Whistleblowers

The Whistleblowers At The Frontier Of Digital Liberation

August 14, 2013 Nozomi Hayase, www.http://roarmag.org Resist! Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Government, Whistleblowers, Wikileaks

Computer scientist Nadia Heninger has argued that leaking information is now becoming the “civil disobedience of our age”. The late historian and activist Howard Zinn described the act of civil disobedience as “the deliberate, discriminate, violation of law for a vital social purpose”. He advocated it saying that such an act “becomes not only justifiable but necessary when a fundamental human right is at stake and when legal channels are inadequate for securing that right”. Snowden’s act was clearly one of civil disobedience. John Lewis, US Representative and veteran civil rights leader recently noted that Snowden was “continuing the tradition of civil disobedience by revealing details of classified US surveillance programs”.

Glenn Greenwald Reflects On Meeting Snowden

August 13, 2013 Glenn Greenwald, www.indypendent.org Educate! Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, NSA, Whistleblowers

The more I spoke with him about it, the more I understood. And the more I understood, the more overwhelmed I became. What he told me over and over in different ways — and it was so pure and passionate that I never doubted its authenticity for even a moment — was that there’s more to life than material comfort. Or career stability. Or trying to simply prolong your life as long as possible. What he continuously told me was that he judged his life not by the things that he thought about himself, but by the actions that he took in pursuit of those beliefs. - See more at: http://www.indypendent.org/2013/07/16/glenn-greenwald-reflects-meeting-snowden#sthash.AvAIxWn2.dpuf

Obama Proves It: Edward Snowden Is A Patriot

August 11, 2013 Trevor Timm, www.politico.com Educate! Edward Snowden, NSA, Whistleblowers

As New York Times reporter James Risen (who knows a thing or two about whistleblowers) said on CNN recently, “We wouldn’t be having this discussion if it wasn’t for [Snowden]. That’s the thing I don’t understand about the climate in Washington these days, is that people want to have debates on television and elsewhere, but then you want to throw the people who start the debates in jail.” But Risen made another, less publicized appearance this week at the annual National Press Club awards dinner. What he said there is even more poignant. “I don’t think there’s any personality that’s more American than a whistleblower,” he said. “The entire personality and DNA of America [is made up] of people who wanted to have their own kind of government and be free of oppression. And I think that is the heart of what a whistleblower is. It’s somebody who believes civil liberties or freedom or corruption are important issues that they need to talk about and their right as an American is to talk about it with the press.”

Obama’s Abuse Of The Espionage Act Is Modern-Day McCarthyism

August 6, 2013 John Kiriakou, www.theguardian.com Educate! Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Whistleblowers

Only ten people in American history have been charged with espionage for leaking classified information, seven of them under Barack Obama. The effect of the charge on a person's life – being viewed as a traitor, being shunned by family and friends, incurring massive legal bills – is all a part of the plan to force the whistleblower into personal ruin, to weaken him to the point where he will plead guilty to just about anything to make the case go away. I know. The three espionage charges against me made me one of "the Obama Seven".

What Does the Manning Verdict Mean for Edward Snowden?

July 31, 2013 Elias Groll, www.foreignpolicy.com Educate! Chelsea Manning, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Edward Snowden, Whistleblowers

Though the military court acquitted Manning of the most serious charge -- aiding the enemy -- it convicted him on five charges of espionage under a legal rationale similar to the one presented by prosecutors in indicting Snowden under the 1917 Espionage Act. In past cases in which the government pressed espionage charges against members of the intelligence community who provided classified information to the media, the government had to prove "bad faith" -- that the accused intended to harm U.S. interests. If there was ever to be a legal reprieve for men like Manning and Snowden, it lay in the "bad faith" provision and the argument that these whistleblowers had in fact acted in the best interests of the nation. But that provision has been jettisoned in more recent rulings, a precedent continued by Lind.

Assange: Journalism Is Now Espionage

July 30, 2013 B y Julian Assange, www.wikileaks.org Educate! Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, Whistleblowers, Wikileaks

Bradley Manning’s alleged disclosures have exposed war crimes, sparked revolutions, and induced democratic reform. He is the quintessential whistleblower. This is the first ever espionage conviction against a whistleblower. It is a dangerous precedent and an example of national security extremism. It is a short sighted judgment that can not be tolerated and must be reversed. It can never be that conveying true information to the public is ’espionage’. In 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama ran on a platform that praised whistleblowing as an act of courage and patriotism. That platform has been comprehensively betrayed. His campaign document described whistleblowers as watchdogs when government abuses its authority. It was removed from the internet last week.

DC Activists Call Emergency Protest for Bradley Manning Tuesday Night

July 29, 2013 Malachy Kilbride, www.PopularResistance.org Organize! Chelsea Manning, Whistleblowers

Tuesday at 1:00, Judge Denise Lind will issue her verdict regarding the guilt or innocence of Bradley Manning. Activists in Washington, DC are calling for a rally and march at 8:30 PM at DuPont in Washington, DC. Speak out in support of Manning and all whistle blowers who are getting out the truth about US militarism and war. BRING YOUR DRUMS, NOISE-MAKERS, PUPPETS, FRIENDS, MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, ANONYMOUS MASKS, GRANDMOTHERS, CRAZY AUNTS & UNCLES!!! WHATEVER, JUST COME OUT!!!

Shocking ‘Extermination’ Fantasies By People Running America’s Empire, Aspen Summit

July 26, 2013 Max Blumenthal, www.alternet.org Educate! NSA, Surveillance, Wars and Militarism, Whistleblowers

Reminding the crowd that CENTCOM is “really, really important,” Blitzer urged them to celebrate Mattis: “Let’s give the general a round of applause.” Following the gales of cheering that resounded from the room, Mattis, the gruff 40-year Marine veteran who once volunteered his opinion that “it’s fun to shoot some people,” outlined the challenge ahead. The “war on terror” that began on 9/11 has no discernable end, he said, likening it to the “the constant skirmishing between [the US cavalry] and the Indians” during the genocidal Indian Wars of the 19th century. “The skirmishing will go on likely for a generation,” Mattis declared.

Pentagon Moves To Make Whistleblowing More Difficult

July 19, 2013 John Reed, www.foreignpolicy.com/ Educate! NSA, Wars and Militarism, Whistleblowers

The Defense Department has begun requiring its geeks to operate in pairs when accessing highly classified information in order to stop the next massive leak. The next step might be restricting those systems administrators from seeing some sensitive data. The step after that? Possibly rolling back at least some of the military and intelligence community's measures to swap information -- a reversal of one of the national security state's key reforms after 9/11. The damage control procedures are being put in place anywhere in DOD where there are "systems administrators with elevated access" to highly classified intelligence, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Thursday.

Big Brother: Coming To A Federal Government Agency Near You

July 18, 2013 Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! Privacy, Surveillance, Whistleblowers

George Orwell published his seminal novel Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1949, predicting the future in thirty-four years. The story takes place in a country fueled by perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and public mind-control by a political system under the authority of a privileged 1% corporate oligarchy. The 1% penalizes independent thinking known as “thoughtcrimes” and citizens who would be identified today as whistleblowers. Orwell’s national security state is headed by a party leader named Big Brother. This leader enjoys a cult of personality, commands unconditional loyalty and considers any dissent as a threat to national sovereignty. Sound familiar?

Journalism On Trial: Bradley Manning Case Nears Moment Of Truth

July 16, 2013 Alexa O'Brien, http://www.thedailybeast.com Educate! Chelsea Manning, Wars and Militarism, Whistleblowers

Fort Meade, Maryland—As the defense and the prosecution rested their cases in the largest leak trial in American history, the defense argued Monday that the presiding military judge, Col. Denise Lind, should dismiss “aiding the enemy” and other serious charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier who uploaded hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and U.S Army reports to the organization WikiLeaks, which published the material online in 2010. On Monday, Coombs referenced the testimony of a government witness from the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Center, which published a 2008 report on WikiLeaks titled "Wikileaks.org—An Online Reference to Foreign Intelligence Services, Insurgents, or Terrorist Groups?" saying, “The US Army did not know if the enemy went to WikiLeaks ... but they want to ascribe that knowledge to a junior analyst.”

Bradley Manning ‘Day of Accountability’

July 14, 2013 Organize! Chelsea Manning, Wars and Militarism, Whistleblowers

Join us before it's too late on July 26 from 3-5:30pm at Ft. McNair (4th and P St SW, near the Waterfront metro, Washington DC) outside the office of Major General Jeffrey Buchanan, the authority overseeing Bradley Manning’s court martial. General Buchanan can reduce any sentence resulting from a conviction. While he reigns over Bradley's destiny, we’re calling upon him to do the right thing! This is our opportunity to bring home to Gen. Buchanan the importance of his sentencing decision, not only for fair American justice, but for government accountability, international human rights, and the protection of other whistleblowers, including NSA Edward Snowden. Enough is enough. The public has a right to know.

New Obama Administration Guidelines for Investigating Journalists

July 13, 2013 Staff, www.Reuters.com Educate! Media, Whistleblowers

The US Justice Department is revising its policies for dealing with reporters during the investigation of media leaks after complaints that journalists' rights were violated in recent high-profile cases, a department official said on Friday. Under the new guidelines search warrants will not be sought against journalists carrying out "ordinary newsgathering activities," the official said. In another change, the Justice Department will now, in most instances, notify news organizations in advance if a subpoena is being sought to obtain phone records. The changes, which follow a review requested by President Obama, will go into effect "almost immediately," the official said, but did not give a specific timetable.

Documents Detail Obama’s Crackdown on Whistleblowers

July 11, 2013 Marisa Taylor and Jonathan S. Landay, www.mcclatchydc.com Educate! Whistleblowers

Documents indicate that even before Edward Snowden, the Obama administration was pressing a government-wide crackdown on security threats that requires federal employees to keep closer tabs on their co-workers and exhorts managers to punish those who fail to report their suspicions. President Barack Obama’s unprecedented initiative, known as the Insider Threat Program, is sweeping in its reach. It has received scant public attention even though it extends beyond the U.S. national security bureaucracies to most federal departments and agencies nationwide, including the Peace Corps, the Social Security Administration and the Education and Agriculture departments. It emphasizes leaks of classified material, but catchall definitions of “insider threat” give agencies latitude to pursue and penalize a range of other conduct.

CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Describes Breaking Finger in Prison & Being Denied Treatment

July 10, 2013 Kevin Gosztola, www.firedoglake.com Educate! CIA, Whistleblowers

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who is serving a thirty-month sentence in the federal correctional institution in Loretto, Pennsylvania, has written a third letter from the prison. Kiriakou was the first member of the CIA to publicly acknowledge that torture was official US policy under the administration of President George W. Bush. He was convicted in October of last year of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA) when he provided the name of an officer involved in the CIA’s Rendition, Detention and Interrogation (RDI) program to a reporter and sentenced in January of this year.

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