The recent takedown of a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) web page and a new Department of Defense (DoD) memo provide two more examples of the Bush administration’s penchant for altering information to fit its interests. According to a Dec. 18, 2003 Washington Post article, USAID recently removed a speech by its administrator, Andrew Natsios, claiming that taxpayers would not have to spend more than $1.7 billion on Iraq reconstruction efforts. The figures apparently angered White House staff, especially when the cost rose much higher. The speech, previously posted on the USAID website, disappeared last fall. When questioned about the web takedown, a USAID spokesperson claimed the agency was going to be charged to access the transcript by ABC; the network aired the Natsios interview during “Nightline.” ABC news stated there is never a charge or a problem with the government linking to interview transcripts. Although the USAID web deletion is just one incident, DoD is instituting policies that will have a greater effect on its site. The (DoD) Inspector General issued a memorandum Dec. 5, 2003 that severely restricts how public information is posted by the IG to the DoD website. In addition to the usual classified information and information marked OFFICIAL USE ONLY being withheld, three new restrictions appear – information of questionable value to the general public, information that would pose risks to the armed forces, and information not specifically approved for public release. This type of policy statement is at odds with the government classification system and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provisions that grant exemptions to restrict truly sensitive information from public dissemination. It is certainly not within the DoD’s scope to determine if the general public will find value in certain information – the public has a right to the information regardless. In a Jan. 5 letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the National Press Club voices some of these concerns while urging a reconsideration of the policy. The letter points out that a policy such as this “threatens public access to information vital to the proper functioning of our democracy.” Numerous other government web sites have also changed or removed information. President Bush’s May 1, 2003 speech on the White House web site entitled “President Bush Announces Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended” was later changed so it read “Major Combat Operations.” The administration’s political views altered other websites including a CDC fact sheet on condoms and the removal of the climate change section of last year’s EPA Report on the Environment.