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Targeting Whistleblowers: Truth Telling
Julian Assange Endangered
By Stephen Lendman
Al-Jazeerah: CCUN, June 14, 2010
More than ever under Obama, we live in a secret society, in which
whistleblowers and journalists are targeted for doing their job - why
Helen Thomas,
unfairly pilloried by the pro-Israeli chorus, last July said his
administration was "controlling the press," during a White House Robert
Gibbs briefing, then afterward added: "It's shocking. It's
really shocking....What the hell do they think we are, puppets? They're
supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay
them." On April 16, journalist John Cole
wrote:
"The message is clear - you torture people and then
destroy the evidence, and you get off without so much as a sternly worded
letter. If you are a whistle blower outlining criminal behavior by the
government, you get prosecuted." In fact, it's worse. Under
Bush, torture was official policy. It remains so under Obama who absolved
CIA torturers, despite unequivocal evidence of their guilt. But leaking it
risks criminal prosecution for revealing state secrets and endangering
national security. On June 7, New York Times writer Elisabeth
Bumiller headlined, "Army Leak Suspect Is Turned In, by Ex-Hacker,"
explaining that US Army intelligence analyst Specialist Bradley Manning told
Adrian Lamo that he leaked the following materials to WikiLeaks: --
"260,000 classified United States diplomatic cables and video of a (US)
airstrike in Afghanistan that killed 97 civilians last year," and --
an "explosive (39 minute) video of an American helicopter attack in Baghdad
that left 12 people dead, including two employees of the Reuters news
agency." Manning called it "collateral murder," a crime he felt obliged to
expose. Lamo told the military, saying "I outed Brad Manning as an
alleged leaker out of duty. I would never (and have never) outed an Ordinary
Decent Criminal. There's a difference." He didn't explain or how any
criminal can be decent. On June 7, the military command in Iraq
arrested Manning, saying in Pentagon boilerplate: "The Department of
Defense takes the management of classified information very seriously
because it affects our national security, the lives of our soldiers, and our
operations abroad." So far, Manning is uncharged and is being held
in Kuwait pending further action. On June 6 in wired.com, Kevin
Poulsen and Kim Zetter broke the story in their article headlined, "US
Intelligence Analyst Arrested in WikiLeaks Video Probe," explaining:
The Army's Criminal Investigation Division arrested Manning after Lamo outed
him. The State Department said it wasn't aware of the arrest.The FBI had no
comment, then later the Defense Department confirmed his arrest for
allegedly leaking classified information. According to army spokesman Gary
Tallman: "If you have a security clearance and wittingly or
unwittingly provide classified information to anyone who doesn't have
security clearance or a need to know, you have violated security regulations
and potentially the law." Manning said:
"Everywhere there's a US post, there's a diplomatic scandal that will
be revealed. It's open diplomacy. World-wide anarchy in CSV format. It's
Climategate with a global scope, and breathtaking depth. It's beautiful and
horrifying. (The documents describe) almost criminal political back
dealings. (They belong) in the public domain, and not on some server stored
in a dark corner in Washington, DC. (Our government is involved in)
incredible things, awful things." He exposed cold-blooded murder of
innocent civilians and reporters, the perpetrators laughing on video like it
was a game - the public unaware that Pentagon rules-of-engagement (ROEs)
target Iraqi and Afghan civilians as well as alleged combatants. On
June 11, New York Times writer Scott Shane headlined, "Obama Takes a Hard
Line Against Leaks to Press," saying: "In 17 months in office,
President Obama has already outdone every previous president in pursuing
leak prosecutions," citing actions against Thomas A. Drake (discussed
below), and Times columnist James Risen, subpoenaed (by Bush and Obama) to
disclose his sources for his book, "State of War: The Secret History of the
CIA and the Bush Administration." Lucy Dalglish, executive director
for Reporters Committee for Freedom, explained: "The message they
are sending to everyone is 'You leak to the media, we will get you.' As far
as I can tell there is absolutely no difference (between Bush and Obama),
and (he) seems to be paying more attention to it. This is going to get
nasty." Attorney General Eric Holder approved the subpoena, his
Justice Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, saying: "As a general matter,
we have consistently said that leaks of classified information are something
we take extremely seriously." Risen's lawyer, Joel Kurtzberg,
explained that the subpoena relates to his report about covert CIA measures
to subvert Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program. "We will be fighting to
quash" it, he said. "Jim is the highest calibre of reporter and adhered to
the highest standards of his profession. And he intends to honor the promise
of confidentiality he made to (his) source or sources." Risen's
publisher, Simon and Schuster, is handling the matter, but a Times statement
said: "Our view, however, is that confidential sources are vital in
getting information to the public, and a subpoena issued more than four
years after the book was published hardly seems to be important enough to
outweigh the protection an author needs to have." First brought in
2006 by Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the grand jury session
expired without resolution. Holder will impanel a new one. Risen faces
possible prosecution and jail time for honoring his confidentiality
commitment, what no reporter should ever violate. WikiLeaks - What
It Is, How It Operates Calling itself "the intelligence agency of
the people," WikiLeaks says it's "a multi-jurisdictional public service
designed to protect whistleblower, journalist and activists who have
sensitive materials to communicate to the public" that has a right to know.
Only when they're told "the true plans and behavior of their
governments" can they decide whether or not they deserve support, or as Jack
Kennedy said on April 27, 1961: "The very word secrecy is repugnant
in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and
historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret
proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and
unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers, which
are cited to justify it." WikiLeaks believes that "Principled
leaking has changed the course of history for the better; it can alter the
course of history in the present; it can lead us to a better future." It can
expose abuses of power by "rel(ying) upon the power of overt fact to enable
and empower citizens to bring feared and corrupt governments and
corporations to justice," and help make nominal democracies real ones.
Secrecy and Targeting Whistleblowers and Journalists
Under Obama More than ever under Obama, we live in a
secret society, in which whistleblowers and journalists are targeted for
doing their job - why Helen Thomas,
unfairly pilloried by the pro-Israeli chorus, last July said his
administration was "controlling the press," during a White House Robert
Gibbs briefing, then afterward added: "It's shocking. It's really
shocking....What the hell do they think we are, puppets? They're supposed to
stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them."
In a July 1, 2009 interview with CNSNews.com, she said even Nixon didn't
exert press control like Obama, saying: "Nixon didn't try to do that. They
couldn't control (the media). They didn't try....I'm not saying there has
never been managed news before, but this is carried to (a) fare-thee-well
for town halls, the press conferences. It's blatant. They don't give a damn
if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame."
In February 2009, the Free Flow of Information Act was introduced in the
House and Senate. In March, the lower body passed it overwhelmingly, after
which it stalled in Senate Committee. At the time, the Obama
administration weakened it in opposition to strong congressional support -
on the pretext of national security considerations over the public's right
to know, to let prosecutors judicially force reporters and whistleblowers to
reveal their sources. Though the bill never passed, the administration uses
it to prevent exposure of information it wants suppressed, more aggressively
than any of his predecessors, another measure of a man promising change.
Thomas Drake was an
Obama administration target, a former National Security Agency (NSA) "senior
executive," indicted on April 15, 2010, on multiple charges of "willful
retention of classified information, obstruction of justice and making false
statements," according to Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the
Criminal Division. The 10-count indictment alleges he gave Baltimore
Sun reporter Sibohan Gorman classified NSA documents about the agency. In
fact, she wrote about waste and mismanagement in its "Trailblazer" project
(a program analyzing data on computer networks), and illegal spying
activities, saying on May 18, 2006 in her article headlined, "NSA Killed
System That Sifted Phone Data Legally" that: "Once President Bush
gave the go-ahead for the NSA to secretly gather and analyze domestic phone
records - an authorization that carried no stipulations about identity
protection - agency officials regarded the encryption as an unnecessary step
and rejected it." Her stories, however, focused mainly on the
Trailblazer $1.2 billion initiative that one insider called "the biggest
boondoggle going on now in the intelligence community," what the public had
every right to know. Drake's leaks exposed illegal NSA spying, its
enormous amount of waste and fraud, and the formation of a public/private
national security/surveillance state, incentivizing profiteers to hype fear
for their own bottom-line self-interest. As a candidate, Obama
promised transparency, accountability, and reform of extremist Bush
policies. As president, he usurped unchecked surveillance powers, including
warrantless wiretapping, accessing personal records, monitoring financial
transactions, and tracking emails, Internet and cell phone use to gather
secret evidence for prosecutions. He also claims Justice Department immunity
from illegal spying suits, an interpretation no member of Congress or
administration ever made, not even Bush or his Republican allies. As
a result, his national security state targets activists, political
dissidents, anti-war protestors, Muslims, Latino immigrants, lawyers who
defend them, whistleblowers, journalists who expose federal crimes,
corruption, and excesses who won't disclose their sources, and WikiLeaks,
cited in a 2008 Pentagon report as a major US security threat, important to
shut down by deterring, discouraging or prosecuting its sources. More on
that below. At a time of extreme government secrecy, lawlessness,
and betrayal of the public trust, exposes and public debate more than ever
are vital - whistleblowers, WikiLeaks, and courageous reporters essential to
an open society, one endangered without them. WikiLeaks March 15,
2010 Release: "US Intelligence planned to destroy WikiLeaks" The
group's founder, Julian Assange,
described a 32-page February 2008 counterintelligence investigation "to
fatally marginalize the organization." However, after two years, without
success, at least so far. It called WikiLeaks "a potential force
protection, counterintelligence, operational security (OPSEC), and
information security (INFOSEC) threat to the US Army, (jeopardizing) DoD
personnel, equipment, facilities, or installations. Such information (could
help) foreign intelligence and security services (FISS), foreign military
forces, foreign insurgents, and foreign terrorist groups (by providing them)
information (they could use to attack) US force(s), both within the United
States and abroad" - typical Pentagon boilerplate to hype threats and deter
whistleblowers from exposing government crimes and excesses, what the public
has every right to know. In response, WikiLeaks said protecting the
identity of leakers takes high priority. It operates "to expose unethical
practices, illegal behavior, and wrongdoing within corrupt (government
agencies and) corporations (as well as) oppressive regimes" abroad, some in
collusion with Washington. The goal - expose wrongdoing, demand
accountability, and support democratic principles in a free and open society
- what governments are supposed to do, but when they don't, organizations
like WikiLeaks exhibit the highest form of patriotism, to be lauded, not
spied on, pilloried, or destroyed. Among its many accusations, DOD
claimed WikiLeaks: -- has possible DOD moles giving it sensitive or
classified information; -- uses its site to post fabricated and
manipulated information; -- has 2,000 pages of leaked army documents
with information about US and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan,
including on the kinds and numbers of equipment assigned to US Central
Command; -- Julian Assange wrote and co-authored articles, based on
leaked information, "to facilitate action by the US Congress to force the
withdrawal of US troops by cutting off funding for the war(s);" --
leaked information "could aid enemy forces in planning terrorist attacks,
(choose) the most effective type and emplacement of improvised explosive
devices (IEDs)" and use other ways to target US military units, convoys, and
bases; -- data published is misinterpreted, manipulated
misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda; -- a November 9,
2007 report said US forces "had almost certainly violated the Chemical
Weapons Convention (CWC)," and has 2,386 low grade chemical weapons in Iraq
and Afghanistan; -- the same report charged DOD with illegal white
phosphorous use in the 2004 Fallujah attack; -- the Bush
administration was accused of torture and denying ICRC representatives
access to Guantanamo detainees; -- details were provided on DOD's
use of asymmetric tactics, techniques, and procedures in the April 2004
Fallujah assault; and -- many other accusations and concerns were
listed, including whether "foreign organizations....foreign military
services, foreign insurgents, or terrorist groups provide funding or
material support to Wikileaks.org." DOD concluded that successfully
identifying, prosecuting, and terminating the employment of leakers "would
damage and potentially destroy" WikiLeaks' operation and deter others from
supplying information. It also stressed "the need for strong
counterintelligence, antiterrorism, force protection, information assurance,
INFOSEC, and OPSEC programs to train Army personnel" on ways to prevent
leaks and report "suspicious activities." Julian Assange is a man
with a mission - total transparency. WikiLeaks is a vital resource by
providing key information on how governments and corporations betray the
public interest. Given America's tradition of war crimes, corruption and
other abuses of power, no wonder DOD is concerned, thankfully so far without
success, or according to WikiLeaks: Its activities are "the
strongest way we have of generating the true democracy and good governance
on which all mankind's dreams depend," and may have a chance to achieve from
their work and others like them - grassroots activism, power and
determination, the only way change ever comes, never from the top down, a
lesson to internalize, remember, and act on. A Final Note On
June 10, Daily Beast writer Philip Shenon headlined, "Pentagon Manhunt,"
saying: "Anxious that WikiLeaks may be on the verge of publishing a
batch of secret State Department cables, investigators are desperately
searching for founder Julian Assange." In early June, he was
scheduled to speak at New York's Personal Democracy Forum, but was advised
against it for his safety. Instead, he appeared via Skype from Australia.
Interviewed about Assange, famed whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg believes
he could be in danger, saying: "I happen to have been the target of
a White House hit squad myself. On May 3, 1972, a dozen CIA assets from the
Bay of Pigs, Cuban emigres, were brought up from Miami with orders to
'incapacitate me totally.' " Ellsberg asked if that meant to kill him, and
was told "It means to incapacitate you totally. But you have to understand
these guys never use the word 'kill.' " Is Assange now in danger?
"Absolutely. On the same basis, I was....Obama is now proclaiming rights of
life and death, being judge, jury, and executioner of Americans without due
process" at home or abroad, besides non-citizens anywhere as well, the rule
of law be damned. "No president has ever claimed that and possibly no one
since John the First." Ellsberg's advice to Assange: "Stay
out of the US. Otherwise, keep doing what he is doing. It's pretty
valuable....He is serving our democracy and serving our rule of law
precisely by challenging the secrecy regulations, which are not laws in most
cases, in this country. He is doing very good work for our democracy,"
something Obama, like his predecessors, works daily to subvert.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to
cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio
News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time
and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy
listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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