Tracking Lamo

History

File:Lamo-Mitnick-Poulsen.png (2001) (by photographer Matthew Griffiths)
Glenn Greenwald: Email exchange with Wired’s Kevin Poulsen (Jun 17, 2010)
Glenn Greenwald : The strange and consequential case of Bradley Manning, Adrian Lamo and WikiLeaks ( Jun 18, 2010)
Courtney Lambert: EXCLUSIVE: Former Hacker Lamo On Iraq Leaks (Jul 5, 2010)
Lamo: Blinded By Contempt (story tweeted by Lamo @6 #) (Jul 5, 2010)
Wired: Update: Ex-Hacker Denies Alleged WikiLeaker Gave Him Classified Documents (August 1, 2010)
Lamo: Wikileaks Whistle-blower Pushes for Assange Prosecution (Nov 28, 2010)

“Assange’s hubris in presuming to mediate global diplomacy unilaterally cannot be allowed to stand,” stated Lamo. “It is time for appropriate charges to be filed, and for Assange to be allowed to answer for them.” Lamo added.

“Mr. Assange has abused international sovereignty enough, and he should now be extended a firm invitation and comfortable transport to a court competent to hear a case based on his alleged criminal acts.”

Wired: U.S. Trying to Build Conspiracy Case Against WikiLeaks’ Assange
FDL: Bradley Manning and the Convenient Memories of Adrian Lamo (Dec 23, 2010) – this blog has an excellent annotated history of events prior to publication)
Empty Wheel: When Did Adrian Lamo Start Working with Federal Investigators?
FDL: Bradley Manning/Wikileaks Timeline
FDL: Merged Manning-Lamo Chat Logs
FDL: FDL’s Merged Version of Manning-Lamo Chat Logs Now Available (Dec 27, 2010)
WL Central: 2010-12-28 Wired Response to Glenn Greenwald (Dec 28, 2010)
Glenn Greenwald: The worsening journalistic disgrace at Wired (Dec 27, 2010)
Wired (by Evan Hansen & Kevin Poulsen) : Putting the Record Straight on the Lamo-Manning Chat Logs (Dec 28, 2010)
Glenn Greenwald: Response to Wired’s accusations (Dec 29, 2010)

Ultimately, what determines one’s credibility is not the names you get called or the number of people who get angry when you criticize them. What matters is whether the things you say are well-supported and accurate, to correct them if they’re not, and to subject yourself to the same accountability and transparency you demand of others.

On Wednesday 29th December 2010, @manuel_pineiro said:

@ggreenwald Since my #wikileaks comments are censored by @kpoulsen, I’ll put it here. Furthermore, I’ve just finished setting up space on the web for me to help document more fully Wired’s journalism malfeasance + more. Here is the comment I posted on Wired:

Is this supposed to convince anyone who is halfway paying attention?

It has been clear for some time that Threat Level has acted almost at the level of junior high school maturity, coming out with slam pieces about Wikileak’s *HTML forms* during one of the most historic achievements in journalism’s history while kpoulsen and rsingel snicker and giggle like children on their Twitter accounts.

I, too, wondered about Greenwald’s assertions about whether manning allegedly discussed Assange or a secure server.

And, Kevin, you sure drew that out.

How about some other disclosures that have never been made on this website:

1- Adrian Lamo has been caught, repeatedly, lying to reporters by myself and others working on doing the volunteer legwork of finding out the ways and means that the public has been deceived by Wired.

2- What IS a chat log, Hacker Kingpin? I wonder if Glenn Greenwald even knows this — I doubt it. A “CHAT LOG” is an absurd way of making an ASCII TEXT FILE sound more important than it is. But the story doesn’t sound anywhere near as sexy when you tell the truth, right? “Chat log” sounds official, like it is a confirmed chat that had to have been a chat between two internet peers. In reality, you couldn’t have had anything more than a text file filled with dialogue that could have been WRITTEN BY ANYONE. Does AOL keep records of chat logs? Has Wired looked into it to confirm the ASCII text files handed over to them by a guy with absolutely no credibility whatsoever was telling the truth?

Kevin: in all your years as a hacker, did you ever run across the elite hacking tool known as vi? Isn’t it true that vi is all anybody would need to produce an exact replica of the so-called “Chat Logs” you refer to all the time?

Kevin: why arent YOU suspicious of Lamo? That’s the real clincher here. The biggest mistake you could make in attempting to smooth this over is your non-stop, absurd defense of the most indefensible source ever. Someone who is on videotape saying one thing one day to one reporter and saying another thing another day to another reporter. But he’s stalwart and historically courageous to you! Julian Assange? No– he’s a coward who has only faced off against the largest and most corrupt and most violent military/government industry to ever exist in human history. You whine for sympathy regarding your own pretrial detention while simultaneously joining in a mob attack on a man whose done nothing more than expose war crimes that your magazine and all other media outlets should have been covering, instead of blah blah Apple gadget this.

I don’t know why I even bother writing this here since Wired has had a policy of censoring my comments ever since I embarrassed them so thoroughly on the very first article they ran on this story. You can go find it and watch the tone of the comments change after I stated what should have been obvious to anyone. Since then, my comments have been censored via prior restraint. Cowards.

Glenn Greenwald, many many months ago, gave you the answer to your so-called desire to “protect PFC Manning” and his privacy: agree on a third-party, have that person review the chat logs under obligation of confidentiality, and let that independent party determine if there is anything relevant in there. And let’s go from there.

You have NO argument against that proposal which he made forever ago. NONE.

Furthermore, these refutations above ignore the most significant points raised by Glenn Greenwald and many others who are not even professional journalists … people like me who will continue following through on this and documenting it and detailing for all to see in perpetuity the manner in which Wired continues to spit in the face of its readership and everything that is noble about the tradition of journalism.

Glenn Greenwald: Wired’s refusal to release or comment on the Manning chat logs (Dec 29, 2010)

Boing Boing: Wired.com: Lamo/Manning Wikileaks chat logs contain no unpublished references to Assange or private servers (Dec 29, 2010)

Kevin and Evan both independently verified that in the unpublished portions of the chat logs between Adrian Lamo and Bradly Manning there is no further reference to private FTP servers, and no further discussion about the relationship between Manning and Assange.

That’s kind of a big deal, because the published portions of the logs do not support or back up the statements Adrian Lamo seems to have been making. And that would mean that his claims are based solely on opinion, not based on evidence in the chat logs.

IANAL, but this would not appear to be good news for anyone attempting or threatening to prosecute Julian Assange and/or Wikileaks.

What could have been a smoking gun now looks more like an empty water pistol.

HeyKevinPoulsen.com
Glenn Greenwald and Wired Magazine: “I see no reason to doubt Poulsen’s integrity or good faith”
Guardian: Wired journalists deny cover-up over WikiLeaks boss and accused US soldier : Pair with access to transcript of comments by Bradley Manning deny they could help prosecution against Julian Assange (Dec 30, 2010)
Greenwald: Email/comment to Ryan Singel

Today’s Wikileaks Links

Cuba puts WikiLeaks disclosures online in Spanish
WikiLeaks cables claim Vladimir Putin has secret wealth hidden abroad
CNN: Jessica Yellin’s response to last night’s Assange discussion
Fmr. US State Dept. official in Tehran Henry Precht on WikiLeaks – “Foreigners will be less forthcoming with our officers; the reports produced by those officers will be more restricted in circulation. It will be harder to conduct our business under those conditions.”
The merger of journalists and government officials : Glenn Greenwald
Many Arab officials have close CIA links: Assange
My Parents Were Executed Under the Unconstitutional Espionage Act — Here’s Why We Must Fight to Protect Julian Assange
HaikuLeaks – Cable is Poetry

Hypo-ethical

On The Drum, Jonathan Holmes has broached the Fairfax vessel and uncovered its seedy motives for ignoring the ‘scientific journalism’ process made possible by Wikileaks and extolled by Assange.

Third, Julian Assange has made another claim for WikiLeaks, which he says sets it apart from other media organisations. According to this op-ed in The Australian last week:

WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?

Well, WikiLeaks clearly doesn’t insist on ‘scientific journalism’ being practised by all the media outlets with which it’s working. The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald are still publishing story after story by Philip Dorling – stories that have deeply embarrassed or compromised Kevin Rudd, Mark Arbib, Joel Fitzgibbon, and Stephen Gumley, to name just a few, not to mention the US Embassy in Canberra. But we can’t judge for ourselves if Dorling has reported accurately or fairly, because Fairfax hasn’t posted a single cable online.

On Monday I sent an email to SMH editor-in-chief Peter Fray, asking him why not. His response (read it in full here) makes it clear that the primary reason is to protect not the public, but Fairfax’s commercial, interest:

…the volume of material in The Australian referenced cables means we are still mining the source documents. There are, for instance, several potential stories in each cable; to put the material online would be to give access to our competitors in the local market.

That’s not a line of reasoning that has prevented The Guardian, the New York Times, Der Spiegel, Le Monde or any other of WikiLeaks’s collaborators from posting cables online to support their stories; and it would seem to be in direct contravention of the principles espoused by Julian Assange. Perhaps he’s been too preoccupied by other matters recently to have noticed.

Philip Dorling has undoubtedly scored a major scoop for Fairfax. Most of the stories he’s writing – and there are goodness knows how many to come – are fascinating, especially to politics and foreign policy junkies. But we’re having to take them on trust, and we shouldn’t have to. And very few are telling us stuff we didn’t already know (Kevin Rudd’s a control freak; Defence Procurement is a mess; China doesn’t like the Defence White Paper): what they are telling us is that the US Embassy knew it too, often before we did. Surprise, surprise.

The Australian puts in its bib bleating “We would have loved the leaks given to Fairfax papers but we note the problems they have had sieving wheat from chaff”, patting itself and the rest of the mainstream media on the back for raising Wikileak’s circulation, and filtering the information on behalf of an inept public. This is the sort of contemptuous attitude which further encourages one to distrust Australian dead wood media generally. The UK Guardian has managed to keep its pact with its readers, while Australians are deemed inadequate.

Geoffrey Robertson, QC is to defend Julian Assange tonight in old Blighty, and this will not be televised but live-blogged at the Guardian. Around the globe, demonstrations for Wikileaks and Julian Assange proliferate, and ‘all-out cyberwar’ is presaged following the trial.

Hearing

@newsbrooke Heather Brooke
In an amazing nod to the fact we live in digital age, judge has said we can tweet #assange. So I will be along w @AlexiMostrous #

Today’s Wikilinks

Julian Assange to appear in court to appeal for release
RBS chairman said directors ‘failed to live up to their duties’
Mervyn King plotted banks bailout by four cash-rich nations
Wikileaks Events and protests
In Defense of DDoS
Iceland may ban MasterCard, Visa over WikiLeaks censorship
A brilliant fan-made video
J’Accuse: Sweden, Britain, and Interpol Insult Rape Victims Worldwide
The US Government’s pursuit of WikiLeaks could be its undoing
‘Draconian’ whistleblowing laws need an overhaul, says academic
George Monbiot: These astroturf libertarians are the real threat to internet democracy
Why Wikileaks is now splitting the liberal elite
Criminal Prohibitions on the Publication of Classified Defense Information
Wikiriver – wikileaks newsfeed

Today’s Australian Wikilinks

‘Defend Wikileaks’ Australian rallies & meetings
More than 1000 WikiLeaks protesters have vowed to march through Sydney today despite being refused permission by police.
Julian Assange’s overdue library book
WikiLeaks ‘a risk’: Defence Minister Smith

Rallies defend Wikileaks and the ‘right to know’
Lowy Institute Rory Medcalf “The website is bad for diplomacy and encourages voyeurism”. Newspeak for public scrutiny of politicians?
Sydney rally – http://yfrog.com/h2spfuj, http://yfrog.com/gyqxnnj, http://yfrog.com/h05m8aj, http://yfrog.com/h03k2jgj, http://yfrog.com/gy29tjj, http://yfrog.com/h0hz6hj, http://yfrog.com/h34yxnj, http://yfrog.com/h4w6otj, http://twitpic.com/3fsstd, http://twitpic.com/3fsoon, http://twitpic.com/3fsr4k, http://twitpic.com/3fsrl4

WikiLeaks protesters stopped by riot police – Sydney
Defending Wikileaks faces Oprah-obsessed police force

Melbourne rally – http://yfrog.com/h2oy3bnj, http://yfrog.com/h3nc7apj, http://yfrog.com/h4mgqbtj, http://yfrog.com/h2lm8nj, http://yfrog.com/h3si1lj, http://yfrog.com/h3wcmjj, http://yfrog.com/h37ioaj, http://yfrog.com/h05m8aj, http://yfrog.com/0cv2bz, http://yfrog.com/gyty5bj, http://yfrog.com/gy8qvuj, http://yfrog.com/h0qlngj, http://yfrog.com/h0kxqtj, http://yfrog.com/h4xksdj
LCA reins in profession over WikiLeaks outrage

Today’s Palestine / Israel Links

Rescuing Zionism at Palestinian expense – Ali Abunimah shows how the US has chosen racism and Israel over Palestinian human rights and justice.
Gaza Health Ministry: 137 of required medicines out of stock
Stormy weather adds to plight of Gaza’s refugees
US editorial says Israel similar to North Korea
Knesset Approves New Law Preventing Detainees From Meeting Lawyers For Six Month
EU shelves recognition of Palestine
Chances of two-state solution in Palestine seen fading away – sorry, already gone
Internal pressure on Netanyahu mounts over prospect of apology to Turkey
Hamas reiterates all of Palestine claim
2011 ‘difficult’ for Mideast peace: Rudd – ‘Israel’s “settlement activity should cease and it must cease”‘.
Rudd: “What we need to see is not another peace process. What we need to see is a peace outcome.” Let’s have a justice outcome, please Kev. Equal rights, an end to occupation and recognition of right of return.
Israel’s War On Jerusalem Children
Scott Horton Interviews Max Blumenthal
Two more leftwing activists summoned to a meeting with Israel’s General Security Service
Asia2Gaza protest against Israel at Palestine square in Tehran
Israel and the Misrule of Law
Israel refuses entry to Palestinian firefighters being honored for Carmel fire assistance
Arab actor: Boycott Israeli cinema
Tourists in Washington: anatomy of an European Mideast failure
The Internet Goes to War

Other Links

Richard Holbrooke Dead: Diplomat Dies At 69
Police drag protester from wheelchair – the Beeb outdoes itself for squalid interviewing.
Jody McIntyre’s inspired reporting on Electronic Intifada.
How Holbrooke Lied His Way into a War
Tony Blair’s ex-roommate shut down inquest into death of David Kelly

Dissent against authoritarianism – an Australian tradition

Australians’ rebellious, spontaneous actions against authority are legion – the Vinegar Hill Irish insurrection at Castle Hill in 1804, the 1808 Rum Rebellion, Eureka stockade in 1854, the retaliations of Ben Hall and Ned Kelly, the 1899 Boer war where Australian officials actively questioned the authority of the Crown, Keith Murdoch’s whistleblowing of the British manipulations of our troops in Gallipoli contributing to rejection of conscription in 1916 and 1917, rejection of Menzies’ 1951 bill to ban communism, major demonstrations against the Vietnam war, Joh Bjelke Petersen’s anti-street march and emergency legislation laws, Gulf Wars 1 and 2, the war in Afghanistan and Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, mandatory detention of refugees, for Aboriginal land rights and numerous other protests.

In this tradition, the people of Australia will rise up tomorrow in most capital cities in defence of freedom of the press and the people’s right to know, and in support of incarcerated Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

One of the speakers at the event in Sydney tomorrow will be journalist Antony Loewenstein who says:

“I think this is a free speech issue. I think it’s an important question more journalists should be working on. The truth is, that a number of journalists, corporate journalists in Australia and elsewhere have shown their true colours,”

Watch today’s Brisbane Wikileaks rally live on 4ZZZ UStream.

George Brandis, Andrew Wilkie and Bob Brown along with an impressive list of prominent Australians and luminaries. have expressed support for Australians, Australia and Wikileaks.

Affirming consular assistance for Julian Assange and unlike the PM not decrying Wikileaks as illegal, Kevin Rudd has exonerated Wikileaks from blame for the release of the cables.

“Mr Assange is not himself responsible for the unauthorised release of 250,000 documents from the US diplomatic communications network,” said Mr Rudd, who had been criticised in one leaked cable as a “control freak”.

“The Americans are responsible for that.”

Gillard does not – our Mrs. Grundy is revealed:

Julia Gillard has also stated that Mr Assange acted illegally in publishing the cables.

Mr Assange’s British solicitor, Mark Stephens, told The Australian that his legal team were examining the Prime Minister’s comments and considering a defamation action against her.

Ms Gillard yesterday refused to specify what laws Mr Assange might have broken. “The foundation stone of it is an illegal act,” Ms Gillard said.

“Information was taken and that was illegal, so let’s not try and put any glosses on this.”

The comments drew fire from the opposition, with shadow attorney-general George Brandis describing the remarks as “clumsy”.

“As far as I can see he (Mr Assange) hasn’t broken any Australian law,” Senator Brandis told Sky News.

“Nor does it appear he has broken any American laws.”

Since her installation, Gillard has shown herself to be remarkably pliable to US strategic plans – assenting to a substantial increase in joint exercises, US troop numbers and logistics in Australia and continuing the government’s plan to purchase F35s from the US.

It is useful to be aware of the comparative military strength and budget of China and the US. When there is such US disproportionate strength, why contribute without serious question to the upscaling madness in association with an imperial power which does not submit to international law? Beware the stagnant mercantilist imperative which feeds on militarisation and feathers the nest of mining and defence companies.

Today’s Wikilinks
Wikileaks Mass Mirror Party Cartoon
Mark Arbib, aka CIA Agent 007
Thousands rally to defend Bradley Manning
Exclusive: Sarah Palin Under Cyber-Attack from Wikileaks Supporters in ‘Operation Payback’
DataCell ehf who facilitates those payments towards Wikileaks has decided to take up immediate legal actions to make donations possible again.
Why WikiLeaks Is Winning Its Info War
Another view of Wikileaks madness
On Anna Ardin, Israel Shamir and glass houses
Why WikiLeaks Is Winning Its Info War
Obama vs Assange Cartoon
MasterCard and Visa want to play politics, then game on…
Berkeley City Council May Declare Support For Alleged WikiLeaks Informant
Is Julian Assange Helping the Neocons?
Noose Closes Around Pro-Wikileaks Vigilantes
Attacks on credit card sites a grass-roots effort
Caving to pressure from supporters, PayPal releases WikiLeaks’ funds
Assange accuser may have ceased co-operating
The charges – two counts of sexual molestation, one count of unlawful coercion and one count of rape
The Rape of Julian Assange
From Jefferson to Assange (some Americans think Assange is one of them!
Wikileaks keeps on publishing despite arrest (funny vid)
Origin of the latest Israel is behind it conspiracy theory (written by an Israeli)
‘The Only Option Left for Me Is an Orderly Departure’ – interview with Daniel Domscheit-Berg
Feds hint at charges for WikiLeaks’ Assange
Understanding Wikileaks’ ally Anonymous
WikiLeaks Defector Plans Tell-All Book
Meet The New Public Face Of WikiLeaks: Kristinn Hrafnsson
The Empire Is Collapsing, And Americans Will Be The Last To Know
Petition – Wikileaks: Stop the crackdown
Non-governmental organizations should consider nominating Julian Assange for a Nobel Prize, a source in the Russian presidential administration has said.
WikiLeaks followers close Swedish government site: report
Anon Ops – A Manifesto
Is the Wikileaks we see the Wikileaks we need?
Mum’s plea: bring Julian home
Julian Assange rape allegations: treatment of women ‘unfair and absurd
Tell me what a rapist looks like
Today’s Australian Wikilinks

US diplomats monitored the progress of Gillard
Andrew Wilkie on WikiLeaks’ Rudd revelations
Arbib not a spy: Shorten
Politicians downplay Arbib revelations
Arbib warned US of Gillard coup – ‘The cables suggest Senator Arbib has been secretly informing the US embassy in Canberra for several years. The former Labor minister Bob McMullan and the federal MP Michael Danby have also been revealed as close sources.’
Gillard showing ‘contempt for law’: Wilkie
Politicians downplay Arbib revelations
WikiLeaks outs Mark Arbib as US informant
WikiLeaks cables cast fresh light on coup against former Australian PM Rudd
If Only Rudd Hadn’t Expelled That Israeli Diplomat…
The realist we need in foreign affairs
Rudd and Arbib duck the North Korea of the internet

Today’s Palestine/Israel links
End Military Aid to Israel’ campaign comes to BART
Sustainable tourism or sustaining Israel’s occupation?
Alla T. Elshawa: In Gaza
Israeli warplanes attack Gaza
Israel, NATO Launch Spying Operation against Iran at Afghan Borders
Ye Shall Share the Land by Noushin Darya Framke
Sustainable tourism or sustaining Israel’s occupation?
US hails Turkey’s ‘constructive’ role at NATO,
OSCE summits

No, America, You Can’t
Palestinian takes over East Jerusalem property through co acquisition
Cheney involved in long list of crimes

Days of My Wikitweets

For many demented US politicians and media shills, Wikileaks is the US equivalent to Salman Rushdie’s fatwahed Satanic Verses. While the Wikileaks insurance file with its encrypted archive of unredacted documents has been downloaded by hundreds of thousands of Wikileaks supporters during the last week, it seems the US has only just realised the implications. One tweet containing the password, and the entire archive can be unencrypted for public viewing – this is insurance against a US coverup of its criminality, not a means of protecting Julian Assange, who is resigned to the consequences of his public stance. Assange has stated the reason for Wikileaks’ existence is for there to be no need for a Wikileaks. The ‘invisible government’, the obscene hidden oligathical conspiracy and exceptionalism must end and all governments be accountable to international law and their electors. The US State Dept representative, Philip J. Crowley tweets his smear only today:

@PJCrowley: Julian #Assange comes clean as opportunist, threatens to put others at risk to save his own hide. #

Assange’s lawyer, Mark Stephens warns:

that if Mr. Assange were to be brought to trial on rape accusations he faces in Sweden, or for treason charges that have been suggested by U.S. politicians, he would release the encryption key. The tens of thousands of people who have downloaded the file would instantly have access to the names, addresses and details contained in the file.

Against a backdrop of impunity and exceptionalism, the issue of repellent doctrines of pre-emption and full spectrum global dominance adopted during the venal Bush years, and consequent massacres of millions of brown-skinned innocents far from those who fund and vote them, the hypocritical imperial crocodiles are concerned about the impact of the release of unredacted documents it will create by its own hand.

Nor will Assange’s detainment or the closure of his defence fund prevent the upload of further documents. The Wikileaks site is now mirrored at 507 sites and its wikileaks.ch domain is safe in the hands of the Pirate Party and protected by the Swiss courts – and the revolution WILL be tweeted. Even the superpower cannot withstand a tide of discontent from a mushrooming global movement insisting on the right to publish in the public interest as a check on elite corruption and deceit.

The US is particularly irascible about the publication of critical sites which it regards as critical around the world. Yet as the Wikileaks site points out, those sites were available to around 2.5 million people – hardly guarded knowledge. Australian sites of interest include

Australia: Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Brookvale, Australia Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Sydney, Australia Manganese – Battery grade, natural; battery grade, synthetic; chemical grade; ferro; metallurgical grade Nickel Mines Maybe Faulding Mulgrave Victoria, Australia: Manufacturing facility for Midazolam injection. Mayne Pharma (fill/finish), Melbourne, Australia: Sole suppliers of Crotalid Polyvalent Antivenin (CroFab).

What is of most concern is the methodology the US used to glean this knowledge.

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said:

“The latest release from the Embassy Cables reveals US embassies were asked to gather information on key infrastructure and resources without the knowledge of, or consultation with, their host governments.

“This further undermines claims made by the US government that its embassy officials do not play an intelligence gathering role.

“In terms of security issues, while this cable details the strategic importance of assets across the world, it does not give any information as to their exact locations, security measures, vulnerabilities or any similar factors – though it does reveal the US asked its diplomats to report back on these matters.

The Wikileaks cables have revealed the US has ‘blacklisted’ 23 Australian nationals in Yemen.

Some of the names have been added to a US list of people banned from boarding commercial flights, with the rest to be monitored by US spy agencies.

Kevin Rudd claims Assange will be treated ‘like any other citizen’ which means no doubt the supine Australian government would hand him over to its master on demand as it did David Hicks, another occasion when the Australian government’s tongue was inserted from US bottom to tonsils. Would the Australian government also OK a US assassination order? There is a list of organisations and people who have criminalised Wikileaks and threatened Assange here.

Wikileaks continues to expose the cloying connubial relationship between government and corporate entities: Jillian C. York notes the hypocrisy of EveryDNS.com which removed Wikileaks DNS service.

@jilliancyork: EveryDNS: “we believe in our New Hampshire state motto, Live Free or Die.” http://www.everydns.com/ (block on right side of page) #

York also asks:

“Did Library Of Congress Lie? White House Says No Requirement To Block Wikileaks | Techdirt” ( http://bit.ly/f0AfJI ) #

Guardian original NATO
Guardian original
Guardian New
Guardian New NATO

Interestingly, The Guardian, which has been redacting and releasing wikicables alters a headline about NATO’s posture toward Russia. The original headline reads ‘WikiLeaks cables reveal secret Nato plan for war with Russia Alliance agrees to defend Poland and Baltics if Moscow attacks – while Warsaw fumes over ‘potted plant’ Patriot batteries” which is replaced by

“WikiLeaks cables reveal secret Nato plans to defend Baltics from Russia
• Leaked diplomatic cables reveal Russia strategy
• British troops identified for combat operations
• Washington offers to beef up Polish security”

Content of the stories also differs. Decide for yourself which is the better interpretation by reading the original redacted cables at the Guardian.

Julia Gillard in a press conference broadcast today by the ABC has claimed Wikileaks cable publications are “grossly irresponsible misconduct”, there has been “no advice from the Australian federal police yet” and the cables’ “foundation stone is an illegal act”. In common with many politicians, she appears to have a low regard for normal journalistic activities.

Opposition Legal Affairs spokesman George Brandis accused Ms Gillard of being “clumsy” with her language on the issue of illegality.

“As far as I can see, he (Assange) hasn’t broken any Australian law,” he told Sky News.

“Nor does it appear he has broken any American laws.”

Senator Brandis, a Queen’s Counsel, called for any debate about the publishing of the cables to have a well-defined understanding of the difference between something which appeared to be morally wrong and an act which was illegal.

“As far as I can see, nothing Mr Assange has done does break the law.”

Julian Assange is considering a suit against Gillard for defamation.

In a positive move, Columbia University has reversed its fatwah on Wikileaks.

“Freedom of information and expression is a core value of our institution,” Coatsworth wrote in an e-mail to the SIPA community Monday morning (full e-mail message below). “Thus, SIPA’s position is that students have a right to discuss and debate any information in the public arena that they deem relevant to their studies or to their roles as global citizens, and to do so without fear of adverse consequences.”

SIPA Professor Gary Sick, the prominent Middle East expert who served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan, went even further in repudiating the memo.

“If anyone is a master’s student in international relations and they haven’t heard of WikiLeaks and gone looking for the documents that relate to their area of study, then they don’t deserve to be a graduate student in international relations,” Sick told Wired.com in an interview.

The US state department knew there were more cables to come months ago. The Afghanistan and Iraq material published earlier this year was opaque and acronymed – to work through them required extreme dedication and professionalism. According to Iraq body count, the data will take many months more to work through.

The current cables range from didactic to droll and are much more accessible to a prurient public hot for salacious ruling class peccadillos. The elite apparently don’t mind if the bodies they slaughtered are inspected long after, as long as their precious image at embassy cocktail parties isn’t tarnished, their complicity in torture coverups uncovered, that their deceptive sabre rattling at Iran isn’t exposed as a charade. Even now, despite the glaring evidence, many cling to the delusion that an attack on Iran is imminent.

I wavered as I read Kevin Rudd’s presentation to Clinton, knowing full well what I would find – evidence of an increased military buildup to keep pace with China’s growing security role in the region which they promised it years ago, though not with the boorish suggestion of matched belligerence. I thought Kevvie did rather well given the limitations and arrogance of the US – they will still run the show through membership of a regional body – yet it makes sense in a cold-hearted financially pragmatic way, since Australia is a quarry for the military juggernaut. China and America build implements of war from our minerals – increased militarisation suits everyone except me, and others like me, which is just about everyone.

After yesterday’s frolics, between throwing Leftist Palestinian charters and speeches identifying imperialism as organically related with zionism at anti-semite white supremacists and dealing with a plague of conspiracists who think because Assange said Netanyahu was a sophisticated politician this was a form of praise and evidence of zionist collusion rather than an equation of him with a used car salesman or particularly venomous snake, along with attempting to preserve my own citizenship rights from the craven compliance of the Australian government with empire, noticing little solidarity for this from non-Australians, my messages back to @wikileaks and @wikileaks2 were

Send her down Huey 🙂 RT @wikileaks: Cablegate: Boy, the last time there was a leak like this, Noah built himself a boat. #

Hey there … power on, process A OK, govt still seems to want to commit to ridiculous amounts of arms purchases 🙂 #

For 2 yrs a chain: #netfilter => #openinternet => #opensociety : #wikileaks helps Australians confront censorship then AND now 🙂 thanks! #

Here’s my Christmas Wikiwish list:

(1) No, we don’t want those F35s (2) Global demilitarisation (3) Equal human rights for all (4) Whatever happened to Al Suri?

One last thought – as with the rightsless Palestinian people, Australian rights and justice go out the window when the US is concerned, The ruling class that disallows justice for Palestinians is the same ruling class that is enabling the persecution of Julian Assange and Wikileaks.

Later

Julian Assange has now been arrested according to the BBC. An op-ed will appear in tomorrow’s Australian – here’s the beginning of a gist.

‘Mr Assange begins by saying: `In 1958, a young Rupert Murdoch, then owner and editor of Adelaide’s The News, wrote: `In the race between secrecy and truth, it seems inevitable that truth will always win.’’

It goes on to say a few more things about freedom of speech; the `dark days’ of corrupt government in Queensland (where Assange was raised); the Fitzgerald inquiry; and it says much about his upbringing in a country town, “where people spoke their minds bluntly.’’

It says that Australian politicians are chanting a “provably false chorus’’ with the US State Department of “You’ll risk lives! You’ll endanger troops!’’ by releasing information, and “then they say there is nothing of importance in what Wikileaks publishes. It can’t be both.’’

WikiLinks for Today

Julian Assange WikiLeaks – latest
Defend WikiLeaks or lose free speech
WikiLeaks Shows Intel Blackmailed Russian Govt.
Wikileaks Exposes Iran’s Secret Revenge on Iraqi Pilots For 1980s War
Al Jazeera rejects leaked US claims
Wikileaks : The Talking Points
V for Vendetta, A for Assange
CableGate, Copyright Expansionism and Stopping to Think
Campaigners rally to defence as attempts to muzzle site mount
In the flood of US cables, a resurgent Turkey emerges
WikiLeaks: Israel weapons manufacturer listed as site vital to U.S. interests
WikiLeaks winners and losers: Early edition
Cable reveals details about Saddam Hussein’s ‘hastily run’ execution
Kuwaiti IM suggests US release Gtmo detainees back in Afghanistan to be ‘killed in combat’
Why is Australia silent on Julian Assange?
Julia Gillard fails to name law broken by Wikileaks or Julian Assange
Police complaint filed after Tom Flanagan calls for assassination of Wikileaks’ Julian Assange
Facebook: We’re Not Kicking Wikileaks Off Our Site
Israel supporters using Wikileaks to promote attack on Iran are ignoring Arab public opinion
What’s the thinking behind Wikileaks?
Indecent Exposure: WikiLeaks Hounded for Showing Power Its True Face
In the eye of the Assange media storm – media storm after Daniel Assange interview
‘Critical infrastructure’ = hysterical reaction
Facebook: We’re Not Kicking Wikileaks Off Our Site
Net closes in on Assange? #wikileaks #cablegate
Aussie web hosts shy away from Wikileaks [despicable]
Not such wicked leaks : Umberto Eco
Open letter: To Julia Gillard, re Julian Assange
Wikileaks : Some thoughts on what is happening and where it might lead
WikiLeaks in the clouds: why attempts to shut down Assange will fail – behind a paywall, with free trial available
Wikileaks and the Long Haul
2010-12-07: Statement by Civil Liberties Australia – strong, well-aimed message
Has Australia Abandoned WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange? TIME
So Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?
Cables: US fails to stop Hamas arms flow
Rant from Howard Stern about Wikileaks and government.
“I can see Julian Assange from my house”
Wikileaks support protest in Sydney on Friday
The lawless Wild West attacks WikiLeaks

More Links

Pictures of Palestine from 1868
Researcher says Palestinian detainees were used in Israeli medical experiments
Muslim Publics Divided on Hamas and Hezbollah
The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
A Wildfire Is Burning All Illusions in Israel
U.S. Must Condemn Gaza Border Wall as a Human Rights Violation
Message to Vieux Farka Touré: Colonialism is colonialism, whether it happens in West Africa or Palestine

Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter & Julian Assange

A hunt is on for journalist and popular free speech advocate Julian Assange which according to his lawyer has “political motivations”,. “I’m really rather worried by the political motivations that appear to be behind this,” says Mark Stephens, Julian’s counsel.

On the run in February, 1879, Ned Kelly had no advocate, instead dictating to his comrade Joe Byrne the circumstances which led him to become a fugitive of the law. The marvellous Jerilderie letter, sometimes known as Kelly’s manifesto, was intended to be published as a pamphlet.

Some of my favourite quotations from Ned Kelly’s letter are below, testimony of a colonial ‘lesser being’ to the empire which abrogates his rights and freedoms through its craven corrupt employees, with relevance to Julian Assange’s current situation confronting the superpower whose specious narrative and actions are challenged by the release of diplomatic cables supplied to Wikileaks by a whistleblower, and its shameful sycophant, Australia, his country of birth, whose leader has betrayed him and all of its citizens with bad legal advice and sacrifice of citizens rights to the hegemon.

‘It will pay Government to give those people who are suffering innocence, justice and liberty. if not I will be compelled to show some colonial stratagem which will open the eyes of not only the Victoria Police and inhabitants but also the whole British army and now doubt they will acknowledge their hounds were barking at the wrong stump.’

‘yet remember there is not one drop of murderous blood in my Veins’

‘yet in every paper that is printed I am called the blackest and coldest blooded murderer ever on record’

‘yet they know and acknowledge I have been wronged and my mother and four or five men lagged innocent and is my brothers and sisters and my mother not to be pitied also who has no alternative only to put up with the brutal and cowardly conduct of a parcel of big ugly fat-necked wombat headed big bellied magpie legged narrow hipped splaw-footed sons of Irish Bailiffs or english landlords which is better known as Officers of Justice or Victorian Police who some calls honest gentlemen but I would like to know what business an honest man would have in the Police as it is an old saying It takes a rogue to catch a rogue and a man that knows nothing about roguery would never enter the force an take an oath to arrest brother sister father or mother if required and to have a case and conviction if possible Any man knows it is possible to swear a lie and if a policeman looses a conviction for the sake of swearing a lie he has broke his oath therefore he is a perjurer either ways.’

‘What would England do if America declared war and hoisted a green flag as its all Irishmen that has got command of her armies forts and batteries even her very life guards and beef tasters are Irish would they not slew around and fight her with their own arms for the sake of the colour they dare not wear for years. and to reinstate it and rise old Erins isle once more, from the pressure and tyrannism of the English yoke, which has kept it in poverty and starvation, and caused them to wear the enemys coats. What else can England expect. Is there not big fat-necked Unicorns enough paid to torment and drive me to do thing which I dont wish to do, without the public assisting them I have never interefered with any person unless they deserved it, and yet there are civilians who take firearms against me, for what rea-son I do not know, unless they want me to turn on them and extermin-ate them without medicine.’

From the torrent of support and journalistic output about Wikileaks and the issues underlying the leaked cables, this exceptional article by Nikki Usher captures the arguments for the essential role of a free media in facilitating government openness and accountability for all .

‘The truth is, though, that everyone here is a winner — traditional media and non-traditional journalism and, most importantly, the public.

Imagine this: Look at what happens when mainstream news and whatever we want to call WikiLeaks work together. The forces are not in opposition but are united with a common goal — again, informing the public — and the result is that mainstream news can do what it does best thanks to the help of the information WikiLeaks provides. (But, of course, it couldn’t do it without WikiLeaks.) This is a moment of glory for all those who talk about crowdsourcing, user-generated content, and the like. Perhaps this is the ultimate form of users helping to create and shape the news. And the result is a better-informed public.’

Here on our ABC, the intercourse between Clinton and Rudd is subject for debate, contempt and many less than useful explanations.

According to the document, Ms Clinton expressed concern about China’s economic rise and asked Mr Rudd: “How do you deal toughly with your banker?”

Mr Rudd responded by saying that China needed to be integrated into the international community, but that countries should be prepared to deploy force if everything goes wrong.

In contrast to the ALP’s niggardly “un-Australian” and exceedingly unpopular betrayal of Assange, Abbott’s taciturnity and Bishop’s abbreviated nod to the citizenry, Bob Brown has maintained a steady, clear voice.

“Australian citizenships should be respected and he should be reassured that his citizenship is safe,” Senator Brown said.

“Mr Assange has come across a great ream of documents which throw some light on US foreign policy. It is important that we know what drives governments to make decisions.”

“Mr Assange has had no criminal conviction and there is a lot of political conjecture and juggling of claims against him.”

“If this material had gone straight to one of the Australian newspapers they would have published it. The press works off leaks like this all the time.”

“I understand that WikiLeaks goes through a process before releasing any documents to help ensure that such releases do not put lives in danger,” Senator Brown said. “I urge WikiLeaks to be diligent in that.”

Recording of Bob Brown’s interview on ABC Radio 774 here.

Lawyer, Stephen Keim, says threats to WikiLeaks ‘damages Australia

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights president Stephen Keim says accusations of criminal law breaches levelled at Assange undermine free speech principles.

“Although the Attorney-General is entitled to disagree with – even protest – the actions taken, it is a particularly objectionable misuse of political hyperbole in these circumstances to make sweeping allegations of illegality,” Mr Keim said.

Downer rushes to the rescue of the political ruling class, perhaps hoping the same courtesy will be extended to him if a cable should materialise with his name on it. Downer feels “sorry for Kevin Rudd in this situation.” Kevin, though is relaxed and cheerful in comparison to his incensed US counterparts, who vow to change the law especially to punish the messenger, who is simply doing what journalists do. Politicians are often to resent the audacity of the press – Bjelke Petersen used to call it ‘feeding the chooks’. The empire is used to embedded reporters for some years, submissive to the imperatives of America’s perpetual wars.

As for WikiLeaks’ Australian founder Julian Assange, Mr Downer said he thought that morally he was an appalling person.

“I think to do this is to undermine the interests of millions of people around the world and to degrade diplomacy and the relationships between countries all for just being some sort of public relations smart-arse.”

Those opposing Wikileaks’ professional journalism take the bait with extraordinary enthusiasm, exposing themselves in all their monstrous glory. Avoiding engagement with the global conversation, they’d like to topple the fisherman off his rock.

They don’t seem to fathom why accountability is in the public interest, nor understand the inexorable nature of the tide which leaves them high and dry.

Would the governments be howling to the moon and stars if the leaks had been delivered to Murdoch’s establishments?

Wikileak Links for Today

Why the revolution might not be tweeted; or why Gladwell was right but for different reasons
US overreaction to Wikileaks ‘looking increasingly like that of a bully’
GLW: We have a right to know
The man who knows too much
WikiLeaks and Our Boorish “In Your Face” Diplomacy
WikiLeaks Ready to Release Giant ‘Insurance’ File if Shut Down
Could WikiLeaks survive without Julian Assange?

Mass-Mirroring Wikileaks
http://wlcentral.org/node/506
Evgeny Morozov has cautioned in The Financial Times

that the US backlash against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange may have unintended consequences: “WikiLeaks could be transformed from a handful of volunteers to a global movement of politicised geeks clamouring for revenge. Today’s WikiLeaks talks the language of transparency, but it could quickly develop a new code of explicit anti-Americanism, anti-imperialism and anti-globalisation.[…] An aggressive attempt to go after WikiLeaks – by blocking its web access, for instance, or by harassing its members – could install Mr Assange (or whoever succeeds him) at the helm of a powerful new global movement able to paralyse the work of governments and corporations around the world.”

Sex, lies and diplomatic cables

Website under constant assault

On Saturday, Mr Assange said it was ”impossible” to return to Australia because of comments by Mr McClelland and the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, who labelled his actions ”illegal”.

But yesterday Mr McClelland seemed to offer some concession to the Townsville-born former hacker, saying: ”Mr Assange is entitled to the same rights as any other Australian citizen.

”This includes the right to return to Australia and also to receive consular assistance while he is overseas if that is requested.”

Mr Assange also revealed that more than 100,000 people had downloaded an ”insurance” file containing an encrypted version of the cables, and the key to that code would be released if ”something happens to us”.

Rich all of a twitter about Big Brother

Professor Tom Flanagan: Glib about Murdering Julian Assange

”Instead of Big Brother overwhelming us, all these little brothers – us – will have data through products like research.ly that will give us the ability, just like WikiLeaks has, to overwhelm Big Brother,” Rich said in an interview with the blogger Robert Scoble.

Rich said his website could create ”virtual friends groups on the fly”.
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”What we need is humans to evolve to that next level so we have a collective consciousness that persists and that we can delve into to give us the data that we need to build these friends groups on the fly,” he said, in what appeared to be a new form of Orwellian doublethink.

WikiLeaks a blueprint for things to come : Mark Pesce

Everything is different now. Everything feels more authentic. We can choose to embrace this authenticity, and use it to construct a new system of relations, one which does not rely on secrets and lies. A week ago that would have sounded utopian, now it’s just facing facts

What remains of Western morality is becoming threadbare

Professor Tom Flanagan: Glib about Murdering Julian Assange
Don’t cry over WikiLeaks – Australian Legal
Assange Accuser Worked with US-Funded, CIA-Tied Anti-Castro Group
Julian Assange’s lawyers say they are being watched
Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality
A Fairly Short List of Goodies for Wikileaks Santa
A Letter to PM Gillard
Wikileaks : Winning the War What’s the point of trying to shut down Wikileaks? If this past week has shown anything, it’s that cutting off the hydra’s head only results in a hundred more growing in its place.
Good luck shielding yourself from the next Wikileaks dump – diplomatic reshuffles
How to Eat the Cheese
Door open for Assange to come home – yeah right
Who Will Be TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year?
Bernie Sanders Unearths the Fed’s Sordid Details
Only WikiLeaks Can Save US Policy
Rudd defends ‘robust’ China relationship
Digital McCarthyism
And so this is Christmas
WikiLeaks cables claim al-Jazeera changed coverage to suit Qatari foreign policy
The Canberra Cables
An open letter to Malcolm Turnbull regarding Julian Assange
Operation Avenge Assange
Open letter to University of Calgary President Dr. Elizabeth Cannon regarding Dr. Tom Flanagan’s remarks
Salaries of WikiLeaks Staffers to Be Revealed in New Report

Other Links of Interest

The Flash Mob to raise awareness about Motorola’s support of Israeli human rights violation
United Nations Silent as NATO Destroys Potentially Thousands of Afghan Homes
ALBA and the Promise of Cooperative Development
Protest, arrests in Gaza over closure of youth organization
Abunimah: The Native American analogy doesn’t work
Danny Ayalon Needs To Thank Palestinians Too
New South Wales Greens embrace BDS
Nationalism: the virus and its cure
Leila Khaled Interview
Tales from the Crypt The Depraved Spies and Moguls of the CIA’s Operation Mockingbird
Israeli, Turkish diplomats meet in Geneva to repair ties
Industrial Workers of the World Union Votes to Officially Support BDS

UK Labor calls for compulsory settlement product labeling
Dick Cheney : The former VP is fingered in a massive cash-for-contract scandal in the African country’s oil-rich Niger Delta.