Posted on 08/10/2010 9:36:30 AM PDT by lbryce
The Obama administration has asked Britain, Germany, Australia, and other allies to consider criminal charges against Julian Assange for his Afghan war leaks. Philip Shenon reports.
The Obama administration is pressing Britain, Germany, Australia, and other allied Western governments to consider opening criminal investigations of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and to severely limit his nomadic travels across international borders, American officials say.
Officials tell The Daily Beast that the U.S. effort reflects a growing belief that WikiLeaks and organizations like it threaten grave damage to American national security, as well as a growing suspicion in Washington that Assange has damaged his own standing with foreign governments and organizations that might otherwise be sympathetic to his anti-censorship cause.
American officials confirmed last month that the Justice Department was weighing a range of criminal charges against Assange and others as a result of the massive leaking of classified U.S. military reports from the war in Afghanistan, including potential violations of the Espionage Act by Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst in Iraq accused of providing the documents to WikiLeaks.
Now, the officials say, they want other foreign governments to consider the same sorts of criminal charges.
“It’s not just our troops that are put in jeopardy by this leaking,” said an American diplomatic official who is involved in responding to the aftermath of the release of more than 70,000 Afghanistan war logs—and WikiLeaks’ threat to reveal 15,000 more of the classified reports.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
Yes, WikiLeaks SHOULD be protected under free speech rights. It is no different than the Washington Post or the New York Times when they did the same exact thing that WikiLeaks did. Of course, since they published classified material while Bush was president, there was no talk of punishing them at all, especially from the left. If neither the Post nor the Times are to be prosecuted for this "crime" then neither should WikiLeaks.
Some information is proprietary.
Stealing information without permission and distributing it is a crime.
This is not Julian Assange being investigated for voicing his opinions, but for theft.
Then the government should go after the people who stole the classified information from its source. The way I see it, the US government let down everyone mentioned in this document by not properly securing this information to begin with. From what I've read, WikiLeaks did not steal this information, but rather it was handed to them by the people who stole this information originally.
Isn’t receiving stolen property considered a crime?
Again, what WikiLeaks did is no different than what the Washington Post or what the New York Times do when they publish classified information. The Supreme Court even upheld their right to publish such information in 1971.
The fact that this information was leaked at all is the real crime here. The end result would have been the same even if a source other than WikiLeaks were to have published it.
The President should sign a finding that this perp is to be captured and arrested by the CIA or Special Operations forces of the US and delivered to the custody of the US Military at Gitmo. He is an instrument of the Taliban and Islamic terrorists. He holds the key codes for a trove of TS info that belongs to the US.
Course our President is such a whimp..he won’t arrest him if he were in a transit lounge at Dulles Airport.
I thought that liberals loved it when whistleblowing occured.
I thought that they said that it was “bringing truth to power” to engage in whistleblowing?
When the NYT broke stories against the Bush administration’s WOT, liberals loved it.
When whistleblowing is done against Democrats, libs don’t love it so much...
Libs hated it when Bush used indefinite detention without trial, but don’t care when Obama continues the use of this for some 75+ people at GITMO. Same for the use of state secrets by Obama, predator drones being used in Pakistan under permission by Obama and so on.
The original thief is currently in custody.
The way I see it, the US government let down everyone mentioned in this document by not properly securing this information to begin with.
Ah, blame the victim.
From what I've read, WikiLeaks did not steal this information, but rather it was handed to them by the people who stole this information originally.
It's still stolen, and Assange knew full well that it was stolen - moreover, he specifically solicits stolen information and would have had no interest in information that had been legitimately obtained through normal channels - the name "Wikileaks" alone should tip you off to his intent.
He is not some rube who woke up to find data in his inbox whose provenance he did not recognize: he is out there actively seeking sensitive, proprietary information that can do damage to the US government and its allies.
He is attempting to accomplish through data theft what Al-Qaeda is attempting to accomplish through IEDs.
IMO, every American has every right to practice free speech.
Our intelligence agencies have every right to do whatever is necessary to protect us, which includes safeguarding important information.
There is no reason why Wiki-leaks should still be up and running ... [ So they have a few “hackers” - like the US government doesn’t have the individuals or resources to make Wiki-leaks inactive ]
There is no reason why Julian Assange should be walking around alive, free and clear and in the public eye in Europe.
Julian Assange should not be walking around alive at all.
Just want to understand your viewpoint here. Does the government work for the people, or do the people work for and belong to the government?
The government cannot copyright any anything.
The government should not be able to own any property, since it produces nothing.
All government documents are in the public domain.
I’m delighted the incompetence and corruption wasting my and every other taxpayer’s money is being exposed, as well as the very real danger that incompetence and corruption is to both American military men and Afghan civilians.
Hank
“Our intelligence agencies have every right to do whatever is necessary to protect us, which includes safeguarding important information.”
By all means, keep that important information about the corruption, incompetence, and waste that’s costing us sixty dead American kids a month from being discovered by the American citizens who paying for it.
Hak
Leaking information the government considers classified, putting lives in danger, compromising national security, should be considered in the same vein as yelling “Fire” in a crowded theater, for what seems similar reasons.
The govt should follow through on the charges for the leaker. Treason is punishable by the death penalty. Expedite the trial, get a conviction, and carry it out. Snatch Assange, put him on a plane, and bring the website to its knees; all within capability if the govt wanted to stop the leaking.
Absolutely. Wikileaks needs to stay. Anyone who can be caught/charged passing on info they shouldn’t can have their local charges as they deserve, but the crime is no different in the past when traitors/whistleblowers or patriots shared information. The issue incensing various governments is simply that the Wikileaks model is actually 100 times more effective at disseminating the info. Whether Wikileaks or not, the model will haunt them in the future unless squashed now.
“Long live Assange!” I say, which is rich, because I’m not fond of Australians! I was in two minds about this, but my libertarian nature has prevailed. Good luck, Wikileaks!
Hang Manning for Treason then, but Assange and Wikileaks owe the US government no loyalty. ANy other suggestion would be comparable to expecting Google to adhere to Chinese national security requirements...
They are not protected under the US Constitution, since the server and data are located in Sweden.
Who stole it? You could say someone voluntarily handed over the documents from within inside the US government.
In 2006 the New York Times broke the story of SWIFT, the US program which tracked the financial transactions of terrorists. This undoubtedly hurt our ability to limit terrorist operations.
No one prosecuted the Times.
(not to mention the release of the Pentagon papers).
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