy toward Iran is of critical importance to Israel; Background on the inquiry; Potential political implications of the case.

Reports that Samuel R. Berger resigned as a senior adviser to presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign after the disclosure that he had improperly removed classified material on terrorism from a secure government reading room. Criticism of Berger from Republican leaders who accused him of crossing lines of national security in an effort to improve Kerry's campaign; Acknowledgement that Berger removed copies of classified documents related to a failed 1999 terrorist plot to bomb the Los Angeles airport; How Berger did not want his actions to detract from Kerry's candidacy.

Discusses how the hearings of the September 11 commission and its preliminary findings have made clear that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda were a threat that was recognized and discussed at the highest levels of the U.S. government. Suggestion by some commission members that the attacks could have been prevented; Political implications of the examination; Focus on previously classified information given to two presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and their senior advisors; Overview of the findings, including missed opportunities amid a stream of warnings; Ways that the attacks might have been prevented; Counterterrorism approaches of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Argues that while the United States must do a better job of protecting national security, relevant legislation that has been approved by the U.S. Congress would be detrimental to the public's interest. Attachment of a prison sentence to any disclosure of classified information; Need for a definition of classified information; Inadequate protection of secrets at nuclear weapons laboratories; Scandals including the loss of a laptop computer which contained secret information.