US asks WikiLeaks to halt document release

[cal04]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101128/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_wikileaks

The Obama administration has told whistleblower WikiLeaks that its expected imminent release of classified State Department cables will put "countless" lives at risk, threaten global counterterrorism operations and jeopardize U.S. relations with its allies.

In a highly unusual step reflecting the administration's grave concerns about the ramifications of the move, the State Department late Saturday released a letter from its top lawyer to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his attorney telling them that publication of the documents would be illegal and demanding that they stop it.

It also said the U.S. government would not cooperate with WikiLeaks in trying to scrub the cables of information that might put sources and methods of intelligence gathering and diplomatic reporting at risk.

The letter from State Department legal adviser Harold Koh was released as U.S. diplomats around the world are scrambling to warn foreign governments about what might be in the secret documents that are believed to contain highly sensitive assessments about world leaders, their policies and America's attempts to lobby them.


State Dept. Says Releasing Classified Cables Will Put "Countless" Lives at Risk, Jeopardize Relations With Allies
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/28/world/main7096271.shtml

[Catherina]

1. Release it already.Let's see the true colors n/t

[malaise]

2. So who really did the harm

Wiki or all these complicit governments.

I'm sick of these corrupt and criminal politicians assuming that they get a free pass.
Expose the shit out of them. Time to clean up this planet.

[Karmadillo]

3. How many lives are put at risk by our criminal wars? Maybe once we take care of the log in

out eye, WikiLeaks will attend to its mote.

[de novo]

4. They sound worried. All the better reason to release it all.

Let's see what is done in our name.

[polly7]

5. Think of this as the airport scanners and pat-downs for Gov't accountability.

As those in authority tell the rest of us, "if you've done (or said) nothing wrong, you've got nothing to hide". I'm curious to see if there is any mention of Omar Khadr in these leaks and why Ottawa caved in, if the files are recent enough.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Celebration]

7. Who hates the troops?

Just maybe we love them so much that we want them back in the USA. Hey, I bet they agree.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Celebration]

24. And YOU

Have no idea what I support, or don't support.

[xchrom]

9. We don't want them in illegal wars.

We don't want governments creating lies and webs of deception
To line their own pockets with money.

So now who wants the soldiers killed?
Us? Or you?

[Catherina]

10. He does? This is the funniest post I've read all month

If you love the troops so much, bring them home.

Yeah he's a hero and the troops aren't fighting for my right to anything. They're murdering innocent people to protect a dying empire's last gasps.

[City Lights]

11. -1 for broad-brush painting.

:eyes:

[bemildred]

12. Who is this "we" you speak of? The "we" that "knows" all that stuff?

Clearly you don't mean people here at DU.

The one thing that seems clear about Mr Assange is that he has poked a big stick in a hornets nest. Are you by any chance one of the hornets?

[mmonk]

13. What is your position in the government?

[kgnu_fan]

14. Many iraq veterans support Wikileaks - read the article by Josh Stieber SPC, 2-16 Infantry Battalion

http://www.ivaw.org/blog/ivaw-members-prepare-next-wikileaks-drop

[elias7]

16. You're funny

Do you write for the Onion?

[dgibby]

17. Can you support your assertions with facts

or are your statements merely your own opinion?

If you have facts, please link to them; otherwise, please state in your op that you are expressing your personal opinion. Thank you.

[polly7]

18. I've never read anything that tells me he wants anyone killed or

is doing this to become rich. He's endangered his own life and is pretty much at risk for being murdered in a lot of countries across the globe, imo. I think he's doing this to expose the corruption that enables these wars. I fear for him, if these leaks can somehow prevent a single death, then yes, to me .... he's a hero.

[Divernan]

20. You make outrageous, unbelievable charges w/ no citations/links

And around DU, your "we" consists only of you.

I mean, REALLY! Nobody on DU celebrates deaths of American servicemen or women.

Sadly, our troops are NOT fighting for our right to free speech. They are fighting for the interests of the bloodthirsty, money grubbing military/industrial complex and Big Oil.

[superduperfarleft]

21. 9/10.

I raged. Good job. Extra points for squeezing "he hates teh troops" in there.

[jaxx]

15. What's in it for him?

I keep asking this and no one has an answer.

[kgnu_fan]

19. I guess many government officials read DU, I hope they get educated here

[Divernan]

22. The risk to Obama is alienating allies who learn they have been

manipulated, ridiculed and generally treated with contempt by the US govt. & military.

Transparency is good & that is what Wikileaks provides.

Wikileaks is using the crowbar of truth to pry up some very heavy rocks and reveal the profiteering slugs and worms
thereunder.

[kgnu_fan]

23. Let sunshine in

[egoclothes]

25. Just release them and let the chips fall where they may. We may

be a better nation in the future and perhaps learn some lessons. I hope this anyway.