Does Wikileaks demonstrate impotence of Obama administration?
HotAir.com
posted at 2:55 pm on November 29, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
printer-friendly
Could the Obama administration have stopped any or all of the three Wikileaks data dumps? Former Bush aide Michael Gerson argues that not only could the White House have disrupted Julian Assange’s operation, but that given the potential damage that a breach of diplomatic and military security could mean on this scale, Obama had a duty to do so. The failure to act shows a weakness in Obama that increases the risk for the US, Gerson argues in today’s Washington Post:
WikiLeaks’ first disclosures caught the Obama administration by surprise. But how does the administration explain its inaction in the face of WikiLeaks’ two subsequent, and increasingly dangerous, releases? In both cases, it had fair warning: Assange announced what kinds of documents he possessed, and he made clear his intention to release them.
The Obama administration has the ability to bring Assange to justice and to put WikiLeaks out of business. The new U.S. Cyber Command could shut down WilkiLeaks’ servers and prevent them from releasing more classified information on President Obama’s orders. But, as The Post reported this month, the Obama administration has been paralyzed by infighting over how, and when, it might use these new offensive capabilities in cyberspace. One objection: “The State Department is concerned about diplomatic backlash” from any offensive actions in cyberspace, The Post reported. Well, now the State Department can deal with the “diplomatic backlash” that comes from standing by helplessly, while WikiLeaks releases hundreds of thousands of its most sensitive diplomatic cables.
George Stephanopoulos Spins Wikileaks Release of Documents as ‘Important Information for the Public to Have’
Newsbusters
By Scott Whitlock | November 29, 2010 | 12:18
Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos on Monday offered a sympathetic take on the decision of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to release potentially damaging U.S. security documents. The ABC host wondered if it was “important information for the public to have.“
Talking to Congressman Peter Hoekstra, Stephanopoulos read a quote to the Republican, repeating the words of Assange: “If citizens in a democracy want their governments to reflect their wishes, they should ask to see what’s going on behind the scenes.” Stephanopoulos then emphasized, “He says he’s performing a public service.”
In contrast, CBS’s Harry Smith also interviewed Hoekstra and appeared much more concerned about the impact on national security. The Early Show anchor referred to the massive leak as “stunning” and a “real potential time bomb.” Smith followed up, “Is there anything in this…that is potentially catastrophic in terms of the damage it could do?”
Stephanopoulos, however, made the case for the WikiLeaks founder: “But [the documents] also show instances where governments are not cooperating with us. A release showing that for years we’ve been trying to get the Pakistanis to allow us to secure their nuclear material. And now we know they haven’t done that. Isn’t that important information for the public to have?”
Hoekstra aggressively disagreed with the argument being made by the GMA anchor, arguing, “These are functions that need to be done by government. They need to be done by Congress and the executive branch. You know, this guy really is putting into danger our foreign policy and perhaps the lives of certain Americans around the world.”
A transcript of the November 29 segment, which aired at 7:06am EST, follows:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And for more now on the potential damage to U.S. security and what can do about it, congressman Pete Hoekstra. He is a Republican from Michigan, sits on the House Intelligence Committee. Thanks for joining us this morning, Congressman. I want to start up by reading you a little bit more of what Julian Assange, the head of WikiLeaks said this morning. He said, “The cables show the U.S. spying on its allies in the UN, turning a blind eyed to corruption and human rights abuse. If citizens in a democracy want their governments to reflect their wishes, they should ask to see what’s going on behind the scenes.” He says he’s performing a public service.
REP. PETER HOEKSTRA (R-MI, House Intelligence Committee): Well I couldn’t- [coughs], excuse me. I couldn’t disagree more. You know, it’s not his duty or his responsibility to provide this public service to the American people. This is- These are functions that need to be done by government. They need to be done by Congress and the executive branch. You know, this guy really is putting into danger our foreign policy and perhaps the lives of certain Americans around the world. We’ll have to see what else comes out. But those are the consequences of this.
Lawmakers Call on Administration to Prosecute WikiLeaks, Designate as Terror Group
FoxNews.com
Published November 29, 2010
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is shown on Capitol Hill in Washington Nov. 17. (AP Photo)
A top Republican congressman is calling on the State Department to designate WikiLeaks a “foreign terrorist organization,” as he and several other lawmakers demand the Obama administration find a way to prosecute founder Julian Assange in the wake of the group’s latest document dump.
WikiLeaks’ weekend release of more than 250,000 classified State Department documents has outraged Washington officials. The spilling of secrets this time deals with a trove of candid diplomatic cables and other missives spanning everything from Pakistan to Iran to North Korea and could jeopardize the United States’ sensitive foreign policy dealings.
CWNews Posted Comments