WikiLeaks: we don't know who leaked classified data

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20100728/wikileaks-data-100728/
WikiLeaks: we don't know who leaked classified data





Founder and editor of the WikiLeaks website,
Julian Assange, faces the media during a debate event, held in London
Tuesday July 27, 2010. (AP PHOTO/Max Nash)

LONDON — WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief claims his
organization doesn't know who sent it some 91,000 secret U.S. military
documents, telling journalists that the website was set up to hide the
source of its data from those who receive it.

Julian Assange didn't say whether he meant he had no idea who leaked
the documents or whether his organization simply could not be sure. But
he did say the added layer of secrecy helps protect the site's sources
from spy agencies and hostile corporations.

"We never know the source of the leak," he told journalists gathered
at London's Frontline Club late Tuesday. "Our whole system is designed
such that we don't have to keep that secret."

U.S. officials said U.S. operatives inside Afghanistan and Pakistan
may be in danger following the massive online disclosure Sunday.

In his first public comments, President Barack Obama said the leak of
classified information from the battlefield "could potentially
jeopardize individuals or operations." He spoke in Washington after
meeting Tuesday with Congressional leaders from both parties on the
topic.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said a Pentagon investigation will
determine whether criminal charges will be filed in the leaking of
Afghanistan war secrets. Holder, speaking during a visit Wednesday to
Egypt, said the Justice Department is working with the Pentagon-led
investigation to determine the source of the leak.

In Baghdad, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters he was "appalled" by the leak.

"There is a real potential threat there to put American lives at risk," he said.

While Assange acknowledged that the site's anonymous submissions
raised concerns about the authenticity of its material, he said
WikiLeaks had yet to be fooled by a bogus document.

"We do see wholly fabricated submissions, usually around election time," he said, but added that they were "quite rare."

Assange added that WikiLeaks used ex-military and former intelligence
workers to help evaluate whether documents leaked from the armed forces
or spy agencies were genuine.

The Web site's worse fear, he said, was not a complete forgery but a
real document that had been subtly altered. Still, he said he had yet to
see that happen.

U.S. officials are also worried that the raw data may prove useful
not only to the Taliban but to hostile intelligence services in
countries such as China and Russia who have the resources to make sense
of such vast vaults of data, said Ellen McCarthy, former U.S.
intelligence officer and president of the Intelligence and National
Security Alliance.

Former CIA director Michael Hayden denounced the leak as a gift to America's enemies.

"If I had gotten this trove on the Taliban or al-Qaida, I would have
called it priceless," he said. "If I'm head of the Russian intelligence,
I'm getting my best English speakers and saying: 'Read every document,
and I want you to tell me, how good are these guys? What are their
approaches, their strengths, their weaknesses and their blind spots?"'

Assange agreed that the files offered insight into U.S. tactics. But
he said that was none of his concern, and his Web site already carried a
copy of the U.S. Special Forces' 2006 Southern Afghanistan
Counterinsurgency Manual, among other military documents.

"We put out that stuff all the time," he said.

He seemed irritated when a member of the audience pressed him on
whether he believed there were ever any legitimate national security
concerns that would prevent him from publishing a leaked document.

"It is not our role to play sides for states. States have national
security concerns, we do not have national security concerns," he said.

"You often hear ... that something may be a threat to U.S. national
security," he went on. "This must be shot down, whenever this statement
is made. A threat to U.S. national security? Is anyone serious? The
security of the entire nation of the United States? It is ridiculous!

But he admitted that individual cases were different.

"If we are talking a threat to individual soldiers ... or citizens of
the United States, then that is potentially a genuine concern," he
said.

Assange cast a bit of light on the way his organization operates,
describing an online submission system "like nothing else you've ever
seen."

"We encrypt all the information, it is routed through protected legal jurisdictions, multiple servers," he said.

But, to the amusement of the audience, the former computer hacker
said one of the best ways to submit classified material remained the
international postal system.

His comments also offered insight into his own motivation, referring
to a statement he gave to German newspaper Der Spiegel in which he said
he "loved crushing bastards."

He said the comment wasn't meant in jest, describing himself as a
combative person who likes "stopping people who have created victims
from creating any more."

Assange also expressed disdain for the military, invoking a quotation
attributed to mathematician and noted pacifist Albert Einstein that
describes soldiers as contemptible drones and attacks patriotism as a
cover for brutality and war.

He scoffed when the Frontline's moderator spoke of teenage British soldiers "giving their lives" in Afghanistan.

"To what?" he asked.

Oh shit. Someones up for high treason.

Bring out the water boarding machine/people.