>I can't figure out why the government just doesn't remove the hard drives
>and send them to a shredder.  Even a private individual can achieve roughly
>the same level of security with a drill and a 1/2" drill bit. With the price
>of drives being what they are now it can't impact very much the resale value
>of the computer to sell it without a drive installed.

Shredders don't like metal, but there are things that'll make quick work of a drive:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/062706-guard-dog.html

The Air Force seemed to think a 1-2 punch was in order, according to Cryptome: "2.5. Destruction. It is a good practice to sanitize media before submitting it for destruction. Media may generally be destroyed by one of the following methods (see Table 2.1). (NOTE: Although approved methods, options d and e use acid, which is dangerous and excessive, to remove recording surfaces. Options a, b, and c are recommended over d and e.) "
http://cryptome.quintessenz.at/mirror/afssi5020.htm

-Sean