The Wikileaks Question

[Joe Hillshoist]

And Bill Shorten, but we kind of expected that.

[stefano]

Where it says "That's the password", that really is the password to the encrypted, online, unredacted, entire cablegate file!!??!!

So... is it? I torrented a file called insurance.aes256 in December, the torrent is labelled 'Wikileaks_insurance', is that the file we're talking about? What does one use to implement the key to see if it works?

edit Users commenting on the Pirate Bay say it doesn't work when they use that key in AESCrypt.

[Plutonia]

No it wasn't the insurance file, it was a hidden file at the Wikileaks site that got mirrored.

@Nin_99 had been exploring the directory for a few days, trying different passwords on it.

In the directory, date-stamped 9 June 2010, were 4 files, all encoded with Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encoding, the files names with *.gpg suffixes.

I started at the bottom of the list, putting in the David Leigh password. It unzipped z.gpg into a file called z.7z. Opening that file and extracting it using the Ez7z compression/decompression program, the file spat out a file called cables.csv, dated with a creation date of April 12, 2010 at 9:22PM.

It was a 1.61GB file but it had been reported in the German press to be 1.73GB. Gigabytes are confusing for many in that 1GB is not actually equal to 1,000MB but rather to 1,024MB. 1.61GB is therefore indeed 1,730 million bytes, and calling this 1.73GB would be an easy mistake for someone to make from the incorrect assumption that 1,000MB=1GB.

So there it was. After Wikileaks, the various media partners, Aftenposten—who apparently scored a copy of cables.csv back in December 2010—and the German reporters, I was the first person out of the loop and in the wild to have unzipped the unredacted Cablegate cables.

I private messaged @Nin_99 to save them some time and let them know the password opened z.gpg.

Game over at this point. The cat was forever out of the bag. Regardless even of what we both did, it was only a matter of time before someone else unpacked the unredacted cables. The various media organization's hints were more than enough.

I tweeted:


It's a bad day for @DavidLeigh3 & the Guardian. His book password decrypts an old wikileaks.org dir file into cables.csv, 1.61GB #Cablegate

https://twitter.com/#!/flyingmonkeyair/ ... 4065562624


and a minute or so later:

Just to be clear: I ran the password from p139 of @DavidLeigh3's book and it opened into cables.csv #Wikileaks #FAIL

https://twitter.com/#!/flyingmonkeyair/ ... 0035836928

http://nigelparry.com/news/guardian-dav ... gate.shtml

"US diplomatic cables browser (all 250k, unredacted cables available)" here: http://cables.mrkva.eu/

[stefano]

"US diplomatic cables browser (all 250k, unredacted cables available)" here: http://cables.mrkva.eu/

Oh, legend. Thank you.

[Plutonia]

"US diplomatic cables browser (all 250k, unredacted cables available)" here: http://cables.mrkva.eu/

Oh, legend. Thank you.

NP. Let us know if you find anything.

and:

Some not-minor fallout from pre-unredacted cable release:

WikiLeaks Revelation Damages U.S.-Iraq Talks On Keeping American Troops Past 2011 |

McClatchy reported earlier this week that a recently released U.S. diplomatic cable made public by WikiLeaks shows evidence that U.S. troops executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians in 2006, including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month-old infant, and “then called in an airstrike to destroy the evidence.” The Iraqi government said today that it will revive the stalled investigation into the allegations. The AP also reports that “some officials said that the document was reason enough for Iraq to force the American military to leave instead of signing a deal allowing troops to stay beyond a year-end departure deadline.” “The new report about this crime will have its impact on signing any new agreement,” said Sunni lawmaker Aliya Nusayif.

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/ ... oops-2011/

Edit: link

[JackRiddler]

.

The headline seems to be what the Guardian hopes.

The condemnation by the papers of Wikileaks' "move" (which was actually their fuck-up) is kind of their official farewell to pretending journalism.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/se ... eaks/print

Julian Assange could face arrest in Australia over unredacted cables

Government says at least one intelligence official identified after complete cache of cables was published

James Ball
guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 September 2011 18.03 BST


Julian Assange could face prosecution in Australia after publishing sensitive information about government officials amongst the 251,000 unredacted cables released this week.

WikiLeaks published its entire cache of US diplomatic cables without redactions to protect those named within, a move condemned by all five of the whistleblowing website's original media partners.

Australia's attorney general, Robert McClelland, confirmed in a statement on Friday that the new cable release identified at least one individual within the country's intelligence service. He added it is a criminal offence in the country to publish any information which could lead to the identification of an intelligence officer.

"I am aware of at least one cable in which an ASIO officer is purported to have been identified," he said. "ASIO and other Government agencies officers are working through the material to see the extent of the impact on Australian interests.

"On occasions before this week, WikiLeaks redacted identifying features where the safety of individuals or national security could be put at risk. It appears this hasn't occurred with documents that have been distributed across the internet this week and this is extremely concerning."

The new development adds to the pressure on the WikiLeaks founder, who is currently fighting extradition from the UK to Sweden to answer allegations of sexual misconduct. Assange will be unable to remain in the UK if his extradition appeal is successful, as his visa will by then have expired.

Assange already faces legal action in the US, where a grand jury has been convened in Virginia to decide whether to prosecute the founder of the whistleblowing website. Bradley Manning, the alleged source of the document, remains in custody in the US facing 34 separate charges.

The newly published archive contains more than 1,000 cables identifying individual activists; several thousand labelled with a tag used by the US to mark sources it believes could be placed in danger; and more than 150 specifically mentioning whistleblowers.

The cables also contain references to people persecuted by their governments, victims of sex offences, and locations of sensitive government installations and infrastructure.

The Guardian, New York Times, El País, Der Spiegel and Le Monde, who worked with WikiLeaks publishing carefully selected and redacted documents in December last year, issued a joint statement condemning the latest release.

"We deplore the decision of WikiLeaks to publish the unredacted state department cables, which may put sources at risk," it said.

"Our previous dealings with WikiLeaks were on the clear basis that we would only publish cables which had been subjected to a thorough joint editing and clearance process. We will continue to defend our previous collaborative publishing endeavour. We cannot defend the needless publication of the complete data – indeed, we are united in condemning it.

"The decision to publish by Julian Assange was his, and his alone."

© 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Fuckers!

.

[crikkett]

A journalist publishes a passphrase that he was told to keep secret, and then wonders why anyone in the world would think to try it on every single wikileaks file that could be found.

What an asshole. He might as well get a cable news show because he's not going to ever be trusted by anyone (sane) again.

[Plutonia]

The long awaited 60 Minutes interview of JA just aired.

In this Overtime segment, Steve Kroft says JA is "charming, brilliant" and the media's stereotype of him is wrong. Weird. MSM off-message, especially in the middle of the current re-activated smear campaigning? :

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162- ... omponent.0

And check out the overwhelmingly positive comments - lots of "now I understand better, I support Wikileaks" stuff.

Huh.

All is not lost?

__________________

Also latest interview with DDB where he says he didn't destroy data:

http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... t-dem-Ring

More Smeagol than Frodo, to my way of thinking.

[JackRiddler]

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn ... index.html

Friday, Sep 2, 2011 07:03 ET

Facts and myths in the WikiLeaks/Guardian saga

By Glenn Greenwald

(updated below)

A series of unintentional though negligent acts by multiple parties -- WikiLeaks, The Guardian's investigative reporter David Leigh, and Open Leaks' Daniel Domscheit-Berg -- has resulted in the publication of all 251,287 diplomatic cables, in unredacted form, leaked last year to WikiLeaks (allegedly by Bradley Manning). Der Spiegel (in English) has the best and most comprehensive step-by-step account of how this occurred.

This incident is unfortunate in the extreme for multiple reasons: it's possible that diplomatic sources identified in the cables (including whistleblowers and human rights activists) will be harmed; this will be used by enemies of transparency and WikiLeaks to disparage both and even fuel efforts to prosecute the group; it implicates a newspaper, The Guardian, that generally produces very good and responsible journalism; it likely increases political pressure to impose more severe punishment on Bradley Manning if he's found guilty of having leaked these cables; and it will completely obscure the already-ignored, important revelations of serious wrongdoing from these documents. It's a disaster from every angle. But as usual with any controversy involving WikiLeaks, there are numerous important points being willfully distorted that need clarification.

Let's begin with the revelations that are being ignored and obscured by this controversy. Several days ago, WikiLeaks compiled a list of 30 significant revelations from the newly released cables, and that was when only a fraction of them had been published; there are surely many more now, including ones still undiscovered in the trove of documents (here's just one example). The cable receiving the most attention thus far -- first reported by John Glaser of Antiwar.com -- details a "heinous war crime [by U.S forces] during a house raid in Iraq in 2006, wherein one man, four women, two children, and three infants were summarily executed" and their house thereafter blown up by a U.S. airstrike in order to destroy the evidence. Back in 2006, the incident was discussed in American papers as a mere unproven "allegation" ("Regardless of which account is correct . . "), and the U.S. military (as usual) cleared itself of any and all wrongdoing. But the cable contains evidence vesting the allegations of Iraqis with substantial credibility, and that, in turn, has now prompted this:


Iraqi government officials say they will investigate newly surfaced allegations that U.S. soldiers shot women and children, then tried to cover it up with an airstrike, during a 2006 hunt for insurgents.

An adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Ali Al-Moussawi, said Friday the government will revive its stalled probe now that new information about the March 15, 2006, raid has come to light.


As usual, many of those running around righteously condemning WikiLeaks for the potential, prospective, unintentional harm to innocents caused by this leak will have nothing to say about these actual, deliberate acts of wanton slaughter by the U.S. The accidental release of these unredacted cables will receive far more attention and more outrage than the extreme, deliberate wrongdoing these cables expose. That's because many of those condemning WikiLeaks care nothing about harm to civilians as long as it's done by the U.S. government and military; indeed, such acts are endemic to the American wars they routinely cheer on. What they actually hate is transparency and exposure of wrongdoing by their government; "risk to civilians" is just the pretext for attacking those, such as WikiLeaks, who bring that about.

That said, and as many well-intentioned transparency supporters correctly point out, WikiLeaks deserves some of the blame for what happened here; any group that devotes itself to enabling leaks has the responsibility to safeguard what it receives and to do everything possible to avoid harm to innocent people. Regardless of who is at fault -- more on that in a minute -- WikiLeaks, due to insufficient security measures, failed to fulfill that duty here. There's just no getting around that (although ultimate responsibility for safeguarding the identity of America's diplomatic sources rests with the U.S. Government, which is at least as guilty as WikiLeaks in failing to exerise due care to safeguard these cables; if this information is really so sensitive and one wants to blame someone for inadequate security measures, start with the U.S. Government, which gave full access to these documents to hundreds of thousands of people around the world, at least).

Despite the fault fairly assigned to WikiLeaks, one point should be absolutely clear: there was nothing intentional about WikiLeaks' publication of the cables in unredacted form. They ultimately had no choice. Ever since WikiLekas was widely criticized (including by me) for publishing Afghan War documents without redacting the names of some sources (though much blame also lay with the U.S. Government for rebuffing its request for redaction advice), the group has been meticulous about protecting the identity of innocents. The New York Times' Scott Shane today describes "efforts by WikiLeaks and journalists to remove the names of vulnerable people in repressive countries" in subsequent releases; indeed, WikiLeaks "used software to remove proper names from Iraq war documents and worked with news organizations to redact the cables." After that Afghan release, the group has demonstrated a serious, diligent commitment to avoiding pointless exposure of innocent people -- certainly far more care than the U.S. Government took in safeguarding these documents.

What happened here was that their hand was forced by the reckless acts of The Guardian's Leigh and Domscheit-Berg. One key reason access to these unredacted cables was so widely distributed is that Leigh -- in his December, 2010, book about the work he did with WikiLeaks -- published the password to these files, which was given to him by Julian Assange to enable his reporting on the cables. Leigh claims -- and there's no reason to doubt him -- that he believed the password was only valid for a few days and would have expired by the time his book was published.

That belief turned out to be false because the files had been disseminated on the BitTorrent file sharing network, with that password embedded in them; Leigh's publication of the WikiLeaks password in his book thus enabled widespread access to the full set of cables. But the key point is this: even if Leigh believed that that particular password would no longer be valid, what possible point is there in publishing to the world the specific password used by WikiLeaks or divulging the types of passwords it uses to safeguard its data? It is reckless for an investigative reporter to gratuitously publish that type of information, and he absolutely deserves a large chunk of the blame for what happened here; read this superb analysis by Nigel Parry to see the full scope of Leigh's culpability.

Then there is Domscheit-Berg and "Open Leaks." Last year, Domscheit-Berg left WikiLeaks and started a new group to great media fanfare, even though his group has not produced a single disclosure. Instead, he and his thus-far-inaccurately-named group seem devoted to only two goals: (1) cashing in on a vindictive, petty, personality-based vendetta against Assange and WikiLeaks; and (2) bolstering secrecy and destroying transparency, as Domscheit-Berg did when he permanently deleted thousands of files previously leaked to WikiLeaks, including documents relating to the Bank of America. It was Domscheit-Berg who removed the files from the WikiLeaks server, including (apparently unbeknownst to him) the full set of diplomatic cables.

That act by Domscheit-Berg, combined with the publication of its password by Leigh and the dissemination of the files to "mirror sites" by well-intentioned WikiLeaks supporters after cyber-attacks on the group, all combined to enable widespread, unfettered access to these diplomatic cables. Once WikiLeaks realized what had happened, they notified the State Department, but faced a quandary: virtually every government's intelligence agencies would have had access to these documents as a result of these events, but the rest of the world -- including journalists, whistleblowers and activists identified in the documents -- did not. At that point, WikiLeaks decided -- quite reasonably -- that the best and safest course was to release all the cables in full, so that not only the world's intelligence agencies but everyone had them, so that steps could be taken to protect the sources and so that the information in them was equally available.

Serious caution is warranted in making claims about the damage caused by publication of these cables. Recall that Adm. Michael Mullen and others accused WikiLeaks of having "blood on its hands" as a result of publication of the Afghan War documents, but that turned out to be totally false; as Shane noted today in the NYT: "no consequence more serious than dismissal from a job has been reported." Even Defense Secretary Robert Gates mocked claims about the damage done by WikiLeaks as "significantly overwrought."

That said, there's little doubt that release of all these documents in unredacted form poses real risk to some of the individuals identified in them, and that is truly lamentable. But it is just as true that WikiLeaks easily remains an important force for good. The acts of deliberate evil committed by the world's most powerful factions which it has exposed vastly outweigh the mistakes which this still-young and pioneering organization has made. And the harm caused by corrupt, excessive secrecy easily outweighs the harm caused by unauthorized, inadvisable leaks.

Here Greenwald links to his earlier spectacular round-up:

What Wikileaks Revealed to the World in 2010
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn ... /wikileaks

& below I'm copying the round-up of Wikileaks threads and links to cable-based news stories from page 24 or whatever of this thread!

UPDATE: Several noteworthy points that have arisen from the discussion in the comment section (which is particularly worth reading today) and elsewhere:

(1) David Leigh appears in the comment section and responds, though he doesn't really address any of the criticisms I voiced; my reply to him is here;

(2) the information contained in the cable about the killings in Iraq was actually published previously in this report, though the WikiLeaks release has obviously drawn substantially more attention to it, as evidenced by the reaction of the Iraqi Government (on a positive note, it's very possible that the attention being drawn to this incident may thwart the Obama administration's efforts to have Iraq agree to keeping U.S. troops in that country beyond the 2011 deadline, as citizens tend to get angry when foreign armies murder their fellow citizens in cold blood and then air-attack the house where it happened to destroy the evidence);

(3) in terms of assessing harm from publication of the cables, recall -- as several commenters noted -- that the U.S. Government has known about the leak of these cables for more than a year and thus had ample time to warn anyone identified in them of this risk; that doesn't excuse any wrongdoing, but it does reduce the likelihood of serious harm; and,

(4) one of the newly released cables reveal that Israel, according to what it told the U.S., attacked what it claims were Hamas members in Gaza with drones, and accidentally killed 16 people inside a mosque during prayer time. You won't hear very many people condemning WikiLeaks for "putting civilians at risk" devote much of their attention to this revelation either.

Quick Guide to Wikileaks Threads

"The loser at a free weblog now has spin control on those cables, just like everyone else."
-- nathan28

The following are all repeats for easy reference.

Where to research the cables (best as I know)

1. Wikileaks: http://wikileaks.ch / (go to "cablegate" section)

2. Search-able database of cables that is synched with Wikileaks releases: http://www.dazzlepod.com/cable /

3. Wikileaks the forum: http://www.wikileaksforum.net /

4. Crowdjournalizing the raw cables... very slowly: http://operationleakspin.org /

5. Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-us-embassy-cables
Of the newspaper sites, in English go with The Guardian. They are a full partner and have been doing constant, massive coverage. (The Times site is a joke and shamelessly spun to minimize releases and maximize pro-war propaganda.) This is not an endorsement, it's merely a fact that the Guardian has been been best so far, despite problems.

6. On RI, the cable story compilation thread:
Cables Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels WIKI!
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/view ... =8&t=30359


...............................


A DU thread collecting major cable stories through January 9, 2011

Glenn Greenwald: What WikiLeaks revealed to the world in 2010
http://www.democraticunderground.com/di ... =439x65699

INCLUDES POSTS OR LINKS TO...

FAIR Press Release: What We Learn from Wikileaks

2007: US, YEMEN COOK UP MINI-GULF OF TONKIN AGAINST IRAN

2008: LEBANESE DEFENSE MINISTER OFFERED ADVICE TO ISRAEL ON WHAT TO BOMB

2005: WASHINGTON ENCOURAGED ARMS TO SOUTH SUDAN EVEN THOUGH IT WAS MAIN ENFORCER OF TREATY BAN

2010 - AUSTRALIA: KEY LABOR POWER BROKER ARBIB OUTED AS US INFORMANT

2009: US CONTRACTOR DYNCORP HELPED PIMP CHILDREN FOR SEX

SHELL'S GRIP ON NIGERIAN STATE REVEALED

THE 25 DAYS OF WIKILEAKS (David Swanson with links to 40+ explosive stories about the cables)

STATE DEPARTMENT DELUDED INTO THINKING MICHAEL MOORE'S "SICKO" WAS BANNED IN CUBA!

US INTERVENED IN MICHAEL MOORE NEW ZEALAND SHOWING (Fahrenheit 9/11)

ISRAEL TO PARIS: "SECRET ACCORD" WITH US TO ALLOW SETTLEMENT GROWTH (June 2009)

MOSSAD TEAM THAT KILLED AL-MABHOUH IN DUBAI HAD CREDIT CARDS FROM US BANK

Aftenposten publishing cables not available elsewhere...

MUMBAI TERROR PLOTTER HAD HISTORY WITH US D.E.A.

ZIMBABWE PRIME MINISTER SECRETLY URGED US & Co. TO KEEP CRIPPLING SANCTIONS IN PLACE...

US SOUGHT TO RETALIATE AGAINST EUROPE FOR REFUSING MONSANTO GM CROPS

D.E.A. GOES GLOBAL, BEYOND DRUGS

CBS COMPILATION: WHAT WIKILEAKS REVEALED TO THE WORLD IN 2010

Right Now: US CONTINUING COVERT INFILTRATION AND DESTABILIZATION IN VENEZUELA

Aftenposten: Germany, U.S. plan secret spy project

FRANCE HEADS INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE (according to State Dept cable)

US WORKS WITH JAPAN TO WEAKEN ANTI-WHALING CAMPAIGNS.

Uribe and Chavez Almost Come to Blows

HAMBURG VS. SCIENTOLOGY


SVT documentar, "Wikirebel"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvmfOaZ34Pk

My pick for perhaps the best article on Wikileaks so far:

Wikileaks and the Worldwide Information War
Power, Propaganda, and the Global Political Awakening

by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Global Research, December 6, 2010

Introduction

The recent release of the 250,000 Wikileaks documents has provoked unparalleled global interest, both positive, negative, and everywhere in between. One thing that can be said with certainty: Wikileaks is changing things.

There are those who accept what the Wikileaks releases say at face value, largely due to the misrepresentation of the documents by the corporate-controlled news.

There are those who see the documents as authentic and simply in need of proper interpretation and analysis.

Then there are those, many of whom are in the alternative media, who approach the leaks with caution and suspicion.

There are those who simply cast the leaks aside as a ‘psy-op’ designed to target specific nations that fit into U.S. foreign policy objectives. Finally, then, there are those who deplore the leaks as ‘treason’ or threatening ‘security’. Of all the claims and notions, the last is, without a doubt, the most ridiculous. This essay aims to examine the nature of the Wikileaks releases and how they should be approached and understood. If Wikileaks is changing things, let’s hope people will make sure that it changes things in the right direction...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=22278

Honorable mention:

December 9, 2010
Of Wikileaks and Literacy
The Secret Secret

By JIMMY JOHNSON

If you cannot decipher and interpret letters and symbols, you cannot read. If you cannot access letters and symbols, you also cannot read. This is a common understanding and in many ways, such as leaving out the capacity for critical analysis and the ability to write, is as reductive an understanding of the concept of literacy as exists. Public libraries are underfunded and many are cutting staff, services and hours which attacks our collective literacy. There is another, arguably greater, threat to our collective literacy, one that grossly restricts the amount of publicly available literature and serves severe imbalances of power: state secrecy...

http://counterpunch.org/johnson12092010.html

Thanks to plutonia for items on the above list, also SLAD, vanlose kid, victor drazen, nathan28 and others!

Index from Dec 2010: Wikileaks Threads on RI

The Wikileaks Question
by JackRiddler » Sun Nov 28, 2010 4:10 pm
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/view ... =8&t=30362

Assange Amazing Adventures of Captain Neo in Blonde Land.
by seemslikeadream » Fri Aug 27, 2010 3:29 pm
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/view ... =8&t=29320

Questioning WikiLeaks Thread
by Montag » Mon Oct 25, 2010 1:50 pm
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/view ... =8&t=29933

Cryptome founder/Wikileaks co-founder:"Wikileaks is a fraud"
by lupercal » Wed Dec 08, 2010 5:19 am
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/view ... =8&t=30479

Julian Assange wanted in Sweden for alleged rapes
by jingofever » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:09 am
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=29246

The rush to smear Assange's rape accuser.
by barracuda » Wed Dec 08, 2010 3:17 pm
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/view ... =8&t=30485

Cables Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels WIKI!
by seemslikeadream » Sun Nov 28, 2010 1:29 pm
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/view ... =8&t=30359

Even Xymphora gets it, on collaboration
by hava1 » Fri Dec 10, 2010 6:32 am
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/view ... =8&t=30508

[JackRiddler]

.

And now, with all 251,000+ cables online and searchable, a new flood of stories.

Follow the FIRST link to see working links to all cables mentioned. (No, I haven't read them all! God how?)

Global - 30 new revelations from #wlfind

http://wikileaks.org/30-new-revelations ... lfind.html

29th August 2011


Belarus (2005)
US Embassy staff in Belarus accused by state-controlled TV channel of espionage & revolutionary activities. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/11/...

Burundi (2010)
Quota system of female representation in government is not leading to improvement in women’s rights because they are placed in their elected positions by their male-led parties to meet quotas, and they feel constrained by and beholden to their party leadership. Professional women opt out of political life, leading to those represented in government lacking the education and work experience of their male counterparts. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/02/...

China (2008)
Nuclear safety at risk due to cheap, out-of-date technology. Cable highlights US lobbying and says that cheap, out-of-date technology is ’vastly increasing’ risk of nuclear accident. 20 out of 22 nuclear reactors being built in 2010 bypass technology that ensures automatic shutdown without human intervention in the event of a natural disaster. http://www.wikileaks.org/cable/2008...

China (2009)
"The following is neither an overstatement nor is it hyperbole. It is a fact. The contaminated waters of the Pearl River and other water sources in Guangdong are as serious a threat to the region’s health and economic sustainability as the decline in exports, the closure of small and medium enterprises and the increasing utilization of land for nonproductive reasons." Local residents in some heavily polluted areas display effects such as cancers and bone diseases stemming from exposure to high levels of arsenic, cadmium and other toxins. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/01/...

China (2009)
Ambassador says "a peaceful resolution of the threat posed by North Korea might cause China to call for an end to the U.S. base presence on the Korean Peninsula" and expresses concern that in the future, Chinese leaders may exert economic pressures on U.S. allies like Thailand or the Philippines to choose between Beijing and Washington. The cable proposes strengthening military collaboration in order to ’promote trust’ between the US and China. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/01/...

China (2006)
Wal-Mart has unions in China but not in the US. The cable goes on to say that "The Wal-Mart unions have more to do with the role of politics in the ACFTU (Federation of Trade Unions) than with advancing workers rights." Wal-Mart hopes to showcase what a good employer it is, and hopes to eliminate some of the "hard knocks" it has received in the local and foreign press. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/08/...

Colombia/Haiti (2010)
In 2010 US tried to outsource small arms sale to Haiti through Colombia, Colombia declined. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/02/...

DRC (2008)
The government does virtually nothing to prevent children risking their lives for $1-2/day in mining sector. Many are suspected former child soldiers who have not reintegrated, others are victims of trafficking. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/08/...

East Timor (2009)
"On three occasions, in 1975, 1999 and 2002, Timor-Leste has been ill-prepared for full sovereignty." The reluctance to hold guilty parties accountable shows a lack of faith in the stability of Timorese society and creates a culture of impunity that threatens to undermine the rule of law and perpetuate the violent political environment. In this context, the United States is seen as an honest broker and does not have the same historical baggage as Australia, Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations. The cable speculates on the leaders of the next political generation. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/08/...

France (2006)
UNESCO staff see the World Digital Library as expansion of America Cultural Hegemony - "Washington may want to assess how much of an obstacle some UNESCO member states’ attitude is towards Google and U.S.-initiated global cultural ventures." http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/08/...

Germany/France (2006)
The cable discusses Airbus A-380 competition with Boeing, as well as Forgeard/EADS crisis: Noel Forgeard’s unceremonious exit from the French co-CEO slot at EADS was for the good of the company, according to one of the embassy contacts in EADS, who described Forgeard as "an over-ambitious ’maniac’. The German-half of EADS never knew if he acted with the backing of the French government, or was promoting his own agenda. This was especially true last year when he attempted to abolish the shared French-German leadership structure at EADS and claim the top job for himself." This power-grab was probably driven by prestige. The contacts in EADS told the embassy that "from the German perspective, it made sense to preserve co-leadership at EADS for the time being because, as the French made the current mess, it should, after-all, be cleaned-up by a Frenchman." The cable also states that British BAE Systems was viewed from EADS’ perspective as a ’schizophrenic partner" that never quite knew "if it was a European company, or a quasi-U.S. firm. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/07/...

Greece (2005)
The scenesetter cable discusses the Greek public’s negative opinion toward U.S. policy: US perceived historical favoritism toward Turkey, American support for the former Greek military junta, our actions in Iraq, and US policy to recognize Macedonia by its constitutional name. In addition to this, "93 percent of Greeks opposed the war in Iraq and a large majority (80 percent) believe the U.S. plays a negative role in the worldwide fight against terrorism (incredibly enough)... This prevailing ttitude is based on a sense of insecurity about Greece’s place in the world and a traditional belief in the country’s victimhood at the hands of great powers." http://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/03/...

Guyana (2006)
The embassy requested the establishment of a DEA Office in Guyana: "Guyana is well on its way to narco-statehood" and is involved in ’drugs for arms’ financing for insurgent groups like the FARC. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/05/ 06GEORGETOWN489.html

Ireland (2007)
The Irish Government decided that the importation of genetically modified (GM) animal feed is acceptable under its GM-Free Ireland policy. In a comment, the cable explains that had Ireland banned the importation of GM animal feed, Irish cattle and dairy farmers would have incurred significantly higher costs over the winter, which would have been passed on to consumers. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/11/...

Israel (2005)
A cable describes institutionalised discrimination and the denial of public services to its own Bedouin citizens. Despite their citizenship and the fact that Bedouins "continue to serve voluntarily in the IDF and otherwise support the state, media commentators and Israeli politicians often refer to the threat of a second ’intifada’ coming from the Negev Bedouin." The 70’000 Bedouins of the Negev community have never been included in GOI land planning, do not qualify for provision of any public services, and therefore do not officially exist on Israeli maps. Many Bedouin are life-long residents of these communities, but are considered squatters by the government. Without legal status, these communities receive no government resources, including municipal services and infrastructure development. The cable describes squalor and poverty of one of the villages under the heading "Is this Israel?". The Government of Israel decided to forcibly relocate Bedouin communities in order to create a ’buffer zone’ around an airbase because they feared Bedouins may acquire anti-aircraft missiles for use against Israeli aircraft, or to prevent vandalism and theft. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/02/...

Israel (2008)
Netanyahu told the US ambassador in 2008 that he could ’deliver two thirds of the Israeli right-wing’ on anything the US agrees with the Palestinians, whether on process or interim agreements. Another cable describes Israel’s political leaders: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likes to centralize control and keeps his own counsel, but he may advance the peace process. Interior Minister Eli Yishai is a loud opponent of the peace process and Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon is a controversial figure who Netanyahu regrets ever bringing into Likud. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/11/... Reported in Haaretz: http://www.haaretz.com/print-editio...

China (2007)
US Oil Firm ConocoPhillips warned about a conflict of interests in environmental emergencies. The firm is currently blamed for a spill in China’s Bohai Sea. CNOOC, the Chinese partner in the joint venture, "is essentially the company’s partner, service and parts provider, and Chinese government interlocutor. These overlapping responsibilities are a conflict of interest for CNOOC and hamper the effectiveness of the joint venture." http://www.wikileaks.org/cable/2007... As reported in The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environme...

Israel (2009)
Lieberman "unabashedly advocates transfer of Irsaeli Arabs" and suggests Egypt should give Gaza some of its territory. Lieberman is described as a "staunch supporter of the settlement project and a stern nationalist." The ambassador told Lieberman that "separating between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs is vital in order to maintain Israel’s security and preserve its Jewish identity." Lieberman "characterized PA President Mahmud Abbas as "very weak," and predicted that Hamas will "use" Abbas as a fig leaf of legitimacy for two-to-three years and then "throw him out." The Ambassador said that Arafat had left a lasting negative impact on the evolution of Palestinian society. Lieberman "characterized Hamas as disciplined, with a track record of delivering services, and less corrupt than Fatah." Lieberman said that he now worries about the influence of Hamas in Israel. "Within two years," Lieberman said, "Hamas will take over" the Israeli-Arab population. Lieberman argued that to avoid conflict, Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs must be separated. Lieberman acknowledged that this is "more complicated." On the status of Arab-Israelis, Lieberman advocated that all Israelis be required to take a loyalty oath, and that those who refuse be stripped of their citizenship - this would mean practically all Israeli Arabs (except Bedouins in the North) and some ultra-Orthodox jews. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/02/... As reported by Ynetnews: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,...

Italy (2002)
Political Director of Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised US ambassador on best strategy to avoid a unified EU position against US attempts to conclude bilateral immunity agreements with EU states, which exempt US citizens from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC). While Italy would agree to sign the agreement, the Political Director explained that Italy’s public support and flexibility was constrained by "a strong and vocal domestic constituency in favor of the Court" and the fact that Italy had been the host of the signing of the Rome Statute, which established the ICC. "The notoriously unreliable and partisan Italian press" may lead the Italian public to believe that the agreement would undermine the ICC or contravene the treaty’s intent - and that statements made by the US risk making the Italian government’s job more difficult "in this public relations minefield". http://wikileaks.org/cable/2002/08/...

New Zealand (2006)
Former NZ Prime Minister David Lange’s private papers included a copy of highly classified documents. When he died the documents were archived and publicly accessible. Among the cables was correspondence with the US Embassy in which the U.S. Ambassador at the time expressed concerns that NZ anti-nuclear legislation "had eroded trust in New Zealand, thereby threatening intelligence cooperation." The New Zealand Star Times labelled the Ambassador’s language "a clear threat" and "bully tactics". The cable goes on to say that "The Star-Times article is an embarrassment to the Government and to the Prime Minister personally, since she is the Minister charged with intelligence oversight. It "raises questions about the Government’s competence and its "non-aligned" credentials." The Prime Minister instructed that the story be killed "as quickly as possible, so that she does not have to face questions about the U.S.-NZ intelligence relationship". The US Embassy would only address the issue with the press by speaking to "select journalists on our view of the former Ambassador’s comments about the importance of trust, stressing the difference between an honest diplomatic exchange on matters of mutual concern and "bullying." The embassy also spoke of strategy to "exploit while we can" a discussion on the U.S.-New Zealand relationship (and the late David Lange’s lack of veracity) in the press. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/01/...

Nigeria (2009)
Niger Deltans live and swim in crude oil spills. Environmental scientists described how communities in the Niger Delta live in the oil spills, walking through the oil daily. A scientist had seen young boys "swimming in the crude" topping the water of a creek. On average, officials estimated three oil spills take place every day in the Niger Delta; the total number of spills reported by their agency annually is from 1,250-1,300, although the area covered by the spills is not known. Exposure to the components in crude oil are well known, and include lungs-, liver-, kidney-, and colon cancer, as well as asthma, blood diseases, mongoloidism and premature births. Children are at higher risk because their short stature places them in the heaviest concentration of the vapor zone above the exposed crude oil. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/03/...

Philippines (2005)
Ambassador calls Philippine National Police ’a mess’ and fears in the absence of reform Philippines will enter a disastrous human rights climate and undermine efforts to combat terrorism, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/04/... As reported in ABS-CBN News: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/0...

Rwanda (2007)
Rwanda’s Police Commissioner justified to US embassy extra-judicial killings of common criminals, including a man accused of stealing electrical cable, by saying they were ’of extreme criminal character’ and had ’genocide ideology’. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/05/...

South Korea (2010)
Korea sells "experimental" Nuclear Reactor to Jordan, wants to sell to Turkey and the UAE. Korea is constructing 10 nuclear power plants and plans to build six more by 2020. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/12/...

Spain (2009)
U.S. Lobbying by Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), succeeded in having President Obama put pressure on President Zapatero regarding internet piracy in a 13 October 2009 meeting. In the meeting with Obama, Zapatero cited Spain’s track-record of attracting foreign investment and suggested ’improving’ IPR laws to attract more foreign investment. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/10/...

Sudan (2007)
Minister of Energy admitted Sudanese National Intelligence Security Services connections with private oil field security. The cable details reports that private security forces with ties to NISS essentially act as a militia controlled by the government, often better equipped than the army. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/07/...

Turkey (2005)
Letter from Armenian President to Turkey’s President regarding establishing diplomatic relations and opening borders with no pre-conditions. The cable’s comments address Turkey’s three excuses for not opening the borders (Armenia’s insistence on Genocide recognition; Armenians have not reaffirmed Turkey’s territorial integrity; the unresolved Nagorno Karabakh conflict), and revisionist efforts by Turkey regarding the Armenian genocide, such as Parliament’s calls on third countries (such as the UK) to "revisit, review and revise their own archives". http://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/04/...

UN Geneva (2007)
UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions letter to US Mission regarding five cases of murder and manslaughter by US army personnel that were not submitted to court martial. One of them concerns the killing in Iraq in 2003 of Mazen Dana, a journalist who had worked for Reuters for ten years, who was shot because his camera was mistaken for a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG). An investigation by the military had concluded that the incident had been an "accidental death", and the soldier would not prosecuted for any crime because he believed Mr. Dana was a hostile combatant and the "soldier thought the device was a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) Launcher, but it was later determined to be a news agency videocamera."

The Special Rapporteur stated that: "While I do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of these allegations, I would note that, if they were accurate they might give rise to concern about the extent to which your Government is consistently imposing effective penal sanctions for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and, more generally, consistently prosecuting and punishing the unlawful use of lethal force." http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/05/...

US State Department (2010)
The global shortage of Helium-3 (He-3), an isotope used for nuclear security and safeguards, stymied the global Megaport and SLD nuclear smuggling detection initiatives. The supply of He-3 will soon be short of projected demand by a factor of 10. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/01/...

UAE (2009)
UAE telecom giant (owned 60% by UAE government) Estisalat installs spyware developed by US Firm SS8 for local Blackberrys. Estilat denied that the "performance enhancing patch" was spyware, but Canadian Blackberry developer RIM refuted this and gave instructions on how to remove it. The spyware was installed after Etisalat sent a text message to Blackberry users: "Etisalat is always keen to provide you with the best BlackBerry service and ultimate experience, for that we will be sending you a performance enhancement patch that you need to install on your device." The story was reported in Arabic as well as the English-speaking press, although few publically speculated why and at whose bequest Etisalat had been installing Spyware. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/08/...

[Plutonia]

Uneditied: Assange's keynote address to the IFA (International Media Congress) conference in Berlin yesterday- fortunately his prepared speech is interrupted by questions about DDB, Openleaks and the unredacted cables (although the audio of the querants isn't recorded for us.)

He goes on to do a brief interview with a rather star-struck correspondent and then is asked by the correspondent to pose for a picture with him and his daughter lol!

For skimmers, three interesting moments: One at 36:20, where Assange talks theory, the other a
at 1:11:11 (yoinks!) where he says "it is a dark business, what's been happening in Germany", referring to DDB. Also there is a brief interruption at 45:00 due to a power outage at Vaughn Smith's mansion!

And there's 14 minutes of candid setup&wait at the beginning, which becomes quite excruciating after about 5 and a half minutes.

http://vimeo.com/28758479

[crikkett]

US State Department (2010)
The global shortage of Helium-3 (He-3), an isotope used for nuclear security and safeguards, stymied the global Megaport and SLD nuclear smuggling detection initiatives. The supply of He-3 will soon be short of projected demand by a factor of 10. http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/01/...

Wow. I'd heard about a helium shortage but I thought it was your everyday, wasted on mylar balloons variety.

[Bruce Dazzling]

[semper occultus]

Can the cult of Assange save cash-strapped WikiLeaks?

By Guy Adams in Los Angeles

Monday, 19 September 2011
www.independent.co.uk

Roll up, roll up! The great WikiLeaks memorabilia auction has just begun. The laptop computer on which "Cablegate" was compiled is on offer for £6,000, while some signed versions of those famous diplomatic cables can be yours for just £2,100. And do I hear £240 for a sachet of prison coffee once purloined by an incarcerated Julian Assange?



With normal sources of revenue stifled by a financial services embargo – and running costs and legal fees mounting – the website's proprietors are doing what comes naturally to cash-strapped citizens of the internet era: selling a selection of prized second-hand possessions on eBay.

The first of four fundraising auctions was announced at the weekend, featuring 10 intriguing lots ranging from a print of the directive in which Hillary Clinton asked US officials to spy on the UN, to a signed photograph of Mr Assange, the WikiLeaks founder.

"In this framed unique photo, Julian Assange leans against a column at the front of Ellingham Hall where he has spent almost 300 days under house arrest," reads the accompanying blurb, which informs bidders that the image was autographed at Mr Assange's 40th birthday party. "It is one of only four photos of Julian in the world that were signed on this occasion," it adds.

That item was going for £640 last night, although bidding will not reach its crucial stages until Thursday. Bigger ticket items include the laptop computer, described as having "led to hundreds of front pages and a causative element in ongoing political turmoil and reforms". It has attracted a bid of £6,000.

Some of the organisation's prominent supporters have also chipped in. Vivienne Westwood is offering two tickets to her Paris fashion show later this month for £8,000. Chef Sarah Saunders will cook dinner at your home for £800. And John Pilger, the filmmaker, has contributed a signed movie poster, currently going for £420.

WikiLeaks, which is funded by donations, said the auction is an effort to replace cash lost during an "unlawful financial embargo" during which the Bank of America, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Western Union have refused to process payments to its accounts.

The celebrity sales patter attached to some auction lots may, however, lead critics to complain that the organisation has become unduly interested in promoting its founder. Mr Assange's soaring profile is reported to be a factor in simmering disputes which have recently seen several of his former colleagues resign from WikiLeaks.

Included in the auction, for example, is a coffee sachet purloined by Mr Assange during his stay at Her Majesty's pleasure before Christmas. "This rare item has been signed on one side: 'Julian A, Prison coffee, smuggled out of Wandsworth Prison by me on 17 Dec 2010'," reads the blurb. "On the other side of the sachet Julian has inked a fingerprint. The sachet is unopened."

Mr Assange is currently staying at the 650-acre Ellingham Hall estate, in Norfolk, while he fights extradition to Sweden. He denies charges of sexual misconduct with two women in Stockholm, saying they are part of a wider conspiracy against him.

Whistleblower's wares on offer

Item: CableGate preparation computer

Description 'The database machine allowed the WikiLeaks team to search the full set of cables and extract the cables to be sent encrypted to media organisations throughout the world.'

Item: Julian Assange's prison coffee sachet, signed and fingerprinted

Description 'Scarce item of memorabilia from Julian Assange's time in prison. When he left to go under house arrest in Norfolk, he smuggled out this, one of three sachets of coffee. The sachet is unopened.'

Item: Cable on UN spying, signed and fingerprinted

Description 'The unique cable details Hillary Clinton asking her diplomats to spy on UN officials, requesting them to collect details of UN officers, including Ban Ki-moon's DNA. Julian has also written the WikiLeaks' slogan on the cable: "Courage is Contagious."'

Item: Signed photograph of Julian Assange

Description 'Exclusive photo (13cm x 18cm) of the organisation's founder. It was taken at Ellingham Hall where Julian is under house arrest.'

[Plutonia]

There's been so much Wikileaks news as ever I can't keep up, but it's gonna be very interesting soon because 1) there's a global revolution going on 2) Manning and Assange have both been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize they came in as first and second choices respectively in the Guardian's reader's poll and 3) The decision in the Assange/Sweden extradition case is due to be announced any time now. Could be explosive.

This today:

HomoCarnula Lea WeAreLegion
by Asher_Wolf
Grand Jury papers of icelandic parliament member Birgitta Jonsdottir are leaked ia700403.us.archive.org/11/items/gov.u… #WikiLeaks
7 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/67742787/SEAL ... Grand-Jury

PDF: http://ia700403.us.archive.org/11/items ... 9.34.0.pdf