Brian Snyder / AP Photo
President Obama will withhold the release of millions of pages of military and intelligence documents even though the information was scheduled to be declassified at the end of the year. The decision runs counter to a White House that promised transparency and openness, the Boston Globe reports. The documents are all more than 25 years old, with some dating back to World War II. “The national-security bureaucracy is deeply entrenched and is not willing to give up some of the protections they feel they need for their documents," said a researcher at the National Security Archive. Critics fear that if Obama can extend deadlines at will, it sets a bad precedent for all future declassifications. “It is a bit of a test," said one Obama appointee. "You have an administration that has committed to certain things and tried to shape the direction, but then you have the bureaucracy which is very adept at resisting change.’’