Obama administration threatens prosecution of Wikileaks. Torture & war crimes, not so much.

[Bluebear]

WASHINGTON – Striking back, the Obama administration branded the WikiLeaks release of more than a quarter-million sensitive files an attack on the United States Monday and raised the prospect of criminal prosecutions in connection with the exposure. The Pentagon detailed new security safeguards, including restraints on small computer flash drives, to make it harder for any one person to copy and reveal so many secrets...

Attorney General Eric Holder said the government was mounting a criminal investigation, and the Pentagon was tightening access to information, including restricting the use of computer storage devices such as CDs and flash drives.

"This is not saber-rattling," Holder said. Anyone found to have broken American law "will be held responsible."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_wikileaks_security

[villager]

1. already unrecc'd by some pro-torture folks...!

Sadly, that's not a surprise...

[villager]

2. if a post repeats, do I get another "rec" option!?

n/t

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. So...

Holder says anyone found to have broken American law "will be held responsible."?

How about starting with the Bushbots?

:eyes:

Recommended.

[Amonester]

4. Holder must be kidding, right?

Right?

The stoopid decider brags on teevee about authorizing torture and holder does?

[defendandprotect]

5. Obama and his administration are becoming more of a FARCE every day ....

failure to use the DOJ for prosecuting real criminals -- the corporate kind --

rather Obama has rewarded corporate criminals at every turn!!

[slay]

7. It is shockingly bad

there are soooo many here on DU who aren't fooled anymore it's not even funny. I tried my damnedest to stick by Obama and believe him but after the so called "health care reform" (see Sicko for what we really needed), escalating ANOTHER POINTLESS WAR in Afghanistan (we've been there longer than the Soviet Union was now), and refusal to even investigate the Bush admin (covering up WAR CRIMES) are just some of the reasons that have led to my belief that the Obama admin is not on our side. It's a very clear pattern with them - I'm surprised more people don't see it - but thankful at the same time that so many do .

[defendandprotect]

12. Agree .....

but I'm also concerned that we aren't discussing what to do about this --

evidently because DU isn't really receptive to responses to breaking this

corporate/fascist stranglehold on our government if it doesn't include voting

for Democrats!! :rofl:

We're a huge liberal voting bloc -- and we need to be able to discuss that and

other alternatives, imo.

Really think those who are left trying to support Obama will be the diehards ...

kinda like the Vatican demanding use "no artificial birth control" because they

understand that once that is gone, so too will any objections to abortion also fall.

If there is any trust left for this administration, it's sinking faster than the

Titanic!



:)

[glitch]

30. Raids on medical marijuana and peace activists and now the draconian TSA procedures...

We need to focus on the House, local and state before our power is totally lost there too.

[StarburstClock]

29. True, the longer they play the propaganda game the worse it'll get

The Obama admin is the last thing in U.S. government to have any shred of credibility remaining and they are losing it fast. I seriously don't think they know how stupid and hypocritical they are acting, they have lost their senses of what is actually real and are believing the outright lies they tell the public day after day.

[inna]

6. big huge surprise. i don't even need to read it to get the gist.

k&r (auto, pretty much, for BB at this point... )

[flyarm]

8. hey Holder stick your bullshit tough guy crap up your ass! Until you hold the war criminals

accountable to our laws..You have a fucking lot of nerve threatening anyone else! You havve no credibility Mr Holder, nor does your boss or anyone else in this administration and congress!

Go after the real bad guys holder ..or STFU!

You have lost any respect you think you might have had!

Go away and just STFU!

[Subdivisions]

11. +++1000000000 n/t

[slay]

35. add +1 more to that

it's just sickening.

[AnArmyVeteran]

24. Those who condone criminals (like Bush, Cheney, etc), ARE criminals.

It's sickening how Holder is talking about getting tough when he (and his boss) let KNOWN and ADMITTED war criminals get away with their crimes. Holder is nothing but a criminal himself if he continues to let the evil thugs from the Bush regime get away with their crimes. I'm not even an attorney but I bet I could get a conviction since two of the defendants ADMITTED to war crimes.

[David Zephyr]

9. Yeah, that comparison hit me, too.

$2 Trillion pissed away in wars that failed. 1 Million lives lost in Iraq alone. Tens of thousands of US troops dead or permanently wounded. No WMD. Abu Graib. Guantanamo. Blackwater and Halliburton no-bid contracts. $80 million in cash lost the first weeks in Iraq...the list goes on and on.

No issue, no hearings, not investigations, but let one young man actually dare to tell the truth, not lie, but the truth and well, that's gone too far.

Through the looking glass indeed.

Great OP. K&R.

[pnwmom]

10. Didn't you care when Plame's identity was leaked?

These new leaks also put the lives of CIA agents and our allies at risk. The leaker should be prosecuted under the full extent of the law.

[David Zephyr]

14. Distinction: Plame's ID wasn't leaked, but targeted by the White House for her mate's truth leaking

What Cheney and Bush and Libby and Rove did was an abuse of power in an act of revenge "fair game" to punish Valerie for her husband's leaking of the truth to the NY Times.

The White House didn't leak the information, they spoon fed it to the press after they declassified to punish a leaker.

[pnwmom]

15. Sure it was a leak. And Assange is on a power trip. n/t

[mmonk]

34. The Plame leak was a betrayal by her own government.

Assange is not a member of the administration nor a leaker, but a recipient.

[Celtic Raven]

23. All hands on deck to punish truthtellers

Doesn't appear to matter who is in the WH.

[AnArmyVeteran]

27. You are right, the truth MUST NOT to told at any costs!

[Bluebear]

16. "The leaker"...haven't heard that pseudo-word that since Bush used it.

You ignore the point, of course, that Obama and Holder want to "move forward" from Bush/Cheney authorization of torture. Whatever.

[2Design]

26. they have never prosecuted cheney and bush so why this guy?

[glitch]

31. Yet another false equivalency. Plame was intentionally betrayed by her own government

Assange is not part of our government and is working to make it transparent without risking the identities of people like Plame. They don't just dump documents on the net, they spend months removing identifiers.
Even Gates admitted that.

[flyarm]

42. oh bullshit..pure unadulterated bullshit! eom

[defendandprotect]

13. Thanks for continuing to point to the Obama/Holder "non prosecution" of Bushco crimes....

and/or corporate crimes --

Bush/Obama just assisted the largest financial coup ever pulled off --

$12 trillion in bail outs -- taxpayers pay -- corporate crooks and criminals walk!!

And our Congress of millionaires and multi-millionaires aren't held accountable either

for overturning regulations which would have protected us from these crimes --

nor have they reinstated the necessary regulations --

which leaves us open again to another round of corporate crimes.

We need to continue to be reminded of all of this -- !!


:eyes:

[Bluebear]

45. Solidarity and truth!

[cliffordu]

17. You're part of the empire and benefit from all the crimes. Stop sniveling.

[EFerrari]

39. No, sweetie, some of us just fund it.

[cliffordu]

40. Lol.

[Solly Mack]

18. To be fair...and I am going to be fair

Leaking classified information is illegal. It is - whether one agrees with the leak or not. Even those who expose criminal behavior take the risk of going to prison. It's beyond tragic - to expose criminality and lies only to see those who commit the crimes go free while you go to prison. But...the law does say leaking classified information is illegal. And American politicians do like to spout things like the 'rule of law' & 'no one is above the law' and "Anyone found to have broken American law 'will be held responsible'."

So now Manning sits in Quantico for (a very long) pre-trial confinement for taking a stand against the war crime (leaked video) he saw and other things. The law says what he did is illegal...because the video/other documents were classified. Much like the photo evidence of US torture are classified - and being held by the DoD after Obama changed his mind about releasing them.

Some other things the law says are illegal

Torture is also illegal - it was illegal the day Bush took office and it was illegal every single day after ...regardless of how hard people tried (and continue to try) to pretend it isn't...Obama didn't 'ban' torture, as some like to claim - torture was banned long before Obama came to office and claiming he banned it makes it sound as if it wasn't already banned under Bush - it was...Bush broke the law.

Kidnapping/Extraordinary rendition is illegal

Destroying evidence of a crime is illegal

Cruel, humiliating, and degrading treatment of detainees is also illegal.

Covering up a crime (conspiracy, accessory after the fact, obstruction) is illegal.


Arbitrary application of the law makes the entire justice system a farce. Hypocrisy isn't a strong enough word for it.


Manning is being charged...why aren't Bush? Cheney? CIA agents? Yoo? Bybee? Powell? Rice? Haynes? Ashcroft? Mukasey? Gonzales? Goss? Tenet? Rumsfeld? Gates? and the list goes on and on....

I guess some people are above the law.

[Bluebear]

20. 'I guess some people are above the law.'

That certainly boils it down. A very good essay.

[Solly Mack]

21. I just wanted to be fair....since breaking the law is a serious matter

and heads will roll, etc., etc., etc., and so on...

To be honest...I'm smirking. lol

[Bluebear]

37. =)

[Solly Mack]

41. Have you read the Madrid dispatches?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x572890#572987

[Bluebear]

43. Oh my good god. nt

[Enthusiast]

19. K&R nt

[librechik]

22. I know, that was the first vocal clip I've ever heard of Holder

and of course, it is the weenie shaking his fist at the nerds. And shivering in his boots rather than prosecute the real villains.

:puke:

[Marr]

25. Wikileaks is going to be exposing big bankster corruption next, so of course---

the White House is suddenly extremely serious about stopping this 'dangerous individual'.

[glitch]

32. b i n g o. nt

[Mimosa]

33. I fear they'll shut down the web rather than have the truth about banksters revealed. n/t

[City Lights]

28. Sure, Mr. Holder. Whatever you say.

"Anyone found to have broken American law will be held responsible."

When will you be arresting George and Dick?

Shall I hold my breath, Mr. Holder?

:eyes:

[Starry Messenger]

36. Laws are for little people, not for empire builders.

Wikileaks should have invaded a country, then they'd be solid.

[Skittles]

38. I CAN'T TAKE IT I TELL YOU PT

WTF

[Rex]

44. Anyone found to have broken American law? What a fucking joke.

Anyone, that is not a former POTUS or any of his posse is who they mean. GWB evidently IS above the American law and they all know it! They will go after a guy leaking secrets about how we tortured people illegally, but not the actual people that gave the green light to do the torture! So, I have to view that statement as a total lie. Anyone MY ASS.