News WikiLeaks reveals sites critical to US security

[Galteeth]

He's using the classified cables as leverage against the allegations of a sex offense, putting lives at risk for his own purposes.

I'm assuming his position is that the charges are bogus and retaliation for wikileaks.

 

[Fra]

I'm assuming his position is that the charges are bogus and retaliation for wikileaks.

I have to admit that my expectation is that they ARE likely bogus constructions too.

So does a large portion of the public (not everyone of course). In particular the proven history, that some people do construct "bogus reasons" to justify actions, this sceptsisims is in fact justifed. This is indeed sad, but this is yet just another reason rational reason why information needs to be exposed to the democratic system - hidden strategies threaten democracy. The fact that he is so afraid to answer to his charges of sex charges because he has a justified fear to be abducted or taken away in despite of promisies of the contrary is a severe sign of corruption. When the justice system can 't be trusted to be fair, then it's really bad.

/Fredrik

 

[xxChrisxx]

Mr. Assange’s lawyer Mark Stephens warned that if Mr. Assange were to be brought to trial on rape accusations he faces in Sweden, or for treason charges that have been suggested by U.S. politicians

Treason? How can the US try an Austrailian for treason? Either that's made up or whoever said it doesn't understand the word.

I've no doubt there is a case he could be done in the US for espionage (which I'm fairly sure carries the same level of penalites as treason), but you can't be a traitor to someone you don't have alleigence to.

You could try the bloke who stole the documents for treason.

 

[Pengwuino]

He has been detained in Britain.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40544697/ns/us_news-wikileaks_in_security/

LONDON — British police arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Tuesday on a European warrant issued by Sweden, London's Metropolitan Police said.

 

[Pengwuino]

Treason? How can the US try an Austrailian for treason? Either that's made up or whoever said it doesn't understand the word.

I've no doubt there is a case he could be done in the US for espionage (which I'm fairly sure carries the same level of penalites as treason), but you can't be a traitor to someone you don't have alleigence to.

You could try the bloke who stole the documents for treason.

I'm fairly sure the video of the politician saying it was him saying it fairly tongue and cheek. Treason, espionage, whatever, the idea is that he should be charged for what he did, released secret government documents.

You can point out all the technicalities and morality and freedom of the press issues you want, bottom line is he is an enemy of the united states, released secret documents, and should be treated just as if a Taliban member released secret documents. Just because he did it in a high tech manner and has lots of nice media coverage and tons of stock footage of him doing respectable presentations doesn't change this fact.

 

[xxChrisxx]

I certainly hope it was tongue in cheek, because a politicain who doesn't understand a word like that kind of worries me a little.

I really don't care what goes on regarding the outcome of this, it's interesting (a bit like a soap opera), but at the end of the day I couldn't give a toss.

 

[Fra]

Very interesting indeed.

It will be very interesting to see how this develops further!

/Fredrik

 

[Fra]

I really don't care what goes on regarding the outcome of this, it's interesting (a bit like a soap opera), but at the end of the day I couldn't give a toss.

But a lot of people do care (wherever the symphaty lies) and a lot of people will take actions based on either outcome I am sure.

it's interesting (a bit like a soap opera)

I think it's better than super bowl :)

/Fredrik

 

[WhoWee]

Money is just markers. Place-makers that allow us to pass "value" around. You know that.

If somebody grabs info that shows that our government is complicit in bribery/illegality, etc, that should be fair game. Daniel Ellsburg was a speed-bump in the path of oligarchy, but I'm glad that he was there.

Ellsburg has commented.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/world/24assange.html?_r=3&hp

"“I’ve been waiting 40 years for someone to disclose information on a scale that might really make a difference,” said Daniel Ellsberg, who exposed a 1,000-page secret study of the Vietnam War in 1971 that became known as the Pentagon Papers.

Mr. Ellsberg said he saw kindred spirits in Mr. Assange and Pfc. Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old former Army intelligence operative under detention in Quantico, Va., suspected of leaking the Iraq and Afghan documents.

“They were willing to go to prison for life, or be executed, to put out this information,” Mr. Ellsberg said. "

I'm not so sure he's correct in his assumption of their willingness to go to prison or be executed though.

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

Can you provide specific examples of the kind of harm his actions are causing or will cause?

The information given out is stuff some non-US intelligence agencies would pay large amounts to try to obtain. The US has also spent large amounts to maintain it classified. See the imbalance?

 

[zomgwtf]

The information given out is stuff some non-US intelligence agencies would pay large amounts to try to obtain. The US has also spent large amounts to maintain it classified. See the imbalance?

People are so focused on terrorist being the enemy and used to world peace that they forget there are very real enemy nations out there and very real possibilities of future enemies. This is not information that should be released.

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

If they were to release similar loads of information from large, industrialized Asian or European countries, they would have more sympathy. Personally, I don't smell that coming around.

 

[WhoWee]

The information given out is stuff some non-US intelligence agencies would pay large amounts to try to obtain. The US has also spent large amounts to maintain it classified. See the imbalance?

You make a valid point - perhaps the US should bring suit for it's financial losses - could be hundreds of billions of dollars - all expenses considered?

 

[turbo]

If they were to release similar loads of information from large, industrialized Asian or European countries, they would have more sympathy. Personally, I don't smell that coming around.

If Wikileaks released a similar info-dump of Russian dispatches, he'd probably be dead already. Just my opinion, but they don't seem to fool around.

 

[WhoWee]

If Wikileaks released a similar info-dump of Russian dispatches, he'd probably be dead already. Just my opinion, but they don't seem to fool around.

I wouldn't try it in China either.

 

[nismaratwork]

I agree with the killing Assange concept when it comes to other country's policies, but it's important to remember that doing so still wouldn't have changed the outcome for them. This information is out there, it's done... and it's not something Assange could have done on his own. I'm sorry, but how often to eggheads such as ourselves laugh about the state of our civilian and military information infrastructure? I'm only surprised a Pfc. Manning didn't pop up sooner.

Now, an effective tactic with a proven history would be to make credible threats against the lives of people Assange or Manning (or other relevant parties) hold dear, up to and including torturing and execution. Now... ask yourself if you want to live in that country... I know I don't. Assange seems like a creep to me, but he's a creep who's got the fail-deadly device...

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

You make a valid point - perhaps the US should bring suit for it's financial losses - could be hundreds of billions of dollars - all expenses considered?

I'm wondering if any "classical spy" has ever gotten hold of so much information. There is consolation in that the information is made public rather than being funneled directly to a single non-ally government.

 

[Evo]

I mentioned it before. I am appalled that the US Government had nothing in place to detect unusual activity such as huge amounts of data being accessed and downloaded. If I attempted something like that where I work, I'd have been cutoff and one of those Segway riding guards would have been at my office before I could get up. Even repeated visits to certain files would have raised a red flag. When we access sensitive files, we are logged off every 15 minutes. And every time i access the file, it's logged where I can see it to remind me that I'd better have a really good reason to be in there. A pain in the @ss, but we deal with the government. We have more security than they do, apparently.

 

[Gokul43201]

I mentioned it before. I am appalled that the US Government had nothing in place to detect unusual activity such as huge amounts of data being accessed and downloaded. If I attempted something like that where I work, I'd have been cutoff and one of those Segway riding guards would have been at my office before I could get up. Even repeated visits to certain files would have raised a red flag. When we access sensitive files, we are logged off every 15 minutes. And every time i access the file, it's logged where I can see it to remind me that I'd better have a really good reason to be in there. A pain in the @ss, but we deal with the government. We have more security than they do, apparently.

I heard on the radio a week or so ago, something about vulnerabilities in data access or transfer that came about due to some changes made in the early days of the Iraq War. I only just caught a couple of sentences, so don't really know what was being said. I've since tried to find any reporting on this but haven't been able to - if someone else knows what I'm talking about, please share your source.

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

An interview with the suspected "leaker" would be insightful as to where he thought he'd end up.

 

[Galteeth]

If they were to release similar loads of information from large, industrialized Asian or European countries, they would have more sympathy. Personally, I don't smell that coming around.

What some people forget is wikileaks has been around awhile. They have and do release plenty of non-US stuff. The recent controversy has been focused on US documents.

For example they have released stuff from Peru, Kenya, Cuba, Paraguay, Portugal, Iran.

 

[rootX]

I mentioned it before. I am appalled that the US Government had nothing in place to detect unusual activity such as huge amounts of data being accessed and downloaded. If I attempted something like that where I work, I'd have been cutoff and one of those Segway riding guards would have been at my office before I could get up. Even repeated visits to certain files would have raised a red flag. When we access sensitive files, we are logged off every 15 minutes. And every time i access the file, it's logged where I can see it to remind me that I'd better have a really good reason to be in there. A pain in the @ss, but we deal with the government. We have more security than they do, apparently.

When I was working for government utility company, I also had to go through very tedious procedures to get something. People couldn't just go access anything without taking approval. Our activities were tracked and there was big emphasis on protecting the data. We also had to use special USBs and encryption... etc

 

[nismaratwork]

Lets be blunt... you can use a simple program to track what a given user on a secure network is doing, and it doesn't take heuristic genius to figure out that Manning at least deserved a look.

Assange is an opportunistic creep, but we shouldn't waste our focus on the end of the rat line, but the beginning.

 

[encorp]

People forget that all of the information Wikileaks is currently releasing WAS handed to the US Government, they were asked to go over it beforehand. They declined.

 

[Proton Soup]

People forget that all of the information Wikileaks is currently releasing WAS handed to the US Government, they were asked to go over it beforehand. They declined.

you're right, i don't remember that happening

 

[nismaratwork]

you're right, i don't remember that happening

Nor I... and I can't find a reference to support that.

 

[encorp]

you're right, i don't remember that happening

Well I know that no one will believe me, since none of the bookmarks I had on it are working right now.

I am trying to find references online about it right now. The best I can offer is a denial on the US Defense website: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=60254

So there is a reference in there about it, but they are denying it took place.

Back when this first started to come about, prior to the media and international explosion that occurred, around June - there was a video on TED with Julian Assange discussing that he had contacted the United States officials, they declined to review the documents and demanded he hand them over in their entirety. Of course by then it was too late, since they were compromised the minute they left the "whistle blowers" hands and there is no giving them back after that.

I'll keep looking, if I can find anymore references I will surely return with them.

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

What some people forget is wikileaks has been around awhile. They have and do release plenty of non-US stuff. The recent controversy has been focused on US documents.

For example they have released stuff from Peru, Kenya, Cuba, Paraguay, Portugal, Iran.

So? What about China, Russia, Germany, England, France, Syria, Brazil, Israel, Japan, India, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Australia?

Hmm? What about Australia?

Why is there ONLY U.S. info these days?

 

[encorp]

So? What about China, Russia, Germany, England, France, Syria, Brazil, Israel, Japan, India, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Australia?

Hmm? What about Australia?

Why is there ONLY U.S. info these days?

There isn't.

Go read the cables themselves, they release stuff on every major country all the time.

It's just this stuff about the US is so big because the US makes it so big.

 

[Office_Shredder]

So? What about China, Russia, Germany, England, France, Syria, Brazil, Israel, Japan, India, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Australia?

Hmm? What about Australia?

Why is there ONLY U.S. info these days?

There's a thread about a wikileaks thing on England on this very forum