Jay Tea at Wizbang ("a new media network focused on news, politics, sports, entertainment, and video") is echoing some of my own thinking about Wikileaks (the organization) and its collaborators and co-conspirators.
Money quote(s):
"The harm being caused is incalculable, and I've heard a lot of people using the term "treason" in relation to the whole mess.
Which is almost completely inaccurate, and a misuse of the term treason.
Oh, it's fair to describe the alleged actions of PFC Bradley Manning, who has admitted to turning over a large amount of the documents WikiLeaks has released. (It's questionable if he had access to all the ones he's claimed to have taken.) But beyond that, it's really not a matter of "treason."
That's because, beyond Manning, the principals behind the mess aren't Americans. "Treason" only applies when one betrays one's own nation.
No, what is going on here is espionage. Espionage during a time of war."
Too bad there aren't any penalties for that, such as in a certain 1917 statute.
"What we are seeing with WikiLeaks is very akin to what we are seeing with militant Islam and the War On Terror: a non-state entity taking on some of the powers and influence previously accorded only to nation states. WikiLeaks is acting like the intelligence agency of a nation hostile to (if not at war) with the United States. They, like the terrorists, have declared a modern form of war against us, and are waging it just like the KGB would. They are violating our secrets and publicizing them for their own ideological ends -- which are inimical to our own national security."
Just go read the whole thing, since every word of it is money.
_____
Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.
Showing posts with label espionage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label espionage. Show all posts
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
re: "Should the Media Be Prosecuted for Espionage, Too?"
Kevin Jon Heller at Opinio Juris is a sharp cookie. I like the way he thinks.
Money quote(s):
"The New York Times, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Le Monde, and El Pais — all are just as guilty of violating the Espionage Act as WikiLeaks. There is no “we redacted some of the documents” defense in the Act, and prosecuting a news organization after it has published documents does not create prior restraint problems. Moreover, given that those newspapers have a vastly wider readership than the WikiLeaks website, they have arguably harmed America’s national-security interests far more than WikiLeaks itself. (And let’s not forget, WikiLeaks did not steal the documents; it obtained them from the person who did. So there is no relevant difference between the newspapers and WikiLeaks in that regard; the “espionage” is simply one level removed with the newspapers.)"
Money quote(s):
"The New York Times, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Le Monde, and El Pais — all are just as guilty of violating the Espionage Act as WikiLeaks. There is no “we redacted some of the documents” defense in the Act, and prosecuting a news organization after it has published documents does not create prior restraint problems. Moreover, given that those newspapers have a vastly wider readership than the WikiLeaks website, they have arguably harmed America’s national-security interests far more than WikiLeaks itself. (And let’s not forget, WikiLeaks did not steal the documents; it obtained them from the person who did. So there is no relevant difference between the newspapers and WikiLeaks in that regard; the “espionage” is simply one level removed with the newspapers.)"
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
ABS-CBN - US State Dept revokes visas of Erap, others in espionage case
From my archive of press clippings:
ABS-CBN News
US State Dept revokes visas of Erap, others in espionage case
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 5:56 PM
By CES DRILON
ABS-CBN News
The US State Department has revoked the US visas of at least six current and former government officials, in connection with the first known case of espionage from within the White House involving naturalized FIlipino American Leandro Aragoncillo last year.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"(A) close Estrada associate, whose visa was cancelled, estimates fifteen to twenty opposition figures suffered the cancellation of their visas, including former President Joseph Estrada and former House Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella.
In July 2007, a Federal Court in New Jersey sentenced Aragoncillo, a naturalized Filipino-American intelligence analyst who worked for US Vice-President Richard "Dick" Cheney, to ten years imprisonment. He was charged for stealing classified information about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and passing it on to known opposition leaders in the Philippines.
Former member of the Lower House Gilbert Remulla received a letter from the US Embassy in June last year informing him of the cancellation of his US visa. The letter cited the US Immigration and Nationality Act which "prohibits the issuance of a visa to anyone who seeks to engage in espionage against the US, as well as for sabotage and/or illegal export from the US of goods, technology and sensitive information."
Remulla said he has appealed his case and reapplied for a visa but was told by a US consular official that Washington would have to review his application.
In contrast, his children were granted visas valid for ten years."
ABS-CBN News
US State Dept revokes visas of Erap, others in espionage case
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 5:56 PM
By CES DRILON
ABS-CBN News
The US State Department has revoked the US visas of at least six current and former government officials, in connection with the first known case of espionage from within the White House involving naturalized FIlipino American Leandro Aragoncillo last year.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"(A) close Estrada associate, whose visa was cancelled, estimates fifteen to twenty opposition figures suffered the cancellation of their visas, including former President Joseph Estrada and former House Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella.
In July 2007, a Federal Court in New Jersey sentenced Aragoncillo, a naturalized Filipino-American intelligence analyst who worked for US Vice-President Richard "Dick" Cheney, to ten years imprisonment. He was charged for stealing classified information about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and passing it on to known opposition leaders in the Philippines.
Former member of the Lower House Gilbert Remulla received a letter from the US Embassy in June last year informing him of the cancellation of his US visa. The letter cited the US Immigration and Nationality Act which "prohibits the issuance of a visa to anyone who seeks to engage in espionage against the US, as well as for sabotage and/or illegal export from the US of goods, technology and sensitive information."
Remulla said he has appealed his case and reapplied for a visa but was told by a US consular official that Washington would have to review his application.
In contrast, his children were granted visas valid for ten years."
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