re: #115 WindUpBird

Actually, if it’s released, if it’s already leaked and turned loose, then yes, I believe one does have a right. it’s out there, it’s been set loose, it’s on the internet. I don’t think it’s a good idea that it was released, I certainly don’t think Assauge is some hero, but once Pandora’s Box is opened, and it clearly has been, then absolutely. I have a right to see it. People on LGF are posting stuff from the leaks constantly. it’s here, it’s news.

That’s the problem with the internet, and being able to access the internet from anywhere in the world. America doesn’t run the world. Shit will leak. It happens. Now, if Wikileaks can’t find a server? Then they can’t find a server. They don’t have a right to an Amazon cloud server. But it’s the internet. There’s always web servers somewhere in the world. And if not servers, then emails. if not emails then FTP sites. if not FTP sites, then flash drives.

Meanwhile, I’m going to go listen to some music that apparently causes me to massacre high school students or something.

You’re right…we can’t put the genie back in the bottle on this. The main thing is that it never should happened in the first place and the people responsible for the theft and release of this classified info (that had not been properly redacted, from what I’ve heard) should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of US and international law. The deal with Assange, an Australian citizen, is a sticky wicket, but one that should be pursued through whatever legal and diplomatic channels the US has at its disposal; Bradley Manning, being an American citizen and a (soon-to-be former) Army soldier, is most likely well and truly fucked for his role in purloining all of that classified material and passing it off to Assange and WikiLeaks. For what it’s worth, I hope Manning spends the better part of the rest of his life breaking big rocks into smaller rocks at Leavenworth.

Last, but not least, the commanders in Manning’s unit and those in the Pentagon who approved Manning’s apparently far-ranging access to classified info (far and above what someone in his position should have been able to access, IMO) and who didn’t follow proper OPSEC procedures to prevent all this classified info from getting out in the wild (a CD/DVD burner on a classified machine without proper access control? WTF!?!) should have their heads roll.