Hardest cases
WikiLeaks has some significant organizations behind it. Associated Press, the Gannett Company, and the Hearst Corporation are listed as steadfast supporters. Their support is explained in this statement by Julian Assange: "We take the hardest publishing cases in the world and deal with them and by doing that we create a space behind us that admits other people to successfully publish." The Guardian, (7:40).
This space created by the leaks allows some of the mainstream
press to pick up coverage without risking harassment by federal
prosecutors on sourcing and the publication of classified materials.
WikiLeaks is protected by its international status on the internet which
allows it to skirt specific national
laws restricting a free press. It's a symbiotic relationship. The
mainstream media and other contributions to WikiLeaks come in the form
of legal support when the organization is challenged in court.
What's Army Counterintelligence up to?
Occasionally, someone says what they really mean in the nation's capitol. It's risky to conclude that in the case of the Army Counterintelligence report on WikiLeaks. The proposed strategy, catching former insiders, leakers, or whistleblowers then doling out harsh penalties, has very limited credibility. Whistleblowers are often intimidated and harassed. But leakers, insiders, and former insiders are almost never caught. If they are, they're rarely prosecuted or sanctioned. There will be more than enough leaks. This strategy fails even a cursory evaluation if the goal is to stop leaks.
An alternative motive for the language in the report and perhaps the leaked report might have more to do with smearing WikiLeaks as the community organizing group ACORN was smeared. A highly partisan operative created a slanted video report alleging that community organizers associated with the group supported prostitution. There was a flood of negative press with Congress rushing to bar ACORN from long standing government contracts. When the truth came out and the New York Times admitted it got the story wrong, it was too late. Acorn was destroyed.
The highly inflammatory language in the leaked Army Counterintelligence report may be an attempt to ACORN WikiLeaks. The accuracy of the report findings will not be the issue if it hits the mainstream media. The focus will be on the charge that WikiLeaks somehow helps terrorists. In this scenario, the organization would likely lose sponsors rapidly and face more than just the temporary service interruption recently due to funding problems.
If WikiLeaks produces a clearly damning decrypted videotape that shows the bombing of civilians and reporters by U.S. forces or it gets another more damning leak, then the organization will move to a new level of causing major anxiety, at least, for governments and politicians all over the world. That would support the claim by WikiLeak's Julian Assange, that for "the first time in history that there has been a truly free press" Guardian, (The Guardian, (5:44).
END
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