COMMENT: First off, speaking strictly for myself, I’m glad they got him. Good riddance to bad rubbish!
There is a possibility that good ol’ WikiLeaks may have compromised the effort to neutralize Bin Laden. As discussed by WikiLeaks’ resident Holocaust denier Joran Jermas (aka “Israel Shamir”), the Guantanamo files released by Manning to WikiLeaks indicate that the U.S. had located Bin Laden’s hideoput in Abottabad.
Did this compromising of critical intelligence influence the timing of the raid that killed him? Was it feared that Bin Laden would learn that he had been located and flee?
Apologists for WikiLeaks, a far-right, Nazi-linked intelligence network, would do well to re-consider their attitude. An excellent blog has laid out the paramaters of Bradley Manning’s activities on behalf of WikiLeaks, noting the compromising of the Bin Laden intelligence and nailing down exactly why Bradley Manning is neither a “hero” nor a “whistleblower.” Please read the entire post–it is excellent!
EXCERPT: . . . Bradley Manning and The Leaks
Now, how can Bradley Manning be connected to the release of the Gitmo papers? Well, let’s look at his own words as he laid bare his actions to Adrian Lamo, courtesy of Wired.com…(emphasis mine)(04:32:05 PM) Manning: oh, the JTF GTMO papers… Assange has those too
(04:32:16 PM) Lamo: Read it.
(04:33:21 PM) Lamo: Anything else interesting on his table, as a former collector of interesting .com info?
(04:33:44 PM) Manning: idk… i only know what i provide him xD
(04:34:14 PM) Lamo: what do you consider the highlights?
(04:35:31 PM) Manning: The Gharani airstrike videos and full report, Iraq war event log, the “Gitmo Papers”, and State Department cable database
(04:35:50 PM) Lamo: Not too shabby.
(04:36:03 PM) Manning: thats just me….
(04:36:26 PM) Manning: idk about the rest… he *hopefully* has more . . .
None of the other Wikileak’s releases have named Bradley Manning as the source of the classified intel, since by doing so, Wikileaks would be providing evidence that Manning was the source of the material and thus would be acting as a witness against him in his upcoming trial. He is charged with violating the Espionage Act among other serious charges.
It isn’t just me who thinks it’s pretty obvious that those documents came through Manning. Andy Greenberg at Forbes says this…
“As with the last four major releases from WikiLeaks, imprisoned Army private Bradley Manning remains the suspected source of the leak. In a chat with confidant Adrian Lamo published by Wired.com last year, Lamo asks which of the documents he’s leaked Manning deems most important. He lists: “The Gharani airstrike videos and full report, Iraq war event log, the “Gitmo Papers”, and State Department cable database.” All of those files other than the Gharani airstrike video–a clip that purportedly shows more than a hundred civilians being killed in Afghanistan by American forces–have now been released.”
The Gitmo files, which Wikileaks began releasing daily on April 24th, 2011, came directly from DoD Classified Intelligence databases and are of the same classified categorical designations as other DoD and State Dept intelligence cables previously released by Wikileaks. The above cited Gitmo File was specifically classified as “SECRET// NOFORN.” The classified category of “SECRET// NOFORN” means that any intel labeled as such should not ever be seen by any foreign government personnel or citizens. There was a reason this intel was classified. Releasing any of this intelligence would likely compromise Top Secret operations in the planning stage or those on the verge of being executed.
This is all background for what comes next. The Osama bin Laden operation and the connection to the release of the Gitmo files. My first visit to Osborne Ink was when I clicked on a link in a Bradley Manning story. I’ve been a regular since then. A few days ago, Matt put a post up that asked a great question to the defenders of Bradley Manning, the “Hamwaldians” as he calls them. From Osborne Ink…
“If Bradley Manning had blown the bin Laden Operation, would the HamWaldians still be advocating his release? It’s a fair question, because when Manning (allegedly) put those hundred thousand-plus cables on his thumb drive, he certainly had not read them all. In fact, it’s pretty certain Manning had no idea what was in them — and no clue how many potential OPs might get blown by their release.
If he had blown the OP and allowed bin Laden to get away, would he still be a hero?”
My opinion of the Bradley Manning’s massive data dump has always been that it isn’t whistleblowing, how could releasing documents that you haven’t even read be whistleblowing? It can’t be. The act that protects whistleblowers is pretty specific. From Wikipedia…(emphasis mine)
“The alleged misconduct may be classified in many ways; for example, a violation of a law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption. Whistleblowers may make their allegations internally (for example, to other people within the accused organization) or externally (to regulators, law enforcement agencies, to the media or to groups concerned with the issues).”
What Manning did was expose to the entire world, friends and foes, information that overwhelmingly was not any violation of law, regulation etc.. He leaked diplomatic and Top Secret, sensitive information as well as frivolous, stupid stuff. And his defenders, Glenn Greenwald, Jane Hamsher and Greg Mitchell think he is an innocent man, going so far as to say he is a hero and should be released. Wow, the extent that these people will go to try to hurt the President of the United State’s reputation, accusing him of torturing Manning because he was in solitary confinement, is unbelievable. Is it that hard to understand that the defense department might want to put a man who bragged about how many files he was copying, with no concern for what impact it might have on his country’s security and defense, in solitary confinement? From the government’s perspective, I imagine this kid is the worst spy they’ve ever seen. By they way, everyone in max security at Quantico is housed by themselves in their own cell. I’ve posted about his conditions in the past, go here to get caught up on that, if needed. In your mind, was this kid a hero?
The Connection
So the other night, I’m on Twitter and one of my fellow bloggers, who prefers to remain nameless, put up a couple of links in a post. I dutifully clicked on them and saw this short article on The Guardian’s website detailing information from one of the latest Wikileaks of Gitmo files, here is the paragraph and sentence that caught my eye…
According to the document, Libi fled to Peshawar in Pakistan and was living there in 2003 when he was asked to become one of Bin Laden’s messengers. The document says: “In July 2003, detainee received a letter from [Bin Laden’s] designated courier, Maulawi Abd al-Khaliq Jan, requesting detainee take on the responsibility of collecting donations, organising travel and distributing funds for families in Pakistan. [Bin Laden] stated detainee would be the official messenger between [Bin Laden] and others in Pakistan. In mid-2003, detainee moved his family to Abbottabad (Pakistan) and worked between Abbottabad and Peshawar.” . . .
WikiLeaks released the report last week, prompting speculation that the US, afraid that its planned raid might be preempted, brought forward its attack. . . .
COMMENT: It should be noted that the “moderate” Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood condemned Bin Laden’s killing. Now that’s moderation, isn’t it? The Brotherhood has been an apparent focal point of the Piggy-Back Coups.
“Egypt Muslim Brotherhood Condemns Bin Laden Death” [AP]; Yahoo News; 5/2/2011.
EXCERPT: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, a conservative organization with links around the Islamic world, has condemned the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces as an “assassination.”
The Brotherhood, which seeks the establishment of a state run according to Islamic principles through peaceful means, is Egypt’s most powerful and organized political movement. . . .
Being that bin laden was thrown into the sea raises red flags as to the validity of his so called death.
Islamic scholars have gone on record saying this violates sharia law despite what the military claimed.
If saddam could be brought to trial why was bin laden ordered dead and not alive?
Perhaps because he already died of kidney failure many years ago(according to CIA men, two former administration officials, ex-prez of pakistan and a host of other well knowledgable individuals.) Now when support of imperialism is at a low ebb, this operation is cooked up to rally for the war on terror and support for the upcoming operations.
Well, Dave........I’ll have be honest with you here. I was once a supporter of, and sympathetic towards, Brad Manning at one point. However, though, having had this revelation thrust upon me, I have had to reconsider my opinion; if this guy really is a useful idiot for the world criminal network, then I guess all that was in vain.
Sometimes, finding out the truth is somewhat painful but in this case, it was well needed. Thanks for posting this Dave. =)
I must also admit that I had once believed that Bin Laden had perhaps died back in 2001-02. However, though, this too, has been questioned by myself, especially given the statement by the Muslim Brotherhood, who is, as we both know, is one of the key players in the modern world crime network.
This is a terrific finding that you have made there, Dave. It certainly puts into context the timing of the operation. I agree with you, Steven, when you express astonishment regarding Bradley Manning. To turn over a file containing thousands of documents that you don’t know the content of is either foolish, immature, irresponsible or just crazy. He might be a useful idiot, somebody who has been promissed a chunk of cash when he gets out of prison, or even a mind-control job. It’s hard to make a call. It was obvious that he would get to jail for that. So why did he do it?
And JB, I also heard around me that bin Laden needed dialysis regularly. He may have died from it several years ago, but I never came across anything to confirm it. Thanks for mentionning that.
Have a great day to all of you.
[...] researcher and anti-fascist resistant Dave Emory presented part of a blog post published on Extreme Liberal’s blog. The post contains an [...]
I was just reading in the Washington Post, the head of CIA Counter Terrorism is an Islamic convert.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/at-cia-a-convert-to-islam-leads-the-terrorism-hunt/2012/03/23/gIQA2mSqYS_print.html