This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
The Pentagon can argue that using the Internet this way is not "safe, easy, and protected by law." We shall have to watch how that argument fares in court. Meanwhile, this way of exposing information needed by people in a democracy will continue to be attractive -- and, while perhaps not entirely "safe," surely a lot easier than running the risk of being seen with someone from the New York Times.
From what I have learned over these past 43 years, supervening moral values can, and should, trump lesser promises. Today, I am confident I would "do the right thing," were I to have access to an Abrams-like cable from Petraeus in Kabul.
And I believe that Sam Adams, if he were alive today, would enthusiastically agree that this would be not only the morally correct decision, but also the only one with half a chance of exposing the lies.
Footnote: In the Tradition of Sam Adams
Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence (SAAII) is a group of former CIA colleagues and other associates of former intelligence analyst Sam Adams, who hold up his example as a model for those in intelligence who would aspire to the courage to speak truth to power.
Sam did precisely that, and in honoring his memory, SAAII confers an award each year to a lamp lighter exemplifying Sam Adam's courage, persistence, and devotion to truth -- no matter the consequences. The Washington, DC, presentations are held in the fall, usually before a large university audience; Dan Ellsberg, a charter member, is usually with us.
Sam Adams Annual Award recipients:
-Coleen Rowley of the FBI, in Washington,
DC
-Katharine Gun of British Intelligence; in Copenhagen,
Denmark
-Sibel Edmonds of the FBI; in Washington, DC
-Craig Murray, former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan; in NY
City
-Sam Provance, former Sgt, US Army, truth teller about Abu
Ghraib; in Washington, DC
-Frank Grevil, Maj., Danish Army
Intelligence, imprisoned for giving the Danish press documents showing that
Denmark's Prime Minister disregarded warnings that there was no authentic
evidence of WMD in Iraq; in Copenhagen, Denmark
-Larry
Wilkerson, Col., US Army (ret.), former chief of staff to Secretary
Colin Powell at the State Department, who has exposed what he called the
"Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal;" in Washington, DC
In April, the SAAII nominating committee decided unanimously to give this year's award to Julian Assange of WikiLeaks. Stay tuned for information on time and place for the presentation. Or check with Geoff Morrell, who is likely to know as soon as we decide.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
2
