Wikileaks

Yikes!  The spies have taken over.

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has an interesting twist on the leaked documents - this is a subtle ploy by Obama to undermine Iran.  Geez, is Obama that good?

TEHRAN — In Iran’s first official reaction to leaked State Department cables quoting Arab leaders as urging the United States to bomb Tehran’s nuclear facilities, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the documents as American psychological warfare that would not affect his country’s relations with other nations, news reports said.

The documents seemed to show several Arab nations, notably Saudi Arabia, Iran’s rival for influence in the Persian Gulf, displaying such hostility that King Abdullah repeatedly implored Washington to “cut off the head of the snake” while there was still time.

Nonetheless, Mr. Ahmadinejad said at a news conference on Monday that Iran’s relations with its neighbors would not be damaged by the reports.

“Regional countries are all friends with each other. Such mischief will have no impact on the relations of countries,” he said, according to Reuters.

“Some part of the American government produced these documents,” he said. “We don’t think this information was leaked. We think it was organized to be released on a regular basis and they are pursuing political goals.”

Maybe Obama and Hillary are that crafty.  As if. 

I think the era of frank discussions with the rest of the world has now ended.  I just thank Heaven we don't that moron cowboy in the White House antagonizing people.

Comments

[Jack is Back!]

As I noted on the other thread, the most serious part of all of this is not even being discussed - if a lowly private in the army was given the clearance to access this information (or to compromise it) then what does that say about our security? Just think what the FSB (ex-KGB) or even our friends at Mossad are able to do with much more sophisticated and established intelligence gathering.

Scooter Libby was unavailable for comment on all the going ons.

[Comanche Voter]

We've now got an Administration that makes even Jimmy Carter and his cast of clowns look good. That's an amazing "change"--and Obama is to be credited for that miraculous accomplishment. I just "hope" we can survive his fecklessness.

[Sue]

And the NYTs wants you all to forget their previous stance on stolen or illegally obtained documents. They wouldn't publish the climategate emails but have no problem publishing national security matters. Anyone still purchasing ads and/or purchasing their newspaper should be horsewhipped.

[Sue]

In my opinion, Bradley Manning should be executed for treason. A lesson to future leakers.

[Danube of Thought]

The way information can be accessed, stored and transmiited today makes me think TM is right--the days of frankness in diplomatic cables are over.

[Sue]

I sure wish this clown had revealed Valerie Plame's status. Then he'd be in deep doo-doo.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

I'm with you Sue. And the Obama administration should be removed for abject stupidity. And while I'm at it, I'd like a little more global warming here too.

[Danube of Thought]

A death sentence for Manning would do wonders. For my morale, if nothing else.

[Pinch]

Climategate? Sorry, never heard of it.

[Jack is Back!]

This is only the beginning. It is going to be Chinese torture - one drip at a time. Tomorrow we get all the good stuff we think and say about that "special relationship". But in a way, some of this may pay-off better than if it went unsaid (i.e. The Saudis and Iran's Nukes). Then the car bombs today in Tehran. Things are getting a little too spooky for President Iamaidiot.

[LouP]

Manning should be severly punished for the earlier Wikileaks, but I am having a great deal of trouble understanding how he can be responsible for the latest leaks. I cannot help but think that he is being made the scapegoat for another leaker that, for some reason, no one wants to reveal.

Hasn't he been in custody for about 8 months now. If that is true and any of the most recent documents leaked are dated at a later date, then there's another worm involved.

[Stephanie]

Delingpole weighs in LUN

[Strawman Cometh]

LouP,
IIRC, the leaker provided wikileaks the entire dump months ago, which is dribbling it out.
Did Assange intentionally wait until after the mid-terms for this release? Or was it delayed by his other legal issues

[MarkO]

Cables? Telegrams?

What are they really? Encripted emails?

[Sue]

Watching Hillary Clinton during the noon hour. She seems like a robot to me. When did her voice become so sing-songy? Is she drugged? I've been wondering for a while now what is up with her.

[daddy]

Breaking on FOX: Hillary vows to find the people responsible for WikiLeaks.

No comment from Private Manning or Julian Asange.

[Sue]

I was watching Fox at lunch and the breaking news was a hostage situation. Red Oak, Texas. Population 4300 or so. Ellis County. South of Dallas. They showed a man running across a patch of land. In a minute they showed him being led back in handcuffs. For some reason I found it extremely humorous. I don't think anyone was hurt. Hope not, or my laughter would be totally not cool.

[fdcol63]

As much as I think Assange and Manning should be executed .... or just plain "disappeared" .... WikiLeaks COULD be used in the future for some really cool misinformation campaigns.

[Sue]

I don't know if we can execute Assange. Manning should be though.

[Sue]

We could "disappear" him though.

[fdcol63]

Execute, assassinate, kill, murder, dispose, off, rub out, eliminate, etc. I'm okay with any of them.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I don't know about anyone else, but I was shocked to learn this morning that up to 2 million people have/had access to the info that Manning downloaded to his Lady Gaga CD/DVD. WTF?

[Not sure about time off for good behaviour.]

I've read that the max sentence for Manning is 52 years.
============================

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Execute, assassinate, kill, murder, dispose, off, rub out, eliminate, etc. I'm okay with any of them.

Let's waterboard him - on TV

[Neo]

From the NYT:

The documents appear to have been acquired illegally and contain all manner of private information and statements that were never intended for the public eye, so they won’t be posted here.

... that was about Climate Gate emails.

As for WikiLeaks, they have no problem with legality whatsoever.

[Not for the military.]

Whoa, a two year freeze on Federal employees' wages?
=========================

[Rob Crawford]

Whoa, a two year freeze on Federal employees' wages?

Read the fine print. It's not real.

[Neo]

All of these fears would once be dismissed as temporary challenges that would be eventually met by an America that won World War 2 and the Cold War. But what the financial meltdown and the execrable record of the Obama administration broadcast is that Obama’s USA is no longer what it used to be. It has beclowned itself to the point where it is unable to even prevent its secrets from being thrown in its face. The danger, argues the Asia Times, is that this contempt is cumulative; and that North Korea, Iran and China will either successfully challenge or miscalculate. Either way disaster impends.

[fdcol63]

I become more and more convinced that only something like NJ's Chris Christie ... and his no-nonsense frankness when speaking and his mastery of whatever subject matter is at hand ... can save us from Obama's impending disasters.

[Sandy Daze]

30 November 2010
Baghdad

Serious Questions (LUN):

1. What steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months?

Assange is not a “journalist,” any more than the “editor” of al Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a “journalist.” He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban.

2. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?

3. What if any diplomatic pressure was brought to bear on NATO, EU, and other allies to disrupt Wikileaks’ technical infrastructure?

4. Did we use all the cyber tools at our disposal to permanently dismantle Wikileaks?

5. Were individuals working for Wikileaks on these document leaks investigated?

6. Shouldn’t they at least have had their financial assets frozen just as we do to individuals who provide material support for terrorist organizations?

7. How was it possible that a 22-year-old Private First Class could get unrestricted access to so much highly sensitive information?

8. And how was it possible that he could copy and distribute these files without anyone noticing that security was compromised?

The White House has now issued orders to federal departments and agencies asking them to take immediate steps to ensure that no more leaks like this happen again. It’s of course important that we do all we can to prevent similar massive document leaks in the future.

9. But why did the White House not publish these orders after the first leak back in July?

10. What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part?

Inquiring minds want to know ! You betcha.

Thanks for asking, SP.

Take good care,
Sandy

[Neo]

Just this past week, the federal government took decisive action to shut down more than 70 Web sites that were disseminating pirated music and movies. Hollywood is safe, but WikiLeaks is free to disseminate classified documents without consequence.

[Sue]

John Bolton agrees with me. Execute the Wiki leaker.

[centralcal]

Sue: I rather enjoyed reading further down, where John Bolton said this:

And he’s not surprised by what is allegedly coming in the next batch of leaks: revelations about the behavior of congressional delegations overseas.

However much momentary entertainment those leaks will provide, Bolton asserts they will also show the need for a change in the organization of U.S. intelligence.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Unfortunately, some of our most skilled computer tech savvy people would never pass muster to get a job with the Feds. They might be self-taught techy geniuses, or they dropped out of college to write code on their own, or they have a history of hacking, or they have a drug bust or can't pass a drug screening, etc, etc. It always makes me roll my eyes that the gov't thinks they can control cyberspace when those tasked with the job barely know how to send an email and who still think a worm is something you put on the end of a fish hook or a virus is something you go to the doctor to cure.

[Porchlight]

In my opinion, Bradley Manning should be executed for treason. A lesson to future leakers.

Had that same thought today, Sue.

[Danube of Thought]

As far as I am aware, the charges that have been filed against him thus far are based solely on the helo video, and charges based on the document leaks are still being prepared. Anybody know different?

[Clarice]

Well, Sandy, here's a clue:The WH staff is so incompetent they can't even spell Michelle's name right on the official website.

Just saying---a confederacy of dunces.

[narciso]

Now, one point not often remarked, that Beck pointed out, is that Wikileaks sought out funding from Soros's OSI, so they are not actually working at cross purposes to the Administration

[caro]

... Manning joined the Army out of protest and immediately set about running afoul of the system. Was he given too much latitude? Is he Major Nasan in taffeta?

This is from a comment on a VDH Corner post. Interesting.

[Captain Hate]

WikiLeaks COULD be used in the future for some really cool misinformation campaigns.

If anybody in the CIA was serious (yeah but play along) about catching the butt-plug who's been leaking this garbage, they'd have somebody toss out some bogus disinformation embarrassing to Putin and then watch the polonium trail. As it is, I'm hoping this is embarrassing to the truly deserving quislings in the State Dept.

[narciso]

Hey, Captain, how was your holiday?

[pagar]

It looks like everyone has gone on to other subjects, but this might be on interest to some.

wikileaks-it could take down a bank or two.

"Yes. We have one related to a bank coming up, that’s a megaleak. It’s not as big a scale as the Iraq material, but it’s either tens or hundreds of thousands of documents depending on how you define it."

Wonder how much Soros is shorting that bank?

[Captain Hate]

narc, the holiday was great. The younger Hatette did a great job of preparing the Thanksgiving feast and all else went well.

[JD Will]

Geez, is Obama that good?

I am thinking not. Ahmadinejad is the equivalent of a troll-bot. He will turn anything into a boilerplate conspiracy theory - no thought required.

I would be more likely to attribute this to competence in the current WH, if I had seen any heretofore.