Since the 1970s, the Freedom of Information Act has brought about the release of a great deal of information. In addition, the various intelligence agencies, notably the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency have robust declassification programs, releasing both to the National Archives and the web great volumes of intelligence documents. (Note, for instance, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Corona, and Venona releases.)

These efforts continued during the Bush Administration. (E.g. declassification of SIGINT pertaining to the attack on the Liberty, NSA’s official history of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, release of the CIA’s “Family Jewels,” releases of intelligence estimates on China and Vietnam, release of once very sensitive HUMINT reporting on the Warsaw Pact, etc.) There are almost no American WWII-era intelligence records that are still classified. Compare this to Soviet KGB and GRU records from that era which are mostly still secret.

It is also worth noting that there are two major museums in the United States devoted to intelligence and open to the public. One is the National Cryptologic Museum, associated with the National Security Agency and the other is the International Spy Museum. (Full disclosure: I am the Historian at the latter.)

LK: There’s nothing in the article that says the Russians are better at declassifying intelligence than the Americans. I look forward to visiting the International Spy Museum.