Quote :

"A U.S. diplomatic cable made public by WikiLeaks provides evidence that U.S. troops executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians, including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month-old infant, then called in an airstrike to destroy the evidence, during a controversial 2006 incident in the central Iraqi town of Ishaqi. The unclassified cable, which was posted on WikiLeaks' website last week, contained questions from a United Nations investigator about the incident, which had angered local Iraqi officials, who demanded some kind of action from their government. U.S. officials denied at the time that anything inappropriate had occurred. But Philip Alston, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said in a communication to American officials dated 12 days after the March 15, 2006, incident that autopsies performed in the Iraqi city of Tikrit showed that all the dead had been handcuffed and shot in the head. Among the dead were four women and five children. The children were all 5 years old or younger. Reached by email Wednesday, Alston said that as of 2010 - the most recent data he had - U.S. officials hadn't responded to his request for information and that Iraq's government also hadn't been forthcoming. He said the lack of response from the United States "was the case with most of the letters to the U.S. in the 2006-2007 period," when fighting in Iraq peaked. Alston said he could provide no further information on the incident. "The tragedy," he said, "is that this elaborate system of communications is in place but the (U.N.) Human Rights Council does nothing to follow up when states ignore issues raised with them." The Pentagon didn't respond to a request for comment. At the time, American military officials in Iraq said the accounts of townspeople who witnessed the events were highly unlikely to be true, and they later said the incident didn't warrant further investigation. Military officials also refused to reveal which units might have been involved in the incident. Iraq was fast descending into chaos in early 2006. An explosion that ripped through the Golden Dome Mosque that February had set off an orgy of violence between rival Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and Sunni insurgents, many aligned with al-Qaida in Iraq, controlled large tracts of the countryside. Ishaqi, about 80 miles northwest of Baghdad, not far from Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, was considered so dangerous at the time that U.S. military officials had classified all roads in the area as "black," meaning they were likely to be booby-trapped with roadside bombs. The Ishaqi incident was unusual because it was brought to the world's attention by the Joint Coordination Center in Tikrit, a regional security center set up with American military assistance and staffed by U.S.-trained Iraqi police officers. The original incident report was signed by an Iraqi police colonel and made even more noteworthy because U.S.-trained Iraqi police, including Brig. Gen. Issa al Juboori, who led the coordination center, were willing to speak about the investigation on the record even though it was critical of American forces. Throughout the early investigation, U.S. military spokesmen said that an al-Qaida in Iraq suspect had been seized from a first-floor room after a fierce fight that had left the house he was hiding in a pile of rubble."

Saying that invading and occupying Iraq was a really fucking bad idea isn't as controversial in 2011 as it was in 2006, but I really hope that leaks like this helps to convince anyone who is still on the fence. You just cannot send in 100,000 trained killers into a warzone filled with foreigners that they've been programmed to view as the "enemy" and ask them to act as a compassionate civilian police force. This is the reason why Obama has insisted that US ground forces will not step foot in Libya.

9/1/2011 12:00:48 PM

Someone handcuffed a 5 month old baby? Was this a giant baby or was it a tiny pair of handcuffs?

Also wikileaks is gearing up to sue the Guardian for leaking their leaks. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14743410

That's freaking hilarious.

9/1/2011 1:53:02 PM

funny, i never got programmed to view middle easterners as the enemy

i must have slept through that powerpoint

but the iraq war was fucking stupid

9/1/2011 2:56:56 PM

...and this is why it's not a good idea to entrust state secrets to the whims of a paranoid egomaniac with an axe to grind.

What a clusterfuck.

[Edited on September 1, 2011 at 8:24 PM. Reason : 2]

9/1/2011 8:22:56 PM

^

9/1/2011 11:45:29 PM

Quote :

"This is the reason why Obama has insisted that US ground forces will not step foot in Libya."

No, I don't think it was a moral problem, I think it was more of an "I don't want a shitstorm at home" issue.

9/2/2011 3:33:08 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/09/02/us.wikileaks/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Apparently, wikileaks put the entire unedited, unfiltered archives online on friday.

9/3/2011 10:05:45 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/business/media/julian-assange-in-a-gilded-british-cage.html

9/26/2011 10:31:20 AM

coming to america?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/02/world/europe/uk-wikileaks-assange/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15549985

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2011/11/201111295534208158.html

http://rt.com/news/assange-british-higher-court-361/



In related news:

the Freedom of Information Act is also under attack:
http://rt.com/usa/news/us-government-exist-foia-737/

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/feds-embrace-foia-lying/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siDPvlgvIls&feature=channel_video_title



[Edited on November 2, 2011 at 6:37 AM. Reason : this dude gonna get got]

11/2/2011 6:20:35 AM

did anything ever come out of ^^^?

11/2/2011 8:52:05 AM

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/08/defense-military-failed-to-heed-warnings-manning-was-unstable/

12/8/2011 12:56:06 PM

Quote :

"This is the reason why Obama has insisted that US ground forces will not step foot in Libya."

haha, more like there was neither the need nor the political capital to send in conventional ground forces.

12/8/2011 10:33:30 PM

^^

Quote :

"Before suspected WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning was arrested in May 2010, numerous military personnel considered the young soldier to be mentally unstable, immature and potentially dangerous to himself and others, a new court filing by his defense team says. Read the entire document"

In other words, he dared to question his government.

Or maybe a nagging sense of cognitive dissonance, inflamed by the knowledge that he was working for a sinister organization (which had put him in harms way for the sake of lining the pockets of the rich), ate away at him, causing him to actually go crazy.

12/8/2011 11:27:58 PM

I'm just curious - is it the general view of the public that all killings are swept under the rug under the blanket excuse of collateral damage?

12/10/2011 10:01:01 PM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/9109457/Stratfor-Osama-bin-Laden-was-in-routine-contact-with-Pakistans-spy-agency.html

Quote :

"The disclosure was contained in e-mails from the private US security firm, Stratfor, which were published by WikiLeaks website on Monday after being obtained by the Anonymous hacking group. Stratfor provides analysis of world affairs to major corporations, military officials and government agencies and was once likened by an American business magazine to a "shadow CIA". According to one of the e-mails, the firm was shown the information papers collected from bin Laden's Abbotabad compound after the US special forces attack last May that resulted in his death. The e-mail, from a Stratfor analyst, suggested that up to 12 officials in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency knew of the al-Qaeda leader's safe house. The internal email did not name the Pakistani officials involved but said the US could use the information as a bargaining chip in post raid negotiations with Islamabad. American officials have always believed it was impossible for the ISI not to have known that Bin Laden was sheltering in a garrison town so close to Islamabad. Pakistan has repeatedly dismissed the charge. "Mid to senior level ISI and Pak Mil with one retired Pak Mil General that had knowledge of the OBL arrangements and safehouse," the email said of the officers involved. "I get a very clear sense we (US intel) know names and ranks." WikiLeaks claimed to have 5 million Stratfor emails that it would published in collaboration with media outlets. However only 200 were released in the first lot. Other e-mails included the suggestion that Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, may have less than a year to live after his cancer spread to the colon and bone marrow. Russian doctors who had been brought in to "clean up the mess" resulting from Cuban treatments for the Venezuelan leader had given a grim prognosis for his recovery, the e-mails said. Other revelations were statements that Israel had last year carried out a successful covert attack on Iran's secret nuclear facilities. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accused Stratfor of involvement in wide range of legally or morally questionable research activities for private corporations. "On the surface it presents as if it's a media organisation providing a private subscription intelligence newsletter," the activist, who is awaiting extradition to Sweden on rape charges said in London. "But underneath it is running paid informants networks." Mr Assange also promised 5,000 emails would reveal private details of individuals who had worked or given information to the organisation. Stratfor rejected claims that there was anything improper in the way it handled information gathered. "Stratfor has worked to build good sources in many countries around the world, as any publisher of global geopolitical analysis would do," the company said. "We have done so in a straightforward manner and we are committed to meeting the highest standards of professional conduct. "Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting to questioning about them," the statement said. The Texas-based subscription-based publisher providing political, economic and military analysis to help customers reduce risk. The emails were orginally hacked last year by the network Anonymous. We promised you those mails and now they'll finally be delivered. Five million (that's 5,000,000) emails at your pleasure," said the Anonymous account. "There's a treasure trove of nasty details in those emails. We think there's something for everyone.""

2/27/2012 9:12:52 PM

I thought it was common knowledge that the ISI had direct ties with Bin Laden, which is why the US didn't inform the Pakistani government before conducting the raid.

Seems like the majority of the "big" leaks from Wikileaks just confirm stuff that we already knew or suspected to be true.


[Edited on February 27, 2012 at 9:22 PM. Reason : 2]

2/27/2012 9:21:32 PM

suspect to be true != know to be true

2/27/2012 9:35:03 PM

What we should gleam from this latest leak is the fact that Stratfor exists as a respected authority (by our govt) without expressing any loyalty towards our nation past its subscription rate.

Our government has been too lenient when determining trading partners, trusted interests, etc, because it no longer judges these relationships on a scale based on national interest. Quite the opposite in fact--our leaders evaluate our global relations based primarily upon corporate interests.

My insights

2/27/2012 9:52:52 PM

Quote :

"Quite the opposite in fact--our leaders evaluate our global relations based primarily upon corporate interests."

I see what you're trying to get at, but that's not the opposite at all. Far from it. US corporate interests abroad frequently go hand in hand with national interest.

2/27/2012 10:59:56 PM

True, my main problem with corporations is that ideally they should be held accountable by laws which should be enforced at the government level with the purpose of protecting the rights of our citizens, when in fact corporations now control the legislation process and use it instead to protect themselves and further their own interests. Furthermore, the system is maintained by pooling massive amounts of money which make any sort of public resistance difficult without massive organization and fundraising. Not to mention the underlying system that I am referring to is mostly well obfuscated to the general public. Wikileaks and Anonymous seek to expose this system to the masses and therefore I support them.

2/28/2012 12:28:56 PM

Quote :

"Leaked Stratfor Email Suggests Secret U.S. Indictment of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange "

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/29/leaked_stratfor_email_suggests_secret_us

Today's discussion on Democray Now is well worth the watch for those of you who are keeping up with ongoing Wikileaks events. I'll help to summarize.

-This week Wikileaks released the Global Intelligence Files, consisting of internal emails from private intelligence firm Stratfor, and dating from 2004-2011. The source of the leak was none other than the hacker collective known as Anonymous.
-Stratfor is a secretive organization that has ties to US intelligence agencies and sells information (often classified) to other private and public agencies. It has been described as a shadow CIA, and represents the future of privatization of US intelligence interests.

So apparently profiting from the trading of classified information in secret is OK but publishing classified information for the public for free is considered terrorism and espionage.

I feel that the ongoing suppression of information by the elite is an issue that is all too often ignored by activists who instead favor more attractive issues such as wealth inequality and environmental preservation. Whether or not you consider yourself an activist you owe it to your fellow Americans to discuss the ongoing war on knowledge openly and in public.

2/29/2012 8:25:07 PM

War on knowledge?

I support the right if the US government to exercise discretion in matters of diplomacy and national interest. If and when they abuse this right, I support whistleblowers and those who facilitate whistleblowing. But the "War on Knowledge" concerns me about as much as the war on Christmas.

2/29/2012 8:53:46 PM

Quote :

"I support the right if the US government to exercise discretion in matters of diplomacy and national interest."

We all do. That age is over.

Quote :

"If and when they abuse this right, I support whistleblowers and those who facilitate whistleblowing."

Bradley Manning was held without charge for 18 months, during which time he was held under 23 hour confinement in conditions that have been described as psychological torture. He now awaits court proceedings with a possible maximum sentence of the death penalty or life in prison. Wikileaks has been branded a terrorist organization and faces a financial blockade from Visa, Mastercard, and Paypal for publishing classified information that it received from whistleblowers.

I am mostly concerned with educating the uninformed masses and that apparently includes the college crowd. There are a lot of open minds out there without that underlying resistance to embrace new ideas and those are the people who will get what this message is about.

[Edited on February 29, 2012 at 9:39 PM. Reason : .]

2/29/2012 9:31:11 PM

the problem with your logic is that you equate releasing a metric fuck ton of classified information with no rhyme or reason to any of it with whistleblowing. the two aren't the same. ad Bradley manning's claims of torture are overblown bullshit from a whiney ass bitch

3/1/2012 9:02:46 AM

^^lol you think manning was a whistleblower

[Edited on March 1, 2012 at 10:28 AM. Reason : .]

3/1/2012 10:26:40 AM

Bradley Manning is the greatest hero of our generation.

3/1/2012 12:22:25 PM

we must have no heroes, then

3/1/2012 1:38:05 PM

Quote :

"Someone handcuffed a 5 month old baby? Was this a giant baby or was it a tiny pair of handcuffs?"

Can't decide which of these possibilities is funnier...

3/1/2012 1:47:56 PM

Looks like Ecuador has granted Assange asylum.

8/16/2012 8:52:39 AM

So, Julian is granted asylum in Ecuador. That's nice and all but how is he going to actually get there safely? What happens next?

Quote :

"What next? More negotiations and a protracted impasse? Assange certainly isn't going anywhere. He would be arrested the moment he stepped outside the embassy. But he has always known a ticket to Quito would never be forthcoming from this manoeuvre. Instead, as a clever strategist, he has succeeded in putting his claims of political persecution back in the spotlight."

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/the-latin-mouse-that-roared-at-the-british-bulldog-20120816-24bu0.html

8/16/2012 11:11:08 AM

It's incredible how much politics are being played in this issue. The US is doing what it sees as the best chess move in order to keep secrets from being leaked, regardless of ethics behind it.

I was inclined to look at this issue as Assange, being a powerful person, using international politics to be above the law on a person-to-person case. But apparently they've asked and Sweden categorically says they won't guarantee they won't extradite him to the US.

So, if I was the Wikileaks guy, and leaving the embassy means I would be extradited to the US, I would be all like oh hell naw.

They should have the sexual assault trial. There ain't no fucking way I would travel internationally to defend myself in a sexual assault trial if doing so would put me on trial with the US government who pretty much wants me dead.

Quote :

"But he has always known a ticket to Quito would never be forthcoming from this manoeuvre."

Assange would have to be a complete idiot to believe this. I'm surprised the extent to which people truly underestimate the power of the US government.

8/17/2012 11:21:47 AM

So, this is what I got about the case:

1. They need to arrest him before they can press charges, or even tell him what the charges are.
2. They can't question him where he is because there is not enough evidence to press charges.

I understand this is Swedish law, so we can't apply the same legal reasoning here to the case. But nonetheless, these 2 points IMO violate the fundamental intention of due process. And I got this conclusion from reading an article arguing the other side...

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2012/08/legal-myths-about-assange-extradition

The story, even by admission of the people against the guy, is that they need to interview Assange in order to complete the "preliminary investigation". I get that they can't start the trial until he is in the country (which has a 2-week time limit on it, so sure), so they need to extradite him. But why couldn't they finish the case (which includes interviewing him) with him in the embassy? Why can't they tell what charges they're going to press.

If I'm told to go to Sweden to face charges and I'm not told what those charges are, then yes, they could include conspiracy against the US government.

[Edited on August 20, 2012 at 4:38 PM. Reason : ]

8/20/2012 4:34:12 PM

Quote :

"1. They need to arrest him before they can press charges, or even tell him what the charges are. "

According to the article that you linked, Sweden has probable cause to charge him with a crime and that is the basis of the european arrest warrant. It goes on to state that the charges are detailed in the EAW and I would suspect that Mr. Assange, through his legal counsel, is privvy to that info.

Quote :

"2. They can't question him where he is because there is not enough evidence to press charges."

They can't question him because he probably told them to 'Get Fucked'. Even still, the basis of the EAW is that they have probable cause to proceed with charging him with a crime. Presumably, any subsequent interviews would serve to strengthen their case (or possibly lead them to abandon it altogether).

8/20/2012 5:54:43 PM

Quote :

"They can't question him because he probably told them to 'Get Fucked'."

What? That's just not true, no matter which side you listen to. Assange is willing to be interviewed where he is and the prosecutors won't do that, no body disagreed with that. Their argument is that he shouldn't get special treatment, that he can't set the terms of with which he faces charges.

I can understand that many don't believe Assange's statements that he is completely willing to face the sexual assault charges, but... he says he is, in Swedish court. If the prosecution was seriously motivated to have him face those charges, they would interview him where he is.

8/21/2012 9:11:27 AM

Bradley Manning and Paula Broadwell are the greatest heroes of our generation.

11/15/2012 11:44:53 AM

http://prospect.org/article/great-man-theory-rape

Quote :

"If the accusers in the Assange case are telling the truth—and so far, there’s no evidence that they’re lying—supporters of WikiLeaks should be furious at Julian Assange. He put the whole WikiLeaks operation at risk in order to sexually dominate women. Even if he didn’t rape the accusers, Assange’s reaction to the accusations has demonstrated a strong disdain for the notion that women have a right to bodily autonomy. He accused Sweden of being the “Saudi Arabia of feminism” for no other reason than its willingness to take seriously a woman's claim that she was penetrated against her will. He trotted out the idea that a woman’s clothing choices and flirtatious behavior matter more than her consent. He’s admitted that he’s a “chauvinist pig” while reiterating the assertion that the only way you could read the accusations as rape is if your view is “distorted.” He doesn’t seem to give a whiff if he comes across as a dangerous sexual predator. That liberals have not erupted in rage against Assange suggests that we haven’t abandoned the belief that rape, especially acquaintance rape, doesn’t count as a violent crime. It also suggests liberals still don’t quite see misogyny as a serious problem so much as an unfortunate character flaw that can be overlooked if someone is designated a "Great Man." There’s an important lesson in all this. The inability of Assange’s supporters to see him in the same way they’d view anyone else suspected of a violent crime evinces a broader problem. We give in to the temptation—which I admit I’ve succumbed to plenty of times—to overlook the lecherous behavior some men display because they otherwise have exemplary politics. But in doing so, we create more problems than we solve. Creeps and chauvinist pigs make women feel unwelcome, which should be reason enough. But even more than that, we have to accept that our community, like any other, has undetected rapists moving about, looking for opportunities. If we don’t cultivate a culture where women’s need for safety is prioritized, rapists will feel more free to attack, and victims less secure in stepping forward. "

Lots of parallels here to the Petraeus, particularly this media narrative of spending half an article talking about how great a military guy he is, and the other half speculating on the craftiness of these ignoble socialite hussies that he voluntarily decided to put his dick in.

[Edited on November 15, 2012 at 11:50 AM. Reason : .]

11/15/2012 11:49:18 AM

Future President Manning is set to testify today about the torture he received at the hands of the evil empire for exposing their ongoing atrocities.

11/27/2012 1:14:32 PM

make him spend his life breaking big rocks into small ones at Leavenworth. still too good a punishment for this piece of filth

[Edited on November 27, 2012 at 7:00 PM. Reason : .]

11/27/2012 6:46:36 PM

What about the people who committed the exposed war crimes? Or the people who ordered those war crimes? Out how about the people who sent off soldiers like Manning to fight an unwinnable war? Should they also be forced to dilute rocks?

11/27/2012 8:05:45 PM

There's no reason NOT to support Bradley Manning.

11/28/2012 12:12:38 AM

LOL

hey man, how 'bout some charts showing how manning's trending

[Edited on November 28, 2012 at 9:54 PM. Reason : .]

11/28/2012 9:51:17 PM

Our valiant hero spoke of his torture today.


Has a reward been offered for information leading to the identities of the cowardly Crazyhorse 18 pilots that slaughtered civilians as they rendered medical aid and executed others that had surrendered and were pleading for their lives?

[Edited on November 29, 2012 at 9:20 PM. Reason : .]

11/29/2012 9:19:33 PM

^^I'm not sure what exactly you think that proves?

If I were to update that chart at the end of the season, NC State could very well be 8-5 again, making it 3 seasons of 8+ wins in a row, which is a clear improvement over our 3-9 season when Chuck left.

You could make the argument that O'Brien reached his ceiling here, which is an argument I never disputed. A good hire could take this program to the next level, and a poor hire could easily set us back 4 years. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, will likely have a losing record at seasons end. I'm not some devout follower of O'Brien, just a reasonable observer who doesn't get emotional.

But absolutely none of that has anything to do with a military system that operates under the same rules as Fight Club, so I really don't know why you decided to PM me about that. Honestly, it just comes across as petty, which is pretty unbecoming of a bald man.

11/30/2012 1:58:44 AM

LOL - at least your ignorance isn't limited to just sports

[Edited on November 30, 2012 at 10:47 PM. Reason : 4-4 ACC = TRENDING UPWARDS! WOO 2-4 vs BC 3-3 vs WAKE GO PACK!]

11/30/2012 10:43:09 PM

Prosecution stated today that Manning couldn't have been tortured because Manning didn't complain to his torturers enough.

11/30/2012 10:49:36 PM

how he was treated after his arrest has no bearing on his planned, systematic treason

you must think Benghazi was the biggest foreign policy point of the election cycle, too

hey look over here...I'm shaking my keys! do you want the keys!? huh huh do you?! good boy get the keys!

11/30/2012 11:47:24 PM

What's that sound? There it is again! Gotta get it! Hey! Hey!

But seriously, Bradley Manning will be a Senator one day. He's our Nelson Mandela. The only way he could be a better future political candidate is if he were a fighter pilot that killed from afar and kept his hands clean until he was shot down and captured so that his story could be spun so he was entirely a victim of circumstances, and despite enduring horrific torture himself would one day condone torture in a pathetic attempt to rally chickenhawks to his campaign in a bid for the highest office.

[Edited on December 1, 2012 at 12:11 AM. Reason : There it is again! Gotta catch it! Gotta eat that sound!]

12/1/2012 12:03:13 AM

Bradley manning will spend decades in prison then work at McDonald's.

12/1/2012 12:19:20 AM

Daniel Ellsberg, America's vietnam whistleblower, calls Manning a "hero".

The New York Times is being criticized for publishing Manning's leak on the front page, but refusing to even send a reporter to cover his trial.

Memo to his guards: "take his panties right before he lays down".

Asked by Coombs why Manning's sexual-identification issues increased his risk of self-injury, Blenis replied, 'That's not normal, sir.'

12/6/2012 12:07:22 AM

Manning's co-conspirator still refuses to report on his trial.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/new-york-times-bradley-manning_n_2272327.html?utm_hp_ref=media

Bradley Manning hailed as Person of the Year, with over 70% of the vote!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2012/dec/10/bradley-manning-guardian-person-of-the-year-2012

[Edited on December 10, 2012 at 5:25 PM. Reason : .]

12/10/2012 4:58:01 PM