WikiLeaks about to hit the fan

The Council of Europe's most famous achievement is the European Convention on Human Rights, which was adopted in 1950 following a report by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. The Convention created the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Court supervises compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and thus functions as the highest European court for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is to this court that Europeans can bring cases if they believe that a member country has violated their fundamental rights.

That's true!

I had a post many pages ago about Central Asia and how billions of financial
aid was given to countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan etc.
fully knowing that the dictators of said countries would enrich themselves with these billions while the population was as poor as ever. Not only that, it was very well known (amnesty international) that these dictators are ruthless,
brutal and terrorizing leaders

WikiLeaks: Yemeni president covers up US strikes
Posted Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:17am AEDT

Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh admits covering up US military strikes on Al Qaeda in Yemen by claiming they are carried out by Yemeni forces, according to US documents leaked by WikiLeaks.

"We continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours," Mr Saleh said in January talks with General David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the Middle East, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable published by the New York Times.

The cable was sent by the US ambassador to Yemen, the daily said.

The daily said the remarks prompted Yemen's deputy prime minister to "joke that he had just lied by telling parliament" that Yemeni forces had staged the strikes against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al Qaeda's Yemeni arm.

And during a meeting about Al Qaeda with John Brennan, the US deputy national security adviser, Mr Saleh was "dismissive, bored and impatient," according to another leaked US diplomatic cable published in Britain's The Guardian.

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Washington had deployed drones to hunt down jihadists.

With more than 100,000 US troops fighting Al Qaeda's allies in Afghanistan and public scepticism in Yemen over the US military's role there, US officials have stressed that Sanaa will lead the fight against Islamist militants.

On November 16, US defence secretary Robert Gates said providing equipment and training to Yemeni security forces offered the best way to counter the threat posed by Al Qaeda militants.

CalamityJane wrote:

That's true!

I had a post many pages ago about Central Asia and how billions of financial
aid was given to countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan etc.
fully knowing that the dictators of said countries would enrich themselves with these billions while the population was as poor as ever. Not only that, it was very well known (amnesty international) that these dictators are ruthless,
brutal and terrorizing leaders

Well here's another Wikileak I've mentioned a couple of times here, as well, Jane. I was very surprised there was no response to this, as well.
Surely such events (& the cover-up of them) are important & worthy of discussion here?
Why are we talking about "bodice ripping" & god knows other irrelevancies instead? :

Quote:

WikiLeaks: Yemeni president covers up US strikes
Posted Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:17am AEDT

Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh admits covering up US military strikes on Al Qaeda in Yemen by claiming they are carried out by Yemeni forces, according to US documents leaked by WikiLeaks.

"We continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours," Mr Saleh said in January talks with General David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the Middle East, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable published by the New York Times.

The cable was sent by the US ambassador to Yemen, the daily said.

The daily said the remarks prompted Yemen's deputy prime minister to "joke that he had just lied by telling parliament" that Yemeni forces had staged the strikes against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al Qaeda's Yemeni arm.

And during a meeting about Al Qaeda with John Brennan, the US deputy national security adviser, Mr Saleh was "dismissive, bored and impatient," according to another leaked US diplomatic cable published in Britain's The Guardian.

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Washington had deployed drones to hunt down jihadists.

With more than 100,000 US troops fighting Al Qaeda's allies in Afghanistan and public scepticism in Yemen over the US military's role there, US officials have stressed that Sanaa will lead the fight against Islamist militants.

On November 16, US defence secretary Robert Gates said providing equipment and training to Yemeni security forces offered the best way to counter the threat posed by Al Qaeda militants.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/29/3078892.htm

Disgust from troops at risk on front line
(Dan Oakes, Sydney Morning Herald, December 13, 2010)

MUSAZAI, Afghanistan: Soldiers on the front line have disputed comments by the Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, about the progress of the war in Afghanistan and have criticised WikiLeaks for releasing leaked secret documents on the war.

Just before beginning an eight-hour patrol in the southern Afghan province of Oruzgan, the Diggers said the coalition effort was reaping tangible benefits on the ground, and that it was difficult to gain the full perspective back in Australia.

''With so many nations rethinking their commitment here, it can seem like a morass of wicked problems, as opposed to our perception from the ground, where you have tangible outcomes as a result of the work we're doing," said Captain Jim Wallace.

Captain Richard Trembath, commander of Patrol Base Musazai, said the Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police and other agencies were working to strengthen what a senior official was recorded as describing as a ''wobbly three-legged stool''.

''It'll be difficult for a while yet, but we have to temper our expectations as Western nations in an Eastern nation. But if we're safer and Afghan people are safer when we leave, that's a measure of success.''

Soldiers were also disgusted by the actions of WikiLeaks in releasing secret cables on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying they put the lives of Australian soldiers at risk.

''The thing I feel strongest about is the safety of my soldiers, and if through these leaks even one of them … ends up dead because an internet general back in Australia is releasing this information it disgusts me,'' Captain Trembath said.

...The thing I feel strongest about is the safety of my soldiers, and if through these leaks even one of them … ends up dead...

A trip to Canada comes to mind. Spain has come close too, if not already, indicting him.

Didn't do much for the Germans, Japanese or I suspect, some Italians, though you sure don't hear much about them.

Oh holy sh!t! We are now talking about how best to start a war between Europe/Canada/Mexico ... and the USA?

Science IS taught in school. Go to sleep spendius, you had too many pint of beer.

Since we are reminiscing about ignored posts, I too had no response to a news item I thought was worth discussing:

Quote:

Disgust from troops at risk on front line
(Dan Oakes, Sydney Morning Herald, December 13, 2010)

MUSAZAI, Afghanistan: Soldiers on the front line have disputed comments by the Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, about the progress of the war in Afghanistan and have criticised WikiLeaks for releasing leaked secret documents on the war.

Just before beginning an eight-hour patrol in the southern Afghan province of Oruzgan, the Diggers said the coalition effort was reaping tangible benefits on the ground, and that it was difficult to gain the full perspective back in Australia.

''With so many nations rethinking their commitment here, it can seem like a morass of wicked problems, as opposed to our perception from the ground, where you have tangible outcomes as a result of the work we're doing," said Captain Jim Wallace.

Captain Richard Trembath, commander of Patrol Base Musazai, said the Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police and other agencies were working to strengthen what a senior official was recorded as describing as a ''wobbly three-legged stool''.

''It'll be difficult for a while yet, but we have to temper our expectations as Western nations in an Eastern nation. But if we're safer and Afghan people are safer when we leave, that's a measure of success.''.....

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/29/3078892.htm

This week, Senators Joe Lieberman and Dianne Feinstein engaged in acts of serious aggression against their own constituents, and the American people in general. They both invoked the 1917 Espionage Act and urged its use in going after Julian Assange. For good measure, Lieberman extended his invocation of the Espionage Act to include a call to use it to investigate the New York Times, which published WikiLeaks' diplomatic cables. Reports yesterday suggest that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder may seek to invoke the Espionage Act against Assange. <snip>

The Espionage Act was crafted in 1917 -- because President Woodrow Wilson wanted a war and, faced with the troublesome First Amendment, wished to criminalize speech critical of his war. In the run-up to World War One, there were many ordinary citizens -- educators, journalists, publishers, civil rights leaders, union activists -- who were speaking out against US involvement in the war. The Espionage Act was used to round these citizens by the thousands for the newly minted 'crime' of their exercising their First Amendment Rights. <snip>

Those calling for Julian Assange's criminalization include:

1. Rep. Candice Miller
2. Jonah Goldberg, Journalist
3. Christian Whiton, Journalist
4. Bill O'Reilly, Fox News Journalist
5. Sarah Palin, Member of the Republican Party, former candidate
6. Mike Huckabee, Politician
8. Prof. Tom Flanagan
9. Rep. Peter King
10. Tony Shaffer
11. Rick Santorum
12. Rep. Dan Lugren
13. Jeffrey T. Kuhner, Journalist The Washington Times
14. Rep. Virginia Foxx
15. Sen. Kit Bond, Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee
16. Sen. Joe Liberman
17. Sen. Charles Schumer
18. Marc Thiessen, Columnist

Is that true? Is it legal to do that?

The Espionage Act was crafted in 1917 -- because President Woodrow Wilson wanted a war and,

Wilson spent 1914 through the beginning of 1917 trying to keep America out of the war in Europe.

very readable account of how British intelligence services worked to create a pro-war atmosphere in the American press in order to work around Wilson's objection

wandeljw wrote:

Since we are reminiscing about ignored posts, I too had no response to a news item I thought was worth discussing:

Quote:

Disgust from troops at risk on front line
(Dan Oakes, Sydney Morning Herald, December 13, 2010)

MUSAZAI, Afghanistan: Soldiers on the front line have disputed comments by the Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, about the progress of the war in Afghanistan and have criticised WikiLeaks for releasing leaked secret documents on the war.

Just before beginning an eight-hour patrol in the southern Afghan province of Oruzgan, the Diggers said the coalition effort was reaping tangible benefits on the ground, and that it was difficult to gain the full perspective back in Australia.

''With so many nations rethinking their commitment here, it can seem like a morass of wicked problems, as opposed to our perception from the ground, where you have tangible outcomes as a result of the work we're doing," said Captain Jim Wallace.

Captain Richard Trembath, commander of Patrol Base Musazai, said the Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police and other agencies were working to strengthen what a senior official was recorded as describing as a ''wobbly three-legged stool''.

''It'll be difficult for a while yet, but we have to temper our expectations as Western nations in an Eastern nation. But if we're safer and Afghan people are safer when we leave, that's a measure of success.''.....

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/29/3078892.htm

OK, I don't have a problem with discussing that, wandel.

What is your view on that article you quoted?

I question why those Australian troops are in Afghanistan at all , when a number of NATO countries have withdrawn or are planning their withdrawal from the country ... & the leaked official (US & Australian) cables concerning Afghanistan do not give us much confidence or hope of success there .... (however unclearly that is defined.)
I cannot see why we need to wait till 2014 for the withdrawal of troops to begin.

I'm perfectly happy to discuss this further with you, if you like.

I'd also be interested in your thoughts about the Yemeni cover-up of the US military strikes you quoted in your post.

''With so many nations rethinking their commitment here, it can seem like a morass of wicked problems, as opposed to our perception from the ground, where you have tangible outcomes as a result of the work we're doing," said Captain Jim Wallace.

Captain Richard Trembath, commander of Patrol Base Musazai, said the Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police and other agencies were working to strengthen what a senior official was recorded as describing as a ''wobbly three-legged stool''.

''It'll be difficult for a while yet, but we have to temper our expectations as Western nations in an Eastern nation. But if we're safer and Afghan people are safer when we leave, that's a measure of success.''

Soldiers were also disgusted by the actions of WikiLeaks in releasing secret cables on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying they put the lives of Australian soldiers at risk.

''The thing I feel strongest about is the safety of my soldiers, and if through these leaks even one of them … ends up dead because an internet general back in Australia is releasing this information it disgusts me,'' Captain Trembath said.

Quote:

...The thing I feel strongest about is the safety of my soldiers, and if through these leaks even one of them … ends up dead...

Bold added on "if"; fortunately no new casualties have been reported recently, but if any are, how is such a connection to be proved?

Excluding casualties not involving enemy action (mechanical failure of helicopters and the like) if there is a casualty surely the responsible parties are (1) the enemy, (2) the political command that sent combat units in harm's way. If WikiLeaks shows that (2) acted for no good reason - and that's all that they have shown so far - the burden is on the political command to reverse course and recall armed units before they sustain more casualties. To my knowledge none of the published documents involved tactical information on military deployments.

''The thing I feel strongest about is the safety of my soldiers, and if through these leaks even one of them … ends up dead because an internet general back in Australia is releasing this information it disgusts me,'' Captain Trembath said.