According to press reports, the president has ordered an in-house review of whether the government is keeping too much information secret. He says he remains committed to an "unprecedented level of openness." But he continues to wield the "state secrets" privilege as President Bush did before him, claiming the right to decide what is national security and what is national embarrassment.

Why this turmoil about secrecy?  When goals are clear to help ourselves and others become better people, then openness follows automatically. However when we use the bugaboo of national security then secrecy becomes a justifiable behavior. As a nation of Self-builders we need to move beyond bugaboos, face our errors in the open and then set them right. The Provocative Qur'an is all about such positive Self-building; the best shortcut to achieving national security with international coexistence.