Wanted: Julian Assange

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-...assange-hunted-by-pentagon-over-massive-leak/

 

I would hate to be that guy. You know that the US govt. will stop at nothing to find and, if need be, eliminate him. The best thing he can do is turn over the cables and hope they never see the light of day. I think this is the beginning of the end of Wikileaks

 

Indeed. And I'm sure that he's replaceable.

You can follow it in real time -- http://twitter.com/wikileaks.

 

i heard a bit about this guy on the radio. apparently he travels all the time so that (1) he has no country of residence, and (2) he can leak on international waters or over international airspace. That way he can muddy the waters regarding jurisdiction and deter prosecutions... at the time i heard the report, the australian ultra right wing govt had confiscated his passport because they claimed it was worn and slightly crumbled. i think they just wanted to keep him under their jurisdiction so he wouldn't leak embarrassing details about their government.

 

Assange arranging legal defence for Bradley Manning http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/wikileaks-to-lamo/

Julian Assange gets harassed by federal police in Ausfailia and stalked by government agents in Iceland. They can't do anything to him legally outside the US so this is the type of crap they pull. Wikileaks exists to expose official corruption. National security is whatever threatens their position of power/control/authority, i.e. anything that makes them look bad.

 

Glenn Greenwald's piece is well worth a read -- "The strange and consequential case of Bradley Manning, Adrian Lamo and WikiLeaks" <http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/06/18/wikileaks/index.html>.

Perhaps someone from Wired will leak the juicy background

 

It appears Assange is the last person who should be pursued ??

 

@Longboard

Hopefully you're not referring to me

In other news, Cryptome is now seriously attacking Wikileaks, linking to Wikileaks leakers. This is becomming quite the spy-vs-spy soap opera.

 

No, you're safe from me
Obviously a long way to go with this story.

There's a long thread here, if you're interested:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r24058164-Wikileaks-shows-why-it-was-under-heavy-surveillance

 

Thanks, Longboard That thread is quite wild

One of the latest comments reminded me of claims by "Asian intelligence sources" (and Cryptome!) that Wikileaks is a CIA/Mossad/Soros operation <http://kennysideshow.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-wikileaks-ciamossad-front.html>. And then I remembered the New Yorker article with speculation that Wikileaks was started with documents harvested from Tor by China's Ghostnet <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/06/07/100607fa_fact_khatchadourian>.

Who's on first?

 

The backside of this story is interesting.

We know Assange is an incredibly gifted hacker and has insights into the web that leave most far behind.

Allegedly, and I have no real knowledge of this, the video and classified information was given to Assenge in encrypted form.
Assange was supposedly able to break that encryption and has been saying he stripped out any identifying data as to source, which may not have been to0 difficult. That in itself is a moot now in light of Manning's arrest.

If Assange really decrypted US Military papers and video ( with a couple of friends and and uncertain resources) : no wonder the US is concerned re more than the video itself.

This is the latest Australian effort to characterize Assange: ( hot release: shown today )
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2010/s2929883.htm
The video's not there yet: soon
Here:
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2010/s2934042.htm
Interestingly they have gone a long way back with some archival footage.

The Policeman who caught him for hacking back then has actually given his tacit support to Wikileaks as a concept and has obvious regard and respect for Assange.

Icelands new 'data freedom' laws might be causing a few chills here and there.
Heh: watch financial support to their bankrupt economy start drying up ??

Another little story:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/22/2933892.htm

 

I don't think Assange broke any encryption. More likely is that Manning sent him the encryption keys and Assange made up the story about "breaking the encryption" in order to cover for Manning. Think about it, why would Manning send the video to Assange with no way to decrypt it? Makes no sense.

There is a huge difference in being a programmer (hacker) and in being a crypto expert. It takes PhD's in discrete mathematics and an expertise in combinatorics and number theory to even begin thinking about "breaking" something like AES. Many geniuses routinely try to break algorithms like that and fail. I doubt Assange would be able to pull it off.

 

You may be right.
Agree that it sounds more likely that wikileaks received the files in native format.
I think I had read somewhere about the decrypting, but it was a while ago and I couldn't find the link.

 

@Longboard

I also recall the claim that Wikileaks decrypted the video, and that doing so required some effort. Perhaps Manning provided the key, but performing the decryption required using or emulating some sort of proprietary military software. Pure speculation, obviously.

 

If the US is putting in so much resources in finding the founder of wiki leaks I don't get why they don't instead have the site removed?

 

Icelands new 'data freedom' laws might be causing a few chills here and there

wikileaks has direct support in the Icelandic parliament which has recently enacted new FOI/data protection/anonymity laws.

IIRC, Sweden also has similar very explicit laws.
( then again the Pirate bay was hosted in Sverige )

 

Afghanistan: The war logs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/afghanistan-the-war-logs

Kabul War Diary
http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/

 

So, are you arguing that Wikileaks is a US false-flag op?

 

Actually, wikileaks.org is hosted by the very brave PRQ operated out of Stockholm, Sweden.
http://www.prq.se

EDIT: There are always those who question. Here's a link to Web Hosting Review (excellent site):
http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-...se_of_War_Documents_Draws_White_House_Outrage

The Pirate Bay is still up, btw (also hosted by PRQ)

 

How sinister you think the US government seems to be? The links you give are too often out of context or disingenuous....not to mention in the context of the cold war many of these "interventions" took place.....judging by your icon...I wouldn't be surprised.

Unless you are a false flag yourself?? Sometimes these things aren't so deep at all! Most of the summary info on the docs are already known in International Relations...such as the sympathy for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the Pakistani Military, or the lack of supplies for our troops, or the complete lack of imagination in getting regional allies on board...like China...who mine copper there.....our blood, their resources.

 

At any one time there are literally hundreds of court orders in the UK alone banning talk and publications about what can only be described as scandals. Information that people, corporations and governments want to keep a lid on and away from the general population. WikiLeaks come round Julian I'll hide ya .

 

"p.s.: it's not just usa. many countries have some kinda same bad reputation, including germany, france, uk, italy, russia, netherlands, portugal, spain, belgium, and many more."

People have bad reputations, not countries. I understand the criticism, and much of it is true but out of context and disingenuous.

The question I always ask is, "compared to what??" We live in a world of approximations. It is difficult to find angels. The Western world's moral superiority comes out of its liberal base, freedom, and legal system, especially separation of powers. In IR, sure, we have done unpure actions.

The friction, publicity, tongue wagging, and apparent gridlock, with leaks! are the sign of success, not a sign of failure. Too many neo-marxists seem to overlook this.

Also, it is very convenient for you to complain about "economic interests." Maybe there is more to it? The world runs on resources yes, but I know what you are implying, and claiming that the links you cite would be like me doing a small link bomb about East and West Germany, or the common sense observation that maybe when you fight extremist Islamists, maybe one of the effects is on the economic wellbeing of the people in and outside the country?

Do not talk to me about freedom, or against bad reputation when you have the Soviet flag as your icon...a symbol of good intentions that lead on the path to hell.

 

I think wikileaks is a great idea....but releasing ALL the documents? Assange couldn't have read them all. Anyone with a lick of sense can see this would be a national security issue!

I do not want to damage the entire working structure just so I can fix even a large part of it.

 

Here's one reason why these logs aren't exactly the best ammunition for anti-U.S and anti-war rants. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/201...the-military-cant-count-on-those-battle-logs/.

As always, no one knows or ever will know better than the men and women on the ground. We can play armchair warrior/politician all we want to, but until we ourselves lace up our boots, strap on our rifles and touch down in the hot zones, we don't know crap. In my opinion, this Assange guy is a buffoon and a self-serving menace. If somehow or another someone gets killed because of anything this guy has released, as unlikely as that is considering the data is very old, he needs to be marched to the nearest execution yard and shot.

 

The irony in your extreme line here is that there is actually some validity to it! Assange's website has survived due to the same Common Law system that people LOVE to forget about "you don't know what you got until its gone."

Now, in a court of law, if treason can be proved, he could potentially face the death penalty....but usually would have life in prison. There has to be material proof that his intentions were to undermine the nation building effort, the effort to eradicate the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and an effort to literally negatively affect the security of US citizens.