<a href="http://www.alternet.org">Alternet</a> published <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12169">The Day Ashcroft Foiled the FOIA</a> about one of the more disturbing actions of the U.S. Attorney General. On October 12th, 2001: <span class="quote"><q>In a memo that slipped beneath the political radar, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft vigorously urged federal agencies to resist most Freedom of Information Act requests made by American citizens. ... When coupled with President Bush's Nov. 1 executive order that allows him to seal all presidential records since 1980, the effect is positively chilling.</q></span> The article goes on to describe many instances of the use of FOIA in news reporting that unearthed illicit goings-on in the government. Are these the requests that Ashcroft wants to deny? What, exactly, is the "War on Terrorism" being used as an excuse to hide?