News coverage of Operation Desert Storm has made it all too clear that despite the efforts of a highly trained and courageous press corps, the information reported to the American public is severely limited by
restrictions imposed by the Pentagon.
The most frightening and dangerous implication of these restrictions, which include limits on travel and military censorship, is the impact on the public`s right to know.
While everyone agrees that our troops should not be jeopardized by the release of sensitive information, neither should our citizens` right to make informed decisions.
The governing council of the 50,000-member American Library Association is urging that the current Department of Defense restrictions on journalists in the Persian Gulf be withdrawn immediately.
The libraries of the United States have the responsibility of providing full and necessary information to enable citizens to participate in self-government. Historians, scientists, students and citizens of all ages and interests turn to libraries as vital sources of information about events in the Middle East.
As the nation`s information professionals, librarians advocate, preserve, protect and defend the exercise of free expression. We do so because we believe in its importance and its power. The restrictions threaten the ability of librarians to provide needed information now and in the future.
We ask that others who share these concerns join us in urging President Bush, Secretary of Defense Cheney and Congress to grant members of the press corps the freedom they need to report fully and accurately on the Persian Gulf.
