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Militarism and Wikileaks
By Punkerslut
Info: FreedomAlliance.org Page Greetings, There is a particular article on your website that deserves a response, because there is a tremendous amount of incorrect information in it. The article is "Leak City," by Oliver North, available here: FreedomAlliance.org Page . "Nearly all such unauthorized disclosures are the consequence of disgruntled government employees deciding that a 'leak' is the best way to stop some activity they have decided should not continue. To justify their unlawful actions they call themselves 'secret whistleblowers.'" This is ridiculous. The Pentagon Papers, which North must be aware of, were not intended to "stop some activity." According to President Nixon, the Pentagon Papers stated that the American government was winning on every front in the United States. If they genuinely showed that Democracy and freedom were triumphing, they would have given some joy to the public -- but they showed the opposite, that the United States government was advancing an anti-Democratic, anti-freedom policy. Apparently, the activity that the whistleblower was trying to stop wasn't the war, because the war didn't end: it was to stop politicians from lying. Clearly, this is the most "unlawful action" that any citizen can every take: to dispel the lies of those who are in control and in power. It was exactly so with the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI. The FBI had been publicly stating that it follows the law and the constitution, but this leak showed otherwise: torture, terrorism, and murder are the regular affair of FBI business. Apparently, it was unlawful to show the people that their politicians are killing their own people -- more unlawful than the murders done by the politicians. At least, that is Oliver North's opinion: let's bash those unlawful government officials who leaked information on how the government commits terrorism and murders people. Such an opinion is better fit to the Dark Ages or Totalitarian, Communist China. "President Ronald Reagan was infuriated by the publication and broadcast of highly classified plans for the rescue of medical students on the island of Grenada in 1983." This is a hilarious misstatement of the facts. Ronald Reagan declared that the reason he was invading Grenada was to because of the instability caused by the execution of the Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop. [*1] Those classified documents revealed that it was a terrorist group hired by Ronald Reagan's administration that had been participating in attacks on Bishop and his administration. [*2] So, you see, this disclosure of classified facts has nothing to do with "the rescue of medical students from a dangerous situation" -- who had received no attention until the US government could no longer use Bishop as their excuse for an invasion. In contrast, it looks like the release of those documents actually brought attention to the students, and saved them, "from certain peril," as we might read in the stories of King Arthur. But, despite that, it is just a legend, and saying that classified documents "upset Reagan" doesn't discount their value as evidence. This paragraph is extremely disturbing. It begins with: "President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were, by all accounts, outraged when sensitive information on how the U.S. intercepted Osama bin-Laden’s communications and tracked terrorist finances made its way into the press." Okay, so President George Bush is complaining about leaked information, but then, "And we all know what happened when the name Valerie Plame was published in connection with efforts to determine whether Saddam Hussein had acquired uranium from Niger." What do you mean, "we all know"? You mean, we all know that George Bush leaked private confidential documents to the public so as to endanger American intelligence agents who were critical of his regime? [*3] That sounds ridiculous: George Bush, this great moral man, is offended by the release of public documents. "Oh, yeah, and that Valerie Plame affair." Great description. George Bush complains about classified documents that are released, and then illegally releases his own classified documents to expose others in government. There's no contradiction in that transfer of thought. "This week POTUS brushed off the publication of more than 90,000 pages of classified U.S. military cables in WikiLeaks, a leftist, anti-military website." This is an amazing statement. Describing WikiLeaks as "leftist" and "anti-military." Of the 90,000 documents published by WikiLeaks, who is their author? Perhaps some anti-military activist? No, wait, the authors of these documents are members of the US military, sometimes some of its highest ranking members. So, this is what you're saying: our military, as far as their intelligence agents interpret the facts, believe that all of our war efforts are failures and incapable of granting liberty. Apparently, Mr. Oliver North is more militarist than the military, who are a bunch of "Leftist, anti-military" writers. Forget 90,000 documents written by the United States military. They're a bunch of unpatriotic, leftists, right? Oliver North knows where the real truth is! Youtube: "I stumbled on their videos this week... while searching for what the Afghan media was saying about the murder of two U.S. Navy sailors..." Because, when I'm looking to do research, I usually start with Youtube. First and foremost. Library? No way! Google? Uh uh! My research starts with Youtube. I'm not discrediting these videos, by any means. It is just a questionable way of measuring evidence: someone's slideshow video is more important than 90,000 pages of internal security information. "None of my sources acknowledged having heard of 'The Voice of Afghan Youth' before I called them." Let it be well known throughout the universe: a youtube video of someone's slideshow alleging injustice and inhumanity throughout the world will not go unnoticed by Oliver North! Thank you. I patiently await a response... Sincerely, Resources *1. Ronald H. Cole, 1997, Operation Urgent Fury: The Planning and Execution of Joint Operations in Grenada 12 October - 2 November 1983 Joint History Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Washington, DC, DTIC.Mil.
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