Ethics, National Security and Bureaucratic Realities

Abstract

Some have characterized Oliver North's conviction in federal court, for lying to Congress among other things, as the criminalization of policy differences, whereas others have condemned his actions as subversive of constitutional checks and balances. Within the government, "designated liar" has become an unofficial title when selecting an agency official to give the "company line. "for Congress or the public. The commonplace acceptance, even expectation, of official lying as exemplified by North is merely accepted as a fact of governmental life. What is it about the culture of national security decision making that makes lying an acceptable form of behavior? The authors have found that some of the real-world factors that shape individual behavior include organizational indoctrination, access to information, succumbing to that cult-like mystique of routine access to classified information, and national-security policy making itself.