Sen. John Ensign<\/figcaption><\/figure>In so doing, Ensign gives legislative expression to a firestorm of criticism against WikiLeaks emanating from the US defense and intelligence establishments and also from many in the American mainstream press.<\/p>\nHowever, given that WikiLeaks is an international news organization, Ensign\u2019s proposal also raises the specter of some kind of global secrecy act that would criminalize any media outlet that discloses the name of anyone who has collaborated with US intelligence agencies or the US military anywhere in the world, regardless of the context.<\/p>\n
Ensign\u2019s idea is particularly breathtaking because during the long Cold War and today\u2019s \u201cwar on terror,\u201d many collaborators with the CIA and other US agencies have been linked to drug trafficking, human rights abuses, military coups and even terrorism. Presumably, under Ensign\u2019s plan, journalists around the world would face prosecution for making those connections.<\/p>\n
Under his proposal, journalistic intent would not be considered. After all, the chief purpose of recent WikiLeaks\u2019 disclosures of secret US military reports was to put a spotlight on the torture, murder and unnecessary killing of people in Afghanistan and Iraq during the US military occupations of those countries.<\/p>\n
WikiLeaks also made efforts to delete the names of some informants and withheld some documents where the risks to individuals were judged to outweigh the value of other information contained in those reports.<\/p>\n
In addition, an initial Defense Department review of the leaked records failed to identify any sources or methods that were compromised by WikiLeaks. That review contradicted earlier claims by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who suggested that WikiLeaks had put sensitive sources and methods at risk.<\/p>\n
However, after studying the actual disclosures, the Defense Department concluded that there apparently was no such harm.<\/p>\n
Indeed, what the Wikileaks disclosures on the Iraq War do, primarily, is document large numbers of civilian deaths as well as the torture of detainees and sometimes their murders. Some of these revelations have caused the US government PR damage but only because people around the world got a real-life glimpse into the day-to-day operations of the war.<\/p>\n
Protecting War Criminals<\/h5>\n
Ensign and other legislators joining his efforts to criminalize WikiLeaks would stand in the way of justice for countless innocent victims of these wars. After all, a war crime cannot be prosecuted if it is kept secret.<\/p>\n
If the code of silence among US military and intelligence personnel is so strictly enforced that war crimes and crimes against humanity are successfully hidden, the perpetuation of such crimes becomes even more likely.<\/p>\n
And, if there is no organization like WikiLeaks to amplify the voices of those brave enough to disclose violations of human rights by the US military and its allies, those voices will be marginalized, discredited and sometimes silenced.<\/p>\n
Consider what happened to Joe Darby, the military policeman who handed the Abu Ghraib photographs (showing US military guards abusing and humiliating Iraqi detainees) to an Army investigator. Since that disclosure, Darby has at times gone into hiding from vengeful members of his own country\u2019s military.<\/p>\n
So, criminalizing WikiLeaks may well deny victims of war crimes international legal attention by helping to keep the crimes secret and thus may protect the perpetrators. That is the larger issue.<\/p>\n
More narrowly, there is the question of how Ensign\u2019s plan to amend the Espionage Act would be applied to a news organization like WikiLeaks, which is not based in the United States but rather operates through Web sites in Scandinavia and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Ensign is proposing something like a global secrecy rule that would criminalize the disclosure of the name of anyone who collaborates with US intelligence and military agencies anywhere in the world, even if the disclosure comes from a foreign news organization.<\/p>\n
The underlying assumption seems to be that the entire world should see US interventions abroad as so clearly in the planet\u2019s interests that all collaborators with these operations deserve anonymity even if they are guilty of human rights abuses or other crimes.<\/p>\n
Ensign also makes clear that another purpose of his legislation is to punish news outlets, like WikiLeaks, for undercutting US military goals.<\/p>\n
“With this newest document dump, WikiLeaks has knowingly endangered the lives of thousands and further threatened our military efforts,\u201d declared Ensign in a press release. \u201cMy legislation will extend the legal protections for government informants, such as the Iraqis named in this latest document dump, and will prevent an organization such as WikiLeaks from hiding like a coward behind a computer mainframe while putting lives in jeopardy.”<\/p>\n
Ensign said his bill would accomplish this by amending the Espionage Act to make it illegal to publish the name of any human intelligence informant to the US military and intelligence community.<\/p>\n
Behind the Bluster<\/h5>\n
What is really going on here?<\/p>\n
Ensign\u2019s proposal seems to be a mix of legislative grandstanding and a desire to punish people who dare pull back the veil concealing the ugly face of the wars that the United States has been fighting, wars in which prisoners have been tortured and murdered and in which the slaughter of civilians has been covered up.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon spends a vast amount of money every year on public relations, portraying contemporary warfare as heroic, noble and virtuous. WikiLeaks committed an affront to this image-making by revealing the grimy and grisly reality behind the sanitized version that normally reaches the US public.<\/p>\n
For exposing that truth, WikiLeaks is now a target for revenge.<\/p>\n
But imagine yourself one of the Iraqis or Afghans subjected to torture and other abuses. Or the widow or orphan of one of those murdered. Then, imagine that a foreign occupier was claiming the right to keep these dirty secrets from the world.<\/p>\n
What you would want is truth and justice, not perception management.<\/p>\n
Organizations such as WikiLeaks provide at the very least the hope of that \u2013 and that is a hope frightening to the likes of Sen. Ensign.<\/p>\n
[D. H. Kerby is a journalist and a poet who writes about civil liberties and national security. His most recent book, A Year in Paris and an Ordeal in Bangkok: Collected Poems and Political Essays, is available from Amazon.com and he can be reached at DH@DHKerby.com.]<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WikiLeaks Ban or Global Secrecy Act? Criminalizing WikiLeaks may well deny victims of war crimes international legal attention by helping to keep the crimes secret and thus may protect the perpetrators, notes D. H. Kerby. [From Middle East Online, www.middle-east-online.com.] Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, has proposed amending the Espionage Act specifically to target WikiLeaks and other media organizations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[578,579,580,592],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-commentary","category-reflected-news","category-technology","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3419,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2010\/12\/14\/film-maker-michael-moore-defends-wikileaks\/","url_meta":{"origin":3265,"position":0},"title":"Film Maker Michael Moore Defends Wikileaks","author":"admin","date":"December 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Why I\u2019m Posting Bail Money for Julian Assangeby Michael Moore From dailykos.com. Tue Dec 14, 2010 at 04:12:19 AM PST Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "reflected news"","block_context":{"text":"reflected news","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/reflected-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3299,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2010\/11\/16\/financial-warefare-against-wikileaks\/","url_meta":{"origin":3265,"position":1},"title":"Financial Warefare Against Wikileaks","author":"admin","date":"November 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Julian Assange & Wikileaks TargetedWebsite's Donation Collection Company Caves To Political Pressure At 5pm EST Friday 22nd October 2010 WikiLeaks released the largest classified military leak in history. The 391,832 reports ('The Iraq War Logs'), document the war and occupation in Iraq, from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2009\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "reflected news"","block_context":{"text":"reflected news","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/reflected-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2721,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2010\/09\/01\/isnt-the-news-shield-law-called-the-first-amendment\/","url_meta":{"origin":3265,"position":2},"title":"Isn’t the News Shield Law called the First Amendment?","author":"admin","date":"September 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Shameful News Industry Willing To Sacrifice Wikileaks To Get Shield Law from the bad-precedent deptFrom www.techdirt.com\/articles\/20100826\/02573310781.shtml A few weeks ago, we noted, with some disappointment, that the politicians who had been pushing for a much needed federal shield law for journalism, Senators Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein, were taking the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "reflected news"","block_context":{"text":"reflected news","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/reflected-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2714,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2010\/08\/28\/u-s-soldier-ethan-mccords-eyewitness-story-colatteralmurder-com\/","url_meta":{"origin":3265,"position":3},"title":"U.S. Soldier Ethan McCord’s Eyewitness Story – colatteralmurder.com","author":"admin","date":"August 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"[Expose']Truth Be Told\"...from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were killed while doing their work.\"OverviewFound on the updated webpage at colatteralmurder.com Update: On July 6, 2010, Private Bradley Manning, a 22 year old intelligence analyst with the United States Army in Baghdad, was charged with disclosing this video (after allegedly speaking to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "film"","block_context":{"text":"film","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":173,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2006\/11\/05\/saddam-sentenced\/","url_meta":{"origin":3265,"position":4},"title":"Saddam sentenced","author":"admin","date":"November 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Hussein Sentenced to Hang for Crimes Against Iraqis Thousands Take to Street in Tikrit in Defiance of Curfew Full story on WashingtonPost.com. By John Ward Anderson And Ellen Knickmeyer Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, November 5, 2006; 9:26 AM BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 -- Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was found\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/pics.livejournal.com\/reviewermag\/pic\/0000ws96\/s320x240","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":563,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2009\/01\/04\/revising-fascism\/","url_meta":{"origin":3265,"position":5},"title":"Revising fascism","author":"admin","date":"January 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Forseeable Future of Freedom From Governmentby Reviewer Rob Someone remarked recently that he wondered what Barak Obama's views on The Patriot Act are. Although Obama is a very smart lawyer, he's an even more than smart politician. My guess is he will do little about changing it in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3265"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3286,"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265\/revisions\/3286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/s-ENSIGN-large.jpg?resize=260%2C190\" "\\"s-ENSIGN-large\\"")
<\/a>