Thursday, October 18, 2007

DND's "Best effort" reply, Sept 17, 2007 (exactly one year after NATO announced it had captured 136 Taliban in "Operation Medusa")....




All 73 pages are posted here: http://picasaweb.google.com/nkitson/DNDBestEffort17Sep07

None of the information I requested is in this response. For Kafka fans and others who have been driven mad dealing with large organizations, I point out that the complete lack of information in this response is of three types:

1. The letter from Julie Jansen stating that the attached is their "best effort" response, and that some information may have been omitted pursuant to Sections 15 (security) and 19 (privacy) of the Access to Information Act. The letter contains no other information.

2. The attached 73 pages of operational reports from the field, excepting page 53 which has been omitted pursuant to Sections 15 and 19 of the Access to Information Act, from which all information other than headings has been redacted.

3. Page 53, which has been omitted altogether, pursuant to Sections 15 and 19 of the Access to Information Act.

You have to admire the ruthless efficiency. It's not clear to me why page 53 was singled out for particular attention, maybe it contained information that the DND believes is even more secret than in the other 72 pages that were merely whited out. It's a distinction that only a few of us Kafka enthusiasts would make.