Thursday, January 19, 2012

Waiting on Wikileaks

No, no, not Wikipedia.

"In WikiLeaks case, Army asked why private had access" December 19, 2011|Associated Press

FORT MEADE, Md. - Other testimony revealed that Army private Bradley Manning, serving in Iraq in 2009 and 2010, was sometimes angry and distant with others from his unit. The defense has said that Manning, who is gay, was bullied by fellow soldiers. Manning’s defense team says he told Sergeant Paul Adkins he suffered from gender-identity disorder - the belief that he was born the wrong gender.

Manning is accused of illegally leaking a wealth of secret information, including hundreds of thousands of battlefield reports and State Department cables. Disclosures surfaced on the antisecrecy website WikiLeaks in a breach that rattled US foreign relations and, according to the government, imperiled valuable military and diplomatic sources. Defense attorneys argue the leaked material did little or no damage to US interests. 

The view here is that the kid is either a fall guy or a patsy if he was involved at all because Wikileaks is obviously an Israeli intelligence operation. Only they have the spying infrastructure for such a massive haul.

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Related: Wikileaks Warning

Kid didn't get it:

"Army analyst reportedly boasted of leak; Cited importance of Wiki documents, witness says" by David Dishneau  |  Associated Press, December 20, 2011

FORT MEADE, Md. - The Army intelligence analyst blamed for the biggest leak of secrets in US history boastfully declared that he was changing history in a letter accompanying some of the data he allegedly sent to WikiLeaks, according to a witness in the military’s case against Army Private First Class Bradley Manning.

The text was on a data card that investigators found among Manning’s belongings.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

“This is possibly one of the more significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of 21st century asymmetric warfare. Have a good day,’’ the file read....  

This is now smelling like a set-up!

The letter represented the most forceful piece of evidence introduced in the hearing at an Army installation outside Washington.   

That is the best they got?

In a back-and-forth on the digital case against Manning, the prosecution and defense sparred over whether the 24-year-old native of Crescent, Okla., not only had classified files on his computer, but also sent them to WikiLeaks for publication.

Until yesterday, the defense largely focused on painting Manning as an emotionally troubled homosexual serving in the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ era, and arguing that the classified material proved harmless in the open anyhow.

Manning’s lawyers have yet to acknowledge or deny his responsibility for the leak of hundreds of thousands of US war and diplomatic cables, and a classified military video of an American helicopter attack in Iraq that killed 11 men.

Yet defense lawyers sought to call into question whether Manning was responsible for the leaks at all, pressing digital-crimes investigator David Shaver into conceding that some files in a batch of 10,000 State Department cables on Manning’s computer didn’t match documents published by WikiLeaks. He said another 100,000 cables couldn’t be matched to Manning’s user profile. But it was unclear if the cross-examination damaged the prosecution’s case in any way.  

Readers, why should I have to provide link after link to back up my view?  

The onus is on the government and prosecutors, and in this case they fail.

Army witnesses also testified to finding downloaded assessments of four detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, under Manning’s profile, and uncovered attempts by the young private to contact WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange, as well as a confession in logs of Internet chats on his personal computer.

In camouflaged Army fatigues and dark-rimmed glasses, Manning seemed to take it all in calmly. During one of several recesses, Manning leaned back and sat casually in his chair, chatting with a soldier from the defense team, gesturing with his hands, nodding his head, and occasionally smiling.

He sat up when attorneys reentered the courtroom. And civilian attorney David Coombs put his arm around Manning’s shoulder several times as they conferred during the proceedings....

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"Decision on private’s court-martial due in Jan." December 23, 2011|By David Dishneau and Pauline Jelinek

FORT MEADE, Md. - A seven-day hearing about the biggest national security leak in US history ended yesterday with defense lawyers insisting the accused is a victim of overreaching by a military that did not follow its own rules for safeguarding sensitive information....

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"Court-martial OK’d over leaks; Final decision on Manning trial rests with general" by David Dishneau  |  Associated Press, January 13, 2012

WASHINGTON - An Army officer recommended a general court-martial yesterday for a low-ranking intelligence analyst charged with causing the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza’s recommendation now goes up the chain of command for a final determination....

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Updates:  

Update on SOPA and PIPA
 
Internet’s big names unite against antipiracy bills