The Lessons of Classified Information: From Mossadegh to Snowden

For connoisseurs of irony, there was much to savor in the timing of Monday’s announcement from the White House that, while it had been notified in advance of what was likely to happen, it had nothing to do with the British government’s decision to detain David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, at Heathrow airport, hold him for nine hours, and strip him of his laptop, cell phone, and various other possessions. Absolutely nothing to do with us, was the White House line: strictly a matter for our British friends. “This is a decision they made on their own,” said the aptly named spokesman Josh Earnest.

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