The good:
1). Everyone can request files using the FOIA program. This is
really useful for those of us that are non-US citizens.
2). The agencies involved respond in a professional manner,
assign case numbers, send letters detailing the progress of the case etc.
3). The FOIA departments that I had contact with responded
quickly to emails.
Overall, from 2012 till 2018 I received 1 file from the CIA
FOIA department, 1 file from the US national archives FOIA department and 20
files from the NSA FOIA department.
Total page count for this material was about ~1.300. So, I’m
satisfied with the material I received.
The bad
1). The main problem was that my cases took too long to be
processed. Files that had been previously declassified were sent to me quickly,
however new cases that required review of the documents took years to complete.
Most of the files that I received from the NSA were
requested in early 2012 and released in the second half of 2017.
2). For several of my cases the NSA FOIA department’s
response was that the relevant files had been sent to the US national archives
(NARA) and that I should request them from them instead. However, the document
transfer numbers they gave me were in all cases incorrect.
In fact, it was the opinion of the NARA FOIA staff that the
NSA was purposefully misleading me. I do not believe that to be true, instead I
believe that they simply do not always know what kind of material they are
sending to NARA.
The ugly
For whatever reason some of the people at the US national
archives FOIA department were rude and/or passive aggressive. I did not let
that interfere with my research till 2018 when I finally had enough and I
cancelled my remaining two cases.
Conclusion
In conclusion I’d like to say that I am grateful for the
existence of the FOIA program since I received many interesting files that
contained valuable information.
Ideally, I would have liked to receive this material years
in advance but c'est la vie…
Having said that, if I had to use the FOIA program again today I
wouldn’t do it due to the great delay in the processing of the cases and the
NSA FOIA department’s strategy of ‘reviewing’ a case for years and then
informing me that the file has been sent to NARA and giving me incorrect
transfer numbers.
If you are a US citizen it’s best to use the mandatory
declassification review program. If you (like me) are not a US citizen,
then there are simply no good choices…