Wikileaks News

[Mad Scientist]

I think we all would like to believe that Julian was doing this for only the purest of reasons and to get real transparency in government. But the conspiratorialest in me has a hard time excepting that. While indeed lots of embarrassing tidbits of information was released yet the idea that Iran should be attacked seems to come up quite often.
Having wars to fight can be very profitable for a select group of people. But getting people to willingly fight these wars can be a little tricky. So by allowing classified material to be released could this be nothing more then the herding of people in the right direction.
How difficult would it be to find some naive idealist who wants transparency in government, and have him feed selected information that was allowed to be given to some other equally naïve individual? Then casually sit back and watch them take all the flack while claiming how horrible all this is.

[Aaron]

Julian Assange - Ted TV Interview

I like this interview, saw it quite a while back when it was posted
here - on ted tv with Julian Assange:
Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks | Video on TED.com

[noises]

My hat is off to Glenn Greenwald for this piece.

First we have the group demanding that Julian Assange be murdered without any charges, trial or due process. There was Sarah Palin on on Twitter illiterately accusing WikiLeaks -- a stateless group run by an Australian citizen -- of "treason"; she thereafter took to her Facebook page to object that Julian Assange was "not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders" (she also lied by stating that he has "blood on his hands": a claim which even the Pentagon admits is untrue). Townhall's John Hawkins has a column this morning entitled "5 Reasons The CIA Should Have Already Killed Julian Assange." That Assange should be treated as a "traitor" and murdered with no due process has been strongly suggested if not outright urged by the likes of Marc Thiessen, Seth Lipsky (with Jeffrey Goldberg posting Lipsky's column and also illiterately accusing Assange of "treason"), Jonah Goldberg, Rep. Pete King, and, today, The Wall Street Journal.

The way in which so many political commentators so routinely and casually call for the eradication of human beings without a shred of due process is nothing short of demented. Recall Palin/McCain adviser Michael Goldfarb's recent complaint that the CIA failed to kill Ahmed Ghailani when he was in custody, or Glenn Reynolds' morning demand -- in between sips of coffee -- that North Korea be destroyed with nuclear weapons ("I say nuke ‘em. And not with just a few bombs"). Without exception, all of these people cheered on the attack on Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 innocent human beings, yet their thirst for slaughter is literally insatiable. After a decade's worth of American invasions, bombings, occupations, checkpoint shootings, drone attacks, assassinations and civilian slaughter, the notion that the U.S. Government can and should murder whomever it wants is more frequent and unrestrained than ever.

Those who demand that the U.S. Government take people's lives with no oversight or due process as though they're advocating changes in tax policy or mid-level personnel moves -- eradicate him!, they bellow from their seats in the Colosseum -- are just morally deranged barbarians. There's just no other accurate way to put it. These are usually the same people, of course, who brand themselves "pro-life" and Crusaders for the Sanctity of Human Life and/or who deride Islamic extremists for their disregard for human life. And the fact that this mindset is so widespread and mainstream is quite a reflection of how degraded America's political culture is. When WikiLeaks critics devote a fraction of their rage to this form of mainstream American thinking -- which, unlike anything WikiLeaks has done, has actually resulted in piles upon piles of corpses -- then their anti-WikiLeaks protestations should be taken more seriously, but not until then.

I don't mean any offense to anyone on the basis of race. I'd just like to get that right out in the open because I do come across as pretty anti sometimes about some things certain countries do. I'm just as critical of my own (Australian) government when it acts in narrow minded, belligerent, oppressive or mean spirited ways, make no mistake. However, I do have faith that there is a critical mass of people who're becoming more and more adamant that things need to change, and who'll bring that change about with love, humility and wisdom. And just like the people who represent "the problem," those of us who I believe represent "the solution" come from all kinds of different countries, economic backgrounds, religious and theological persuasions and are better recognised by their actions and affinities than their race or color.

Namaste.

[Nadda]

I have a couple of statments to make to that Gleen Grennwald quote.

of "treason"; she thereafter took to her Facebook page to object that Julian Assange was "not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders" (she also lied by stating that he has "blood on his hands": a claim which even the Pentagon admits is untrue).

The pentagon know those documents didnt motivate anyone from the taliban? Glenn knows shes a liar? Sounds like he just has a grudge towards sarah (all liberals do).

Without exception, all of these people cheered on the attack on Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 innocent human beings, yet their thirst for slaughter is literally insatiable.

Quite misleading. No one cheered on the U.S. to murder any innocent human being. To suggest that Americans enjoy killing innocent people is disgusting! Maybe glenn forgot that saddam had murdered thousands of his own people with mustard gas and was threatening to do worse with bigger weapons...

Those who demand that the U.S. Government take people's lives with no oversight or due process as though they're advocating changes in tax policy or mid-level personnel moves -- eradicate him!, they bellow from their seats in the Colosseum -- are just morally deranged barbarians.

Yes, Americans are barbarians for wanting to stop tyrannical leaders who threaten death to their neighbors. How dare we try and stop them. We should now just allow North Korea to finish its Nuke so it can wipe out South korea. Otherwise we are just slaughtering blood thirsty barbarians if we try to keep the peace.

These are usually the same people, of course, who brand themselves "pro-life" and Crusaders for the Sanctity of Human Life and/or who deride Islamic extremists for their disregard for human life. And the fact that this mindset is so widespread and mainstream is quite a reflection of how degraded America's political culture is.

Yes, these same American blood thirsty barbarians just happen to be "pro-life" and Crusaders for the Sanctity of Human Life.

Maybe we're not barbarians at all Mr. Greenwald.

[Ingram]

Information directly related to the Wikileaks revelations illuminates the corruption (and U.S. knowledge thereof) of Afghan "partners".

And yet... this is a bad thing for us to know? As if we didn't know already

(CNN) -- Hundreds of U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks paint a picture of corruption in Afghanistan at every level of government and society.

WikiLeaks cables on Afghanistan show monumental corruption - CNN.com

[noises]

Saddam is dead. Lets worry about the criminals and human rights abusers who are still alive in government today, not the ones who've been executed and no longer present a real or ongoing threat to liberty and peace.

As for afghanistan, well, as soon as the oil pipeline goes through from the caspian sea to india, via western afghanistan, perhaps then it will become clear why the western world cares so much about that part of the world, and so little about places like angola, the ivory coast etc etc etc, where tens of milions of people are murdered and oppressed by their little tinpot dictatorships, but nobody in the west cares because nobody wants to put a natural gas pipeline through THEIR country.

[noises]

Yes, Americans are barbarians for wanting to stop tyrannical leaders who threaten death to their neighbors.

Last time I checked, Julian Assange wasn't a tyranical leader. He was just some guy who set up a website where people could publish (leak) documents they were privvy to, and that they felt the world needed to see.

Let's be clear, wikileaks doesn't steal documents. Wikileaks doesn't engage in espionage. Wikileaks doesn't coerce or threaten anyone to publish or not publish any information. All Julian has ever done is provide a forum where documents, procured by others, can be made available to the public, regardless of what your esteemed leaders and media lackeys would have you believe about him.

In other words, all this guy has done is start a site where other people contribute their own leaks. And for that, "the good guys," want him dead or imprisoned. Nice. For wanting ...wait for it... disclosure. Wasn't that something people around here liked? Oh well.

[Ingram]

Sounds like he just has a grudge towards sarah (all liberals do).

So by this logic George H.W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Carl Rove, Joe Scarborough, Peggy Noonan, Nicolle Wallace, Whitney Pitcher, Newt Gingrich and Arnold Schwarzenegger are liberals?

[noises]

Just quietly, while the internet is still free enough to publish things like this without a SWAT team coming to kick my door in to drag me off for treason just for voicing an opinion, I think the real tyrants are the people like Joe Lieberman in the US, Stephen Conroy in Australia and their counterparts/doppelgangers in other developed nations, the pro censorship/blacklist/filter guys.

You know what these guys want? Censorship of the internet. They'll tell you they just want to block kiddy porn and sites that tell you how to make bombs, but the truth is, forums like this end up on their blacklist too, because there's too much free thinking and dissent going on here. Sometimes. By some posters. They HATE freedom of information enough to shut down access to a site like this just because a few people here don't see things their way. And what's really strange is, while they get up and go on about tyrants and dictators and evil nations, lets just take a look at a little list of the names of some of the countries that already have EXACTLY the same kind of internet censorship these champions of freedom and democracy aspire to inflict on us all.

North Korea.
Burma.
Iran.
Syria.
Uzbekistan.
Cuba.
Afghanistan.
Tunisia.
China.

See an ironic pattern there?

Oh, and another point. DDOS attacks are illegal. Hacking's against the law, right? It's a crime under US law to even route an attack via the US, even if you're origion and target are elesewhere. So what "someone" did earlier this week, when they ping flooded wikileaks and took it offline with the worlds biggest ever denial of service attack, was against the law in the US. Will there be an investigation? Will as much effort go into chasing up that trumped up rape charge as will be put into finding and prosecuting whoever orchestrated the wikileaks attack? Not likely... considering it was probably an intelligence agency who did it. Not mentioning any names or pointing any fingers...

But what is truly positive and beautiful is this, one day, you'll be able to read on wikileaks the who what and how of that very same cyber crime, because someone, somewhere will leak it.

[noises]

To suggest that Americans enjoy killing innocent people is disgusting! .

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0

The jokes and quips this one American cracks as he kills unarmed civilians and journalists from the safety of his apache gunship would seem to indicate he was enjoying himself. You can find the suggestion disgusting if you like, personally, I choose to stick to being disgusted by the actual killing, and comments like at 6:32 "oh yeah, look at all those dead bastards. nice."

(warning, link is very graphic and real. don't watch if you're easily upset. you may have already seen it, it was on wikileaks last year, ironically enough.)

[ImBill]

I have a couple of statments to make to that Gleen Grennwald quote.



The pentagon know those documents didnt motivate anyone from the taliban? Glenn knows shes a liar? Sounds like he just has a grudge towards sarah (all liberals do).

I don't know about a grudge, but I sure as heck don't want anyone with her mental capacity in a position of power.

Quite misleading. No one cheered on the U.S. to murder any innocent human being. To suggest that Americans enjoy killing innocent people is disgusting! Maybe glenn forgot that saddam had murdered thousands of his own people with mustard gas and was threatening to do worse with bigger weapons...

Glenn did not say that "Americans enjoy killing innocent people" or that anyone "cheered on the US to murder any innocent human being". You are misconstruing what was said.

Yes, Americans are barbarians for wanting to stop tyrannical leaders who threaten death to their neighbors. How dare we try and stop them. We should now just allow North Korea to finish its Nuke so it can wipe out South korea. Otherwise we are just slaughtering blood thirsty barbarians if we try to keep the peace.

Again, you are misconstruing what was said. He was talking about killing someone/calling for someone's death without due process, outside of a theater of war.

Yes, these same American blood thirsty barbarians just happen to be "pro-life" and Crusaders for the Sanctity of Human Life.

Maybe we're not barbarians at all Mr. Greenwald.

Glenn is not calling all Americans bloodthirsty barbarians, just a subset, which I'd have to agree with. There are plenty of bloodthirsty barbarians in this country. Go look on the web forums if you don't believe me. Granted, I don't see much evidence of them here, but they are out there. I only visit one or two other forums regularly but I get into discussions quite often where people are calling for the wholesale slaughter of various groups or animals like it's no big deal. One day it's Muslims, the next it's violent criminals, the next it's liberals, and so it goes.
I can see this article must have pushed a couple of buttons for you, Nadda. Try not to let it upset you too much, it's just a bunch of words...

[Joit]

Well right now, since Amazon shoot her Space down,
all Links dont work anymore, till they did set up a new Host stable.
Questionable, if it makes sence to dload importend docs
or wait, till they next are published :P.
They got a new Host, but not sure how long it works.
And i really really hope they cant catch J. Assange.

[noises]

^Amen to that, I hope Julian remains free, or that at the very least he gets a sympathetic judge.

In regard to not being able to access wikileaks, the DDOS attacks and pingfloods were one part of the problem. But another part of the problem is the domain name isn't resolving due to a seperate attack directed at the Domain Name Server wikileaks uses. For those who don't know, the the websitenamehere.com url we all know and love isn't the true address of any website. That's just an easy way to remember it for us humans.

the server that translates the name wikleaks.org to it's true numerical IP address is ALSO under attack. So when you type in the url as a word, it can't be translated to the numerical address and you can't get to the site. use the numerical address, typed into the address bar in your broser, and you get to the site.

>>>88.80.13.160<<< < that's wikileaks IP address. enter that into your browser, or click that link, and you'll get to the site with no trouble until "they" change their attack tactic. (they being whoever is responsible for the ongoing DDOS attacks on the DNS.)

The site is also mirrored, if you add .de or .dl or .ch to the end of the wikileaks url, you can access the site that way too by visiting their mirrors in other countries. And as the attacks change, people smarter than you or I are tweeting ways to work around them. There's a silent army of people who share the view wikileaks does important work, and simply taking down the head guy sin't going to shut us up. viva le internet!

You learn something new every day, hey!

[Joit]

So the US Gouvernment now wanna restrict the Access from
Officials to the Wikileaks Pages?
US orders data lock down in wake of Wikileaks release • The Register
ABC The Drum - WikiLeaks: catalyst for transparency or lockdown?

It seems like some of this representatives of the Peoples
really have some personal Problems.
At the other Side, they allready collect Millions of Datas from private Persons,
and can buy access to your Email from Google.
Dont feel save anymore wich your Emailaccount or anthing else,
what you do write on the Net.

FBI Wiretapping of Internet Users. "All Your Data Belongs to Us"

[Aaron]

bogus transparency and open government memorandum

At the beginning of Obama's time in office, he signed a transparency act
but immediately after, all information became actually harder to get. It
was a bunch of nonsense to make it look like they were going to be more
open after all the Bush admin secrecy but it actually became more secret
already. Wikileaks isn't going to make data more secret, they were already
moving in that direction.

http://www.energeticforum.com/genera...emorandum.html