One unfortunate consequence of the heroic work of WikiLeaks to uncover government crimes was that it prompted the government to be even more radical in their classification procedures and their crackdown on whistleblowers.

The good news is that excessive secrecy is expensive. And the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts the Pentagon is facing could hinder post-WikiLeaks secrecy measures.

Secrecy News reports:

Zachary J. Lemnios, the assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering, was asked by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to describe the “most significant” impacts on cybersecurity that could follow from the anticipated cuts to the Pentagon’s budget. Mr. Lemnios replied that “cuts under sequestration could hurt efforts to fight cyber threats, including […] improving the security of our classified Federal networks and addressing WikiLeaks.”

How tragic.

There are a million reasons to welcome the looming automatic cuts to defense budgets, not least of which is the fact that they are anything but “draconian,” despite what Pentagon spokesmen claim.

Inability to “address WikiLeaks” and keep more secrets could be another scare-story from this Pentagon official, an attempt to pressure Congress to fend off the sequester. But if it’s true, it’s just another reason to welcome it.

If only keeping Bradley Manning holed up for courageously leaking valuable public information were as prohibitively expensive.