As a rule, free-Internet types tend to revere WikiLeaks, the wide-open whistleblowers’ clearinghouse for anonymously submitted government and corporate documents. Like Cryptome, it’s come under counterfire for that very reason — the “these websites are an invitation to terrorists” argument — but it’s proven resilient in the face of pressures from censorious world governments and financial troubles.
Apparently, WikiLeaks’ foes may have included none other than the U.S. government. A classified intelligence document published in March of 2008 — leaked today, naturally, by WikiLeaks — evaluates WikiLeaks as a “counterintelligence threat,” refers to the site’s leaks of Guantanamo Bay operating procedures and information on U.S. use of white phosphorous in the Battle of Fallujah, and lays out a strategy to “destroy [WikiLeaks’] center of gravity:”
Wikileaks‘ (somewhat self-biased) summary:
The report recommends “The identification, exposure, termination of employment, criminal prosecution, legal action against current or former insiders, leakers, or whistlblowers could potentially damage or destroy this center of gravity and deter others considering similar actions from using the Wikileaks.org Web site”. [As two years have passed since the date of the report, with no WikiLeaks’ source exposed, it appears that this plan was ineffective].
As an odd justificaton for the plan, the report claims that “Several foreign countries including China, Israel, North Kora, Russia, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe have denounced or blocked access to the Wikileaks.org website”.
Here’s the full, 32-page report:
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(WikiLeaks via Cryptome)
