Massive Demonstration By Wikileaks Whistleblower Supporters

There are always two sides to a story, specially THIS story. There are many who call Bradley Manning a traitor for handing over the US Military documents to WikiLeaks, while another faction call him a whistle-blowing hero. A group of the latter have organized a massive demonstration at Beale Air Force Base. Which side are you on?
    . . . June

 --------------------------
Supporters of Wikileaks Whistleblower Organize a Massive Protest:

News Blaze Published: December 29, 2010

BEALE AFB - In a major end-of-year protest, military personnel here will be encouraged to support fellow serviceman Bradley Manning, who allegedly provided WikiLeaks the 'collateral murder' video and thousands of confidential military documents revealing U.S. war crimes.

The demonstration, also targeting killer drones flown out of Beale AFB, starts today at the Beale AFB (west side/main gate) at 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and then 3:30 p.m. through 5:30 p.m.

Protesters from Veterans for Peace, CodePINK and other groups locally and from San Francisco and Sacramento are demanding "basic constitutional principles and human rights" for Manning, a 22-year-old Army private being held under inhumane conditions.

"He has been cruelly treated for seven months under conditions that many would consider torture.......for revealing the truth to the world community about the failed 'war on terror,'" said Toby Blome of CodePINK.

Protesters are encouraging military personnel at Beale AFB to support Manning, and resist war and the use of the drones.

CodePINK Bay Area will join with the Peace Center of Nevada County to hold banners and other "visuals" (including giant puppets). CodePINK has held similar actions in Nevada and other locations protesting the use of killer drones in the Middle East that kill innocent civilians.

"If we can't stop our government from continuing these costly, endless and immoral occupations, our only other option is to encourage military personnel to become war resisters. We want service men and women who control drones, thousands of miles from the battlefield, to be the change to end war," said Blome.

Read entire article

-----------------------\

Julian Assange Is NOT Time's Person of the Year in 2010

The online vote for Time's Person of the Year was won handily by Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, but the prize was given to the Facebook founder instead.Time Magazine has named Mark Zuckerberg Time's Person of the Year, according to the article below, with some explanation of Time's decision.





Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, named Time's Person of the Year 2010:
washingtonpost.com Wednesday, December 15, 2010; 12:11 PM


Time magazine has named Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO their Person of the Year 2010. As Hayley Tsukayama reported:

Time magazine named Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg Person of the Year for 2010. Zuckerberg, 26, owns about a quarter of Facebook's shares and is, to quote Time, "a billionaire six times over."

After pledging earlier this year to give $100 million to the Newark, N.J., school system, Zuckerberg last week joined the Giving Pledge--the effort led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to convince some of the country's richest to give away most of their wealth. Others that have joined the campaign include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media titan Barry Diller, CNN founder Ted Turner and filmmaker George Lucas.

On his Facebook page, Zuckerberg on Wednesday commented that "Being named as Time Person of the Year is a real honor and recognition of how our little team is building something that hundreds of millions of people want to use to make the world more open and connected. I'm happy to be a part of that."

As Melissa Bell explained, the online vote for Person of the Year was won handily by Julian Assange, but the prize was given to the Facebook founder instead:  Despite Julian Assange handily winning the online vote, the editors of Time opted for Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, as their person of the year. The editor's letter said, "There is an erosion of trust in authority, a decentralizing of power and at the same time, perhaps, a greater faith in one another," and that Zuckerberg is at the center of these changes

Read entire article

WikiLeaks Prompts Military Ban Of Removable Media On SIPRNET

 There's always more that can be done. According to the article below, the U.S.Military has now apparently issued a directive to"immediately cease use of removable media on all systems, servers, and stand alone machines residing on SIPRNET", the Defense Departments secure computer network. This is seemingly in response of the leak of classified data by WikiLeaks. Better late than never I guess!

     . . .  June

--------------------
In Wake of WikiLeaks, Military Bans Removable Media
Maximum PC:Posted 12/10/10 at 02:40:18 PM  by Ryan Whitwam

Wired is reporting that the Air Force commander of Network Operations has issued a new directive seemingly in response to the leak of classified data to whistleblower site WikiLeaks. The Dec. 3 “Cyber Control Order” calls on the Air Force to “immediately cease use of removable media on all systems, servers, and stand alone machines residing on SIPRNET.' SPIRNET is the Defense Department's secure computer network.

The data being released by WikiLeaks was taken from SPIRNET by Pfc. Bradley Manning, who smuggled them out on a CD labeled "Lady Gaga". The new directive seeks to keep this from happening again. However, this is far from the first attempt to seal leaks. In August the Pentagon disabled the ability of all classified computers to write to removable media.

Critics suspect that the new restrictions will make the job harder for service members. Many PCs are not networked for security reasons, and internet access can be spotty in various places. Thumb drives and discs are often the only good way to move data around. We would also like to point out that even a machine's hard drive is removable, if you know your way around a PC. Taking data might be less surreptitious, but we don't see how it can be stopped altogether.


Read entire article


--------------------------

Moscow Times says " WikiLeaks Is Fighting the WRONG Enemy"

According to the following article from the the Moscow Times, Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks has been fighting the wrong enemy. By exposing the U.S. classified documents he has made it easier for the Taliban to capture, torture and kill the secret informants in Afghanistan who are working for the U.S. military. The reporter here suggests that he instead should have aimed his guns towards fighting North Korean dictators, al-Qaida or the drug mafia. Maybe he's right!
     . . . June


---------------------------
WikiLeaks Is Fighting the Wrong Enemy
Opinion | The Moscow Times:

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is wanted in Sweden to face rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion charges, was driven by one noble principle — that good should prevail over evil. The computer genius — aka the “Robin Hood of hackers” — founded WikiLeaks to expose evil and injustice throughout the world.

But Assange’s guns were aimed at the wrong target. Instead of being used to fight North Korean dictators, al-Qaida or the drug mafia, Assange fired on the U.S. military. In July, WikiLeaks published more than 76,900 documents on the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, and in October it released about 400,000 documents connected with the war in Iraq.

The documents make for an interesting read, although the majority contain no classified information. The only problem is that Assange’s leaks make it easier for the Taliban to capture, torture and kill the secret informants in Afghanistan who are working for the U.S. military. For this, al-Qaida counterintelligence should bestow Assange the Bin Laden Award for outstanding service in the fight against U.S. infidels.

Making his contribution to the fight against the global center of evil and tyranny, Assange decided not to linger long in any one place. In September, he flew from Stockholm to Berlin, checking his bags containing three laptop computers with encrypted information. The computers disappeared, and the computer wonder boy was shocked.

“We have been attacked by the United States,” he complained to a New York Times reporter.

What Assange didn’t take into account was that he had attacked the United States first. It actually never occurred to the infantile self-proclaimed champion of truth and justice that a person who had aided al-Qaida counterintelligence should never pack laptop computers into his checked baggage. Neither should the Australian-born Casanova sleep with any young Swedish beauty who bats her eyes at him. It could easily be a trap.

There is a simple reason why Assange targeted his attacks on the United States, not on tyrants and butchers, who are not known for their computer literacy. Imagine that instead of exposing tens of thousands of detailed, technical documents about U.S. operations in Afghanistan, Assange had decided to expose cannibalism in the Congo. Not much would have come of it because, unfortunately, Jean-Pierre Bemba — a former vice president of the Congolese provisional government in 2003-06 and a man who is now being tried in the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes against humanity and war crimes — did not keep computerized records of the number of pygmies his troops ate for dinner. What’s more, Congolese cannibals probably don’t even know what a computer is.

The syndrome from which Assange suffers is the same problem afflicting most members of the infantile left. They start with the self-absorbed goal of becoming famous by declaring a noble fight against tyranny and evil. They then proceed into battle without ever once tearing their faces away from the computer screen. They forget that, in the first place, the same battle is already being fought by professionals working for Mossad and the CIA.

For someone in the public eye and without any significant credentials, that path leads more often to shame than fame. That is why it is much easier for a computer wizard like Assange to fight against democratic nations that document their actions on computers rather than fighting against real tyranny and evil in the world.


Read entire article


------------------------------

 What do you think about the opinions in this article? Are you on the side of the whisleblower?  Plkease leave a comment.


June

Are VISA and PAYPAL Targets of Retaliation By WikiLeaks Supporters?

Some major companies who suspended services to WikiLeaks in the wake of its publication of secret diplomatic cables includes Visa, MasterCard, Paypal and Amazon, according to the article below. These companies are now facing vigilante online retaliation from WikiLeaks supporters and hackers who are flooding and sometimes overwhelming Visa.com, Mastercard.com and PayPal.com’s servers with traffic. Oh My! That's technology!
     . . . June

-------------------------
Key Lawmakers Up Pressure on WikiLeaks and Defend Visa and Mastercard
Threat Level | Wired.com:

Senator Joe Lieberman, who was instrumental in persuading Amazon.com to kick WikiLeaks off its webhosting service, came to the defense Thursday of companies denying services to the secret-spilling site, saying they are “doing the right thing as good corporate citizens.”

The list of companies that have suspended services to WikiLeaks in the wake of its publication of secret, and politically embarrassing, U.S. diplomatic cables includes Visa, MasterCard, Paypal and Amazon. The cables were allegedly leaked to the organization by a disgruntled military intelligence analyst.

Lieberman said these companies “deserve the support of the American people.” He issued the statement as the companies are facing vigilante online retaliation from WikiLeaks supporters who are staging virtual sit-ins by flooding and sometimes overwhelming Visa.com, Mastercard.com and PayPal.com’s servers with traffic. However, the attacks have had little effect on the company’s payment operations.

“The WikiLeaks data dump has jeopardized U.S. national interests and the lives of intelligence sources around the world,” Lieberman said, though there is no proof or even detailed allegations that the release has endangered any intelligence source.

“This is no time for business as usual,” continued the Senator (I-Connecticut), who currently heads the Senate Homeland Security committee. “While corporate entities make decisions based on their obligations to their shareholders, sometimes full consideration of those obligations requires them to act as responsible citizens. We offer our admiration and support to those companies exhibiting courage and patriotism as they face down intimidation from hackers sympathetic to WikiLeaks’ philosophy of irresponsible information dumps for the sake of damaging global relationships.

Lieberman has also called for the Justice Department to look into whether the New York Times should be charged with a crime for its reporting and re-publishing of some of the cables.

Separately, the incoming head of the House Homeland Security Committee Pete King (R-New York) introduced Thursday an anti-WikiLeaks measure that would make it illegal to publish the names of military or intelligence community informants.

“WikiLeaks presents a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States, and Julian Assange, an enemy of the U.S, should be prosecuted under the Espionage Act,” Shields said in a press release. “This legislation will give the Attorney General additional tools to do just that.”




Read entire article


--------------------------------------

Julian Assange of WikiLeaks Under Arrest!

Julian Assange of WikiLeaks has been arrested on a Swedish warrant, according to the article from Bloomberg.com below. This arrest has nothing to do with the previous release of massive numbers of classified U.S. Military and State Department documents, but rather about rape allegations from August 2010. Many people appear to be very happy to see Assange out of commission, which makes one wonder whether there are ulterior motives behind this arrest.
    . . . June.

WikiLeaks’ Founder Assange Appears in U.K. Court on Rape Charge
Bloomberg: By James Lumley and Erik Larson - Dec 7, 2010 9:13 AM ET

Julian Assange, founder of the WikiLeaks website that leaked thousands of classified U.S. military and State Department documents, appeared in a London court after being arrested on a Swedish warrant.

Assange, 39, appeared at City of Westminster Magistrate’s Court today before Judge Howard Riddle. Assange was arrested “by appointment” today at 9:30 a.m. after Swedish police requested the Australian’s detention.

WikiLeaks, created in 2006, has been the subject of a U.S. criminal probe since it posted thousands of classified documents on its website, including U.S. embassy communications and a military video of a July 2007 helicopter attack in Iraq that killed a Reuters television cameraman and his driver.

The arrest follows a European warrant on one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape allegedly committed in August 2010, the police’s extradition unit said today in an e-mailed statement. Mark Stephens, Assange’s U.K. lawyer, has said his client had consensual sex with the women.
The alleged crimes took place in Stockholm and Enkoeping while Assange was in Sweden lecturing about publishing classified U.S. military documents related to the war in Afghanistan.
Stephens, of the firm Finers Stephens Innocent LLP in London, who regularly represents several media organizations including Bloomberg News, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on the arrest.
WikiLeaks receives confidential material and posts the information on the Internet “so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth,” the organization says on its website.



Read entire article


-------------------------------

Massive New Document Release Promised By WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks,  the whistleblower organization, indicated that it is preparing to release a new batch of previously classified U.S. military documents, according to the article below. In October, WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 U.S. military reports about operations in Iraq. In July, it released more than 70,000 reports from the war in Afghanistan and this next release promises to be much, much larger. If I were WikiLeaks, I'd get out of the country!
     ....June

--------------------------
Wikileaks promises massive new document release
CNN.com: Bythe CNN Wire Staff November 22, 2010 12:50 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- The whistleblower organization WikiLeaks indicated Monday that it is preparing to release a new batch of previously classified U.S. military documents.

'Next release is 7x the size of the Iraq War Logs,' the group stated via Twitter. 'Intense pressure over it for months. Keep us strong.'

In October, WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 U.S. military reports about operations in Iraq. In July, it released more than 70,000 reports from the war in Afghanistan.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said last month that the Defense Department has been bracing for the release of more secrets by WikiLeaks. Lapan said WikiLeaks has more Pentagon material beyond what the group's founder, Julian Assange, has admitted publicly to possessing.

The military has charged Pfc. Bradley Manning with leaking video to WikiLeaks, as well as downloading documents from military computers while he served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. Among the documents he is alleged to have taken are 150,000 diplomatic cables. WikiLeaks has denied being in possession of those cables.

Manning is currently being held at a military jail in Quantico, Virginia.

The Stockholm Criminal Court recently issued an international arrest warrant for Assange, saying he is suspected of rape, sexual molestation and illegal use of force.

Read entire article

-------------------------------

Should those US Classified documents remain classified for the safety of the American Forces overseas?  Or do you believe that it was right to be a whistleblower with reference to those documents. Which side are you on? Leave a comment

June

---------------------------------

'LEAKING' CONFESSION by WikiLeaks Boss Julian Assange?

 WikiLeaks CEO Julian Assange has told of the despair caused by his constant urge to leak all over the internet, according to the tongue-in-cheek article below. Although the piece is very entertaining, it probably contains some nuggets of truth. Julian Assange has opened some large Pandora's Boxes and has been targeted by some pretty scary people. Be careful Julian!
     . . . June


-------------------------------------
"How The Internet Ruined My Life" by WikiLeaks Boss:

by Rimbaud Bawdy  November 10th, 2010

REYKJAVIK - Iceland - The head of the WikiLeaks website, Julian Assange, has told of the despair caused by his constant urge to leak all over the internet.


'I have this irresistible urge to leak all over the World Wide Web. Sometimes, I have to be locked away from an internet connection. Please, I need help, my leaking is getting out of hand,' Mr Assange told Wired magazine.


The WikiLeaks boss is so dedicated to leaking that he is permanently glued to the internet via a special internet goggles headset. He is so engrossed in his leaking activities that he sometimes does not even have time to eat or pass bodily functions for days at a time.

His long suffering girlfriend, Matilda Huberstinka, speaks about Assange's ailing condition: "Julian doesn't sleep but leaks all through the night, then if he hears something from a military or CIA source, his leaking gets more pronounced. Sometimes I try to feed him Twinkies or M&M's through a makeshift tube linked to his quivering mouth, sometimes I put a few shrimps on the barbie and he eats those. I get to change his nappies three or four times a day because his constant leaking means he doesn't do conventional bathroom breaks. We also have to keep moving, from motel to motel, which can be a problem too. If the American government gets wind of where we're staying, then we soon get these sinister looking assholes in grey suits turning up. You ever tried to change a grown man's nappy whilst being pursued by crazed secret servicemen on a mission to bust you for leaking the truth.

No doubt, Mr Assange's brave leaking is a breath of fresh air in a world where the media is so tightly controlled by governments worldwide, so in this respect, Mr Assange should be commended for his dutiful role as the world's foremost leaker extraordinaire..

Read More


-----------------------------

I still think that Julian Assange is a very brave person to take on the US Government as well as lots of other high profile organizations - or is that just being foolhardy?  Leave a comment.


June


-----------------

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Founder Considers Asylum in Switzerland

 Julian Assange, Founder of WikiLeaks is considering applying for asylum in Switzerland, according to the article below. He certainly has ruffled a lot of feathers with the leaked documents about US Military secrets and he's threatening releases of other US documents as well as some from other "repressive" regimes. No wonder he needs asylum. Watch your back Julian!
    . . . June


--------------------

WikiLeaks founder mulls asylum in Switzerland:
The Associated Press
GENEVA (AP) — The founder of WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowers' Web site, said Friday he may apply for asylum in Switzerland, claiming he and his group have come under increasing pressure since releasing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. military documents.

Julian Assange told reporters he was 'still looking into the process' of requesting asylum, but was considering the Alpine country because 'the Swiss have a history of fierce independence.'

In October, Sweden denied Assange's application for a residence permit. The 39-year-old Australian had sought to establish a base for WikiLeaks in Sweden to take advantage of its laws protecting whistle-blowers.

Prosecutors in the Scandinavian country are still investigating rape and sexual molestation allegations against Assange by two Swedish women. Assange has denied the allegations.

Assange was speaking Friday at the United Nations in Geneva after a meeting organized by the Iranian Elite Research Center, a U.N.-accredited group based in Tehran.

He has urged U.S. authorities to probe possible rights abuses by American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq following the publication by his group of almost 500,000 secret U.S. documents about the wars there.

U.S. State Department legal adviser Harold Koh dismissed the call Friday, saying information in the leaked files was already known to U.S. authorities and hundreds of investigations into suspected abuses in Afghanistan and Iraq had taken place.

Assange, a veteran computer hacker, established WikiLeaks in 2006 and it has obtained secret documents, stored them outside the reach of governments, then released them globally.

That has included 391,832 secret documents on the Iraqi war and some 77,000 classified Pentagon documents on the Afghan conflict.


Read More


------------------

Is WikiLeaks Planning To LEAK SECRETS About Russia the China?

 If I were Julian Assange, I think it might be time to back off. Russia and China could be rather dangerous enemies. According to the following article, Assange told the global media that new leaks will expose more secrets not only about the U.S. military but about other 'repressive regimes,' such as Russia and China. Be careful what feathers you ruffle!
    . . . June

-------------------------------
WikiLeaks: Is Russia the Next Target?
TIME:  By Simon Shuster / Moscow Monday, Nov. 01, 2010

Say what you will about Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, but his work has shown him to be pretty fearless. After his site published the biggest cache of secret files in U.S. history on Oct. 22, detailing some of the ugly truths about the war in Iraq, he continued to travel around Europe despite U.S. reprimands and warnings. He even told the global media that new leaks will expose more secrets not only about the U.S. military but about other 'repressive regimes,' such as Russia and China.

The signals coming from Moscow, however, suggest that the Russian reaction will not be as reserved as America's. So is WikiLeaks really ready to take on the world's more callous states?

It's certainly talking the talk. In an interview published on Tuesday in Russia's leading daily newspaper Kommersant, WikiKeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said that "Russian readers will learn a lot about their country" after one of the site's upcoming document dumps. "We want to tell people the truth about the actions of their governments."






So far Russia has had no official response. But on Wednesday, an official at the Center for Information Security of the FSB, Russia's secret police, gave a warning to WikiLeaks that showed none of the tact of the U.S. reply to the Iraq revelations. "It's essential to remember that given the will and the relevant orders, [WikiLeaks] can be made inaccessible forever," the anonymous official told the independent Russian news website LifeNews.


Read more:

-------------------------------------------

Daniel Ellsberg Endorses the WikiLeaks Publication of Iraq War Log

 There appears to be a direct correlation between Daniel Ellsberg, once called 'The most dangerous man in America' and Julian Assange of WikiLeaks. According to the article below, Ellsberg famously leaked 7,000 pages of Pentagon documents much as Assange is now leaking Pentagon Documents.
   . . . June

----------------------


The 'most dangerous man in America':
gulfnews

Daniel Ellsberg, former US military analyst, speaks during a press conference in London to endorse the WikiLeaks publication of almost 400,000 Iraq war logs last week

The 'most dangerous man in America' is how former US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger once described the man. But in person Daniel Ellsberg is anything but. Down to earth, friendly and a bit jetlagged is how I find the 79-year-old former military analyst when we meet in London — where he had journeyed to attend the largest intelligence leak in US history by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Nearly 40 years ago, long before Julian Assange became a household name, Ellsberg famously leaked 7,000 pages of Pentagon documents which are said to have helped bring to an end the Vietnam War.

There are, of course, key differences between the ways the two leaks were conducted. For one, in Ellsberg's case, back in 1969, the internet wasn't an option when it came to spreading the word. He had to copy the Pentagon Papers on a slow Xerox machine in the small advertising agency of a friend while his 10-year-old daughter cut the words "Top Secret" off the top and bottom of the pages. His son helped too.

It wasn't a decision he had taken lightly. Ellsberg risked life in prison for carrying through with the task he had set himself. Yet he wanted his children to know their father wasn't a traitor, that he felt what he was doing was right for the country. A top Pentagon official at the time, working for the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg spent months smuggling out the papers in his briefcase after becoming deeply unhappy with the long war in Vietnam which was ongoing under President Nixon at the time. The documents exposed the lies and cover-ups the American people had been fed about the war.

He initially tried releasing the documents through politicians, but when that didn't work out, Ellsberg got the New York Times and Washington Post involved. With some difficulty, the information was finally released in 1971. Ellsberg went on the run but was eventually arrested and charged under the Espionage Act. He was acquitted in 1973 after gross government misconduct and illegal evidence gathering were revealed.

Read entire article


---------------------

Julian Assange, WIKILEAKS Founder Hits Out At Wired Magazine

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder has attacked Wired magazine, claiming it is deliberately spreading misinformation. According to the following article, Assange said that speculation on one of the US tech magazine's blogs led to more than 700 articles being published all over the world this week about WikiLeak's SUPPOSED upcoming release of confidential Iraq war documents.Maybe they need to confirm their sources.
    . . . .June

----------------------------
WikiLeaks founder takes aim at credibility of Wired magazine
The Daily Telegraph:

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange has attacked Wired magazine, claiming it is deliberately spreading misinformation.

The criticism comes amid ongoing speculation this week about the release of confidential Iraq war documents.

In a post on Twitter yesterday, Assange, 39, accused one of the US tech magazine's blogs of being a 'known opponent' of WikiLeaks and a 'spreader of all sorts of misinformation' about the whistle-blowing website.

Assange wrote that speculation on the blog led to more than 700 articles being published all over the world this week about WikiLeak's supposed upcoming release of confidential Iraq war documents.

He wrote that the only source of claims that WikiLeaks would release nearly 400,000 documents on Iraq was Wired blog.

Assange wrote that the magazine had "ramped up" its attacks on WikiLeaks since the whistle-blowing organization called for an investigation into what role Wired magazine played in the arrest of US intelligence analyst Bradley Manning.


Manning was arrested by US authorities on suspicion of leaking video footage of a US air strike in Baghdad. The footage was published by WikiLeaks in April 2010.

Assange also accused two Wired blogs - Threat Level and Danger Room - of "ship[ping] puff pieces" and publishing "a tremendous amount of other completely false information [about] WikiLeaks."

Wired senior editor Kevin Poulsen hit back at Assange's attack, saying the magazine and its blogs had "diligently charted WikiLeaks' successes, and its setbacks" in more than 70 stories over the years.

Read entire article


-------------------

WIKILEAKS FUNDING Blocked After Government Blacklisting?

 According to the article below, the whistleblowing group WikiLeaks claims that it has had its funding blocked and that it is the victim of financial warfare by the US government. Moneybookers emailed the organisation to say it had closed down its account because it had been put on an official US watchlist and on an Australian government blacklist. This came a few days after the Pentagon publicly expressed its anger at WikiLeaks and its founder for obtaining thousands of classified military documents. Retaliation?
     . . . June

---------------------------
WikiLeaks says funding has been blocked after government blacklisting
Media | The Guardian:

The whistleblowing group WikiLeaks claims that it has had its funding blocked and that it is the victim of financial warfare by the US government.

Moneybookers, a British-registered internet payment company that collects WikiLeaks donations, emailed the organisation to say it had closed down its account because it had been put on an official US watchlist and on an Australian government blacklist.

The apparent blacklisting came a few days after the Pentagon publicly expressed its anger at WikiLeaks and its founder, Australian citizen Julian Assange, for obtaining thousands of classified military documents about the war in Afghanistan, in one of the US army's biggest leaks of information. The documents caused a sensation when they were made available to the Guardian, the New York Times and German magazine Der Spiegel, revealing hitherto unreported civilian casualties.

WikiLeaks defied Pentagon calls to return the war logs and destroy all copies. Instead, it has been reported that it intends to release an even larger cache of military documents, disclosing other abuses in Iraq.

Moneybookers moved against WikiLeaks on 13 August, according to the correspondence, less than a week after the Pentagon made public threats of reprisals against the organisation. Moneybookers wrote to Assange: "Following an audit of your account by our security department, we must advise that your account has been closed … to comply with money laundering or other investigations conducted by government authorities."

When Assange emailed to ask what the problem was, he says he was told in response by Daniel Stromberg, the Moneybookers e-commerce manager for the Nordic region: "When I did my regular overview of my customers, I noticed that something was wrong with your account and I emailed our risk and legal department to solve this issue.

Read entire article

Demonstrators Call for Release of Soldier in Wikileaks Case

 Bradley Manning,the soldier accused of leaking military secrets to the public is facing 52 years in prison for leaking the Iraq documents to WikiLeaks for publication.  The US government warns that these documents could imperil the lives of US troups still in Iraq. However, Marjorie Cohn, a professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, argues that if Manning did what he is accused of doing, he should be honoured as a hero for exposing war crimes. I guess there are a;ways two sides to every story.
   . . . June


---------------------


Demonstrators to call for release of soldier in Wikileaks case
Media | guardian.co.uk:

Rallies will be staged in 21 US cities this week calling for the release of Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking military secrets to the public.

Manning allegedly passed on the video known as 'collateral murder' that showed American troops shooting civilians from a helicopter in Iraq in July 2007. The dead included two employees of the Reuters news agency.

Though the actions depicted in the video amount to violations of the Geneva Conventions (aka war crimes), none of the soldiers have been prosecuted.

Manning, who faces 52 years in prison, is also being investigated for allegedly leaking the 'Afghan war diary' documents that were posted on Wikileaks and reported by The Guardian, the New York Times and Der Spiegel.

Marjorie Cohn, a professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, argues that if Manning did what he is accused of doing, he should be honoured as a hero for exposing war crimes.

In a separate development, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been told he is not obliged to remain in Sweden even though prosecutors are however continuing to investigate rape allegations against him.

Assange's lawyer, Björn Hurtig, said: "I have been told that there is no arrest warrant against him."

Assange has said the allegations against him are part of a "smear campaign" aimed at discrediting his website, and that he will stay in Sweden to prove his innocence.

Read entire article . . .

WikiLeaks Collaborating With Media Outlets on Iraq Documents

 According to the article below, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, tells Newsweek Declassified that his organization has teamed up with media organizations—including major television networks and one or more American media outlets—in an unspecified number of countries to produce a set of documentaries and stories based on the cache of Iraq War documents in the possession of WikiLeak. Wow!
   . . . June
-----------------------------


Exclusive: WikiLeaks Collaborating With Media Outlets on Release of Iraq Documents
Newsweek:
 
A London-based journalism nonprofit is working with the WikiLeaks Web site and TV and print media in several countries on programs and stories based on what is described as massive cache of classified U.S. military field reports related to the Iraq War. Iain Overton, editor of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, tells Declassified that his organization has teamed up with media organizations—including major television networks and one or more American media outlets—in an unspecified number of countries to produce a set of documentaries and stories based on the cache of Iraq War documents in the possession of WikiLeaks

As happened with a similar WikiLeaks collection of tens of thousands of U.S. military field reports on the Afghan war, the unidentified media organizations involved with the London group in the Iraq documents project will all be releasing their stories on the same day, which Overton says would be several weeks from now. He declined to identify any of the media organizations participating in the project.

Overton acknowledges that the volume of Iraq War reports that WikiLeaks has made available for the project is massive, and almost certainly more than the 92,000 Afghan field reports the organization made available for advance review to The New York Times, Britain's Guardian, and Germany's Der Spiegel. The material is the "biggest leak of military intelligence" that has ever occurred, Overton says. As we reported when stories on WikiLeaks' Afghan holdings first appeared, the site's stash of Iraq documents is believed to be about three times as large as its Afghanistan collection. After the Times, Guardian, and Der Spiegel published their stories based on the Afghan war documents, the site itself posted 76,000 of the papers. But after coming under criticism from both Pentagon spokesmen and human-rights activists for publishing information that could jeopardize the lives of Afghans cooperating with American and allied forces, WikiLeaks said it would not itself post the remaining 15,000 Afghan war documents until activists had taken some time to review, and, if necessary, edit sensitive information from the material.

WikiLeaks had signaled that the Afghan war documents might be posted on the site in the near future; its plans for the release of those documents are currently unclear. Overton says that in their work on the Iraq War documents, his organization and its media partners have "significantly learned from past experiences" regarding disclosure of material that could put lives in jeopardy. "We are hugely aware that this is an issue, and we're taking it very seriously," Overton says. He says that his organization itself would not be posting raw U.S. government reports on the Web, adding that he sees his group's job as digging stories out of the raw material, not simply publishing it in its original form. Overton says that his bureau's media partners are also "aware of the need to ensure that information is properly redacted.

Read on . . .

Government Secrecy Versus Transparency?

Sabotage or free press? This is not a new question; nor is it one that has been resolved in earlier comparable situations. This leak of the intelligence reports could be classified as whistleblowing or irresponsible reporting, depending on which side you're on. The following article compares the disclosures to other similar incidents.
    . . . June




-------------------------------

The morality of government secrecy versus transparency
By Ronald Goldfarb - 09/08/10 12:59 PM ET 


The recent WikiLeaks (tsunami would be a better word) of about 77,000 diplomatic cables and intelligence reports raised a recurring issue of American law and policy.

A disturbed young man in our military in Europe turned over classified government documents to WikiLeaks (ironically, an organization dedicated to transparency that does not disclose its address or officers’ names). It, in turn, passed them on to The New York Times, as well as reputable British and German press organizations.

Most, not all, of the documents were published. There was wide public interest in the disclosures, and expected outrage by government officials and others. Threats of indictments against Wiki founder Julian Assange were made, in the United States for the disclosures and in Sweden for improper sexual behavior. So far, the sky has not fallen.

Sabotage or free press? This is not a new question; nor is it one that has been resolved in earlier comparable situations.

During World War II, the Chicago Tribune was investigated but not indicted for reporting secret government naval intelligence. It ran anti-war stories mentioning our breaking encrypted Japanese messages about its armada at Midway in 1942, and an account on Dec. 6, 1941, of United States military plans in Europe. The government threatened, but backed off, indicting the Tribune under the Espionage Act of 1917. One can hardly imagine a situation more warranting of prosecution than the disclosure of secret wartime maneuvers.

When the notorious Pentagon Papers were leaked and published by The New York Times and The Washington Post, the United States Supreme Court refused to enjoin publication of that Vietnam War history. It was a cause célèbre and became a landmark victory for freedom of the press. Erwin Griswold, the solicitor general who argued against publication for the government, wrote years later in The Washington Post that the documents did not threaten national security, as he had argued to the court, but unearthed a cover-up of the government’s failed policy.

Read on . . .

Is There A Revolt in The WikiLeaks Camp?

According to the following article, it appears that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is causing some embarassment for organisers of the website. They are demanding that he step down. He is standing fast. If he is in fact innocent of the charges, then I guess I don't blame him. Time will tell
   . . . June


------------------------------

Revolt in wikileaks
Pune Talking - Bloggers Park - Pune Mirror

The rape charges against Julian Assange are the last straw for some organisers of WikiLeaks, who are demanding that the website’s controversial point man step aside.

The Australian-born founder and chief editor of WikiLeaks is facing an insurrection, with WikiLeaks supporters outraged that Assange has insisted on remaining in charge of the whistleblowing website despite the rape allegations he faces in Sweden.

A WikiLeaks organiser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Assange had been resisting efforts over the last two weeks to push him off the public stage as a result of the criminal investigation in Sweden, and that his insistence on “staying in charge of everything” was creating “a mess for everyone” as the website prepares to release an additional library of 13,000 classified American military reports from the war in Afghanistan.

The website outraged the Pentagon in July when it released more than 70,000 other classified reports from the war.

The organiser added that internal protests directed against Assange resulted in a temporary shutdown of the WikiLeaks website several days ago, nominally for mechanical reasons. “It was really meant to be a sign to Julian that he needs to rethink his situation. Our technical people were sending a message,” said the organiser.

A prominent WikiLeaks organizer, Birgitta Jonsdottir, a parliamentarian in Iceland, told that she has encouraged Assange to step aside as WikiLeaks’ public spokesman and give up his other management responsibilities, at least until after the criminal investigation is over.


Read On . . .

Wikileaks Founder Assange Will Post Documents Anyway!

According to the article below, claims that Assange had non-consensual sex with two women in Sweden first surfaced last month, following demands by the Pentagon that Wikileaks return some 92,000 mostly classified military documents concerning the US war in Afghanistan. Assange has said the remaining 15,000 documents will be posted in the coming weeks, once names and other sensitive details are redacted.  Has the leaking of documents got anything to do with the allegations?
   . . . June


-------------

Wikileaks founder blasts reopening of rape probe
By Dan Goodin  2nd September 2010 18:28 GMT

The Register: "Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has blasted Sweden's investigation into allegations against him for sexual misconduct after prosecutors reopened a probe into charges he raped a woman last month.

'It appears to be highly irregular and some kind of legal circus,' Assange told the TV service of newspaper Expressen on Thursday. “Today I also had a case filed against me in the United States on a wholly unrelated manner,” he added without elaborating.

The charges come as Assange is applying for a permit to live and work in Sweden, a legal haven for journalists and whistleblowers, Assange said. The investigations may “prevent that application going ahead,” he said, adding “we will find a replacement if it comes to that.

Claims that Assange had non-consensual sex with two women in Sweden first surfaced last month, following demands by the Pentagon that Wikileaks return some 92,000 mostly classified military documents concerning the US war in Afghanistan. The whistle-blowing website has already published about 77,000 records, an action that prompted strong condemnation from US military officials. Some human rights organizations have also claimed the move put Afghan civilians at risk.

Assange has said the remaining 15,000 documents will be posted in the coming weeks, once names and other sensitive details are redacted. Pentagon officials have warned they may spill even “more explosive” secrets than the first batch.
Assange on Thursday suggested the controversy generated by Wikileaks may be stoking the investigations.

“As I have said before, there was clearly a smear campaign, and who was behind this, we do not know,” he said. “Now, whether that turns out to be a smear campaign done by a couple of people for personal motives or ideological motives, or that is larger and involves geopolitical concerns, or whether it is a mixture of all those, we do not know.”

Read More

Is WikiLeaks founder a Target of a smear campaign?

 As soon as someone is in the news it seems that they are fair targets. Julian Assange may or may not be guilty of anything, but somehow, someone found a way to sully his good name. Today's world of instant communication makes this all too easy.
  . . . June


WikiLeaks founder says he's been targeted by smear campaign - CNN.com: 

"Stockholm, Sweden (CNN) -- WikiLeaks founder and editor Julian Assange said Swedish authorities reached 'the height of irresponsibility' by issuing an arrest warrant alleging rape against him, then revoking it less than a day later.

'It is clearly a smear campaign,' Assange told Arabic news network Al-Jazeera in a live telephone interview Sunday. '... The only question is, who was involved?'

Asked who he thinks was behind the accusations, Assange told the network, 'We have some suspicions about who would benefit, but without direct evidence, I would not be willing to make a direct allegation.'

Meanwhile, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in an update on its website that Assange's name was leaked to the media, and the authority -- which does not normally publish the names of suspects -- 'did not in this case initiate publication.'"

However, the office did confirm Assange's identity and later published his name in statements about his arrest and the subsequent revocation.

An arrest warrant was filed against Assange in absentia on Friday. Swedish media, citing unnamed sources, reported that two women, ages 20 and 30, reported the allegations to police, leading to the warrant being filed.

The AftonBladet, a respected Swedish daily, said the 30-year-old told the newspaper that the younger woman had approached her with a story similar to hers -- that she had consensual sex with Assange but that the situation had turned abusive. Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, would not confirm the reports.

Read More

Did The Pentagon Ask WikiLeaks For The Afghan files back?

There really seems to be a lot of waffling here. According to the following article, the Pentagon admit that the made a request for contact, but that the lawyer for WikiLeaks was a no-show. I assume that there is willingness on both sides  to solve this mess.


June


-------------------

Ohio.com - Pentagon wants Afghan files back

 "STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wednesday the Pentagon has expressed willingness to discuss the online whistleblower's request for help in reviewing classified documents from the Afghan war and removing information that could harm civilians.

''This week we received contact through our lawyers that the General Counsel'' of the Pentagon ''says now that they want to discuss the issue,'' Assange said by telephone.

The Pentagon denied it was willing to collaborate with the group, but acknowledged that it had arranged for a phone call last Sunday between its general counsel and a person claiming to be a lawyer for WikiLeaks.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the lawyer, Timothy Matusheski, was a ''no-show'' for the call.

The Pentagon followed up with a letter to Matusheski on Monday demanding that WikiLeaks return the war files."

''The Defense Department will not negotiate some 'minimized' or 'sanitized' version of the release by WikiLeaks of additional U.S. government classified documents,'' wrote Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon's top lawyer.

Whitman initially told reporters there had been no ''direct'' contact between the Defense Department and WikiLeaks. He said he still stands by that assessment, because the call between Johnson and Matusheski never took place.

In a brief phone call, Matusheski said Wednesday that he had received a fax from the Defense Department. He did not answer any other questions.

Assange said Wednesday that ''contact has been established'' but added it was not clear whether and how the U.S. military would assist WikiLeaks.

Read More

WikiLeaks Refuses To Bow To Pentagon Warning

WikiLeaks And The Pentagon We will not tolerate Pentagon's threat: WikiLeaks August 17, 2010 at 12:24 AM Stockholm, August 17: Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower WikiLeaks, told that the site will not tolerate threats from the US' department of defense. During an interview with... WikiLeaks: We will not be threatened by the Pentagon August 16, 2010 at 5:52 AM Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks is standing firm in its fight against the Pentagon, with spokesperson Julian Assange saying that the site will not tolerate threats from the US' department of... WikiLeaks 'Will Not Be Threatened' by U.S. August 15, 2010 at 10:08 PM Associated Press STOCKHOLM—WikiLeaks will soon publish its remaining 15,000 Afghan war documents, despite warnings from the U.S. government, the organization's founder said Saturday. View Full Image Reuters Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks a news conference at the Frontline Club in central London. The Pentagon has said that secret information will be even more... WikiLeaks prepares to release more Afghan war files August 15, 2010 at 8:45 PM 11:19 AM Monday Aug 16, 2010 Email Print LONDON - WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange said his organisation is preparing to release the rest of the secret Afghan war documents it has on file. The Pentagon warned that would be more damaging to security and risk more lives than the organisation's initial release of some 76,000 war documents. That extraordinary disclosure, which laid bare classified military documents covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010, has angered US officials, energised critics of the NATO-led campaign, and drawn the attention of the Taleban, which has promised to use the material to track down people it considers traitors. The Pentagon says it believes it has... WikiLeaks rejects Pentagon warning August 15, 2010 at 9:58 AM STOCKHOLM — WikiLeaks will publish its remaining 15,000 Afghan war documents within a month, despite warnings from the U.S. government, the organization's founder said yesterday. The Pentagon has said that the new batch of secret information will be even more damaging to security and risk more lives than WikiLeaks' initial release of about 76,000 war documents. "This organization will not be threatened by the Pentagon or any other group," Julian Assange said in Stockholm. "We proceed cautiously and safely with this... This email was sent to dyna999399.wiki99@blogger.com. Delivered by Feed My Inbox 230 Franklin Road Suite 814 Franklin, TN 37064 Account Login Unsubscribe Here

WikiLeaks Plans To Release All War Documents

So someone is standing up to the Pentagon! There must be a great deal of potential damage in those documents for them to be so upset. I rather feel that WikiLeaks themselves are taking quite a chance by publishing them. If someone gets killed and it can be proven that the leaks contributed, then wouldn't they be found criminally at fault? This article gives more detail.


. . . June


WikiLeaks says it won't be threatened by Pentagon
By KEITH MOORE, Associated Press Sat Aug 14, 11:40 am ET

WikiLeaks will publish its remaining 15,000 Afghan war documents within a month, despite warnings from the U.S. government, the organization's founder said Saturday.

The Pentagon has said that secret information will be even more damaging to security and risk more lives than WikiLeaks' initial release of some 76,000 war documents.

"This organization will not be threatened by the Pentagon or any other group," Julian Assange told reporters in Stockholm. "We proceed cautiously and safely with this material."

In an interview with The Associated Press, he said that if U.S. defense officials want to be seen as promoting democracy then they "must protect what the United States' founders considered to be their central value, which is freedom of the press."

"For the Pentagon to be making threatening demands for censorship of a press organization is a cause for concern, not just for the press but for the Pentagon itself," the Australian added.

He said WikiLeaks was about halfway though a "line-by-line review" of the 15,000 documents and that "innocent parties who are under reasonable threat" would be redacted from the material.

"It should be approximately two weeks before that process is complete," Assange told AP. "There will then be a journalistic review, so you're talking two weeks to a month."

Wikileaks would be working with media partners in releasing the remaining documents, he said, but declined to name them.

 Read More

----------------------------


What do you think?  Is the Pentagon correct in trying to muzzle WikiLeaks? Or are the WikiLeaks people right in insisting on their right to publish the documents?  Leave a comment


. . . June