Unnecessary secrecy is making the difficult fight against the closure of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the reductions at Brunswick Naval Air Station tougher, and that’s likely the intent.

Disguised as an effort to protect homeland security, the Pentagon’s reluctance to share the data it used to draw up its hit list of military bases is an abuse of power that hampers Maine’s ability to evaluate the decision-making process and make a successful counter–argument.

Four members of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, including Chairman Anthony Principi, visited Portsmouth on Wednesday, where they were met with a significant show of solidarity with the base by the community. Today, the group is scheduled to visit Brunswick.

With the visits, the hope is that members of the BRAC Commission will see the vital role the two bases play in the economic and cultural lives of their host communities. About 7,000 jobs are directly at stake, and 5,000 others would likely be affected, according to estimates from the State Planning Office. In all, the reduced personnel at Brunswick and the closures in Limestone and Portsmouth could cost the state more than $465 million a year.

But all the visits in the world will matter little if the Pentagon continues to stonewall the state’s congressional delegation and governor and refuses to release information concerning its reasoning. Precious little of the information has been released to the public.

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, Reps. Mike Michaud and Tom Allen, Gov. Baldacci and the communities around the bases only have a short time to make their case. The commission must deliver to the president and Congress its list of base closures and realignments by Sept. 8. The clock is ticking.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld often acts as if his decisions are beyond question. Military leaders have been sacked for publicly disagreeing with the secretary, and the refusal to release pertinent information about base closings to members of Congress and the governor continues the disturbing pattern of keeping information buried behind a wall of excuses. It’s so bad that Sen. Collins, along with other senators, has threatened to subpoena the records.

More information is coming, we’re told. But this process is shutting the people and their representatives out of the process. It’s no wonder rumors abound and political motives – namely payback for Maine’s Democratic leanings – are blamed for the closures.

Already, members of Maine’s congressional delegation have had to shoot down rumors that a nuclear waste dump could be located at one of the bases if they do, indeed, close. The idea was sparked by a report in the May 28 Boston Globe, which reported that the U.S. House Appropriations Committee’s energy and water bill included $15.5 million for construction of a temporary dump. No location was mentioned, but skittery New Englanders read between the lines. The idea was knocked down by Rep. Allen, who told the Portland Press Herald the idea of a nuclear dump in Maine was “crazy,” and by the state’s two senators. When information is hidden, rumor can easily replace fact in the public consciousness.

The Pentagon should promptly release its data on base closures. Anything else cheats the state out of the opportunity to make its case publicly.