Taking A Leak

Five months ago, a waif named Julian Assange unloaded 250,000 secret documents that disclosed, among other things, the names of Afghan citizens outing Al Qaeda miscreants in their neighborhood, names of CIA operatives in Afghanistan and Iraq, details of the U.S. rendition program, U.S. helicopter fire on a group of civilians and reporters (interspersed with combatants, a common tactic), and revealed some of our more gruesome ways to squeeze information out of captured bad guys such as waterboarding.

With the first dump, one could sense a chuckle coming from the press and the White House as most of the leaks were thought to be embarrassing to the previous administration. On the surface of things, nothing was done to stop Assange or his WikiLeaks group from further publication of national secrets. The New York Times, which refused to reveal the name of the already revealed Valerie Plame for fear harm could come to her, had no journalistic concerns about revealing hundreds of names of individuals involved in covert activities from and for the U.S. As the point news source for WikiLeaks in the U.S., no doubt the New York Times was more busy dusting off a spot on the mantle for its next Pulitzer Prize that it always seems to receive when it publishes secret material than it was considering the ethics of the news reporting profession.

Assange vowed more would come and there was a second, smaller dump of classified information, most of which dealt with our dust-up in the dust bowls that are Afghanistan and Iraq pre-2009 – or pre- coronation of Barack Obama’s taking control as Commander-In-Chief. Again, on the surface of things, nothing appeared to be done by our intelligence services, our Defense Department, our Justice Department, Congress or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I have to believe if people were foolish enough to elect me president I would have done anything possible to disrupt future leaks. Hell, I would have hired the Vienna Boys Choir to sing him in from his not so secret hiding places if that would help.

Shortly after the second dump, Assange promised the largest dump yet of secret documents that apparently came from a 21-year-old private with a tad too much access to our national security secrets and an odd view of his oath to protect his country. This latest dump, however, struck a raw nerve. No longer was it about embarrassing George W. Bush and the neo-cons. This new dump revealed not so glamorous things about the Obama Administration and his Secretary of State’s not so diplomatic way of handling diplomacy (what can be expected from someone whose main job was to dig up dirt on her political enemies and her husband’s harem?)

Now we have action. Attorney General Eric Holder vowed to “look into” laws that Assange could be prosecuted against. (Here's a hint, he can try this one: 18 U.S.C. 793(e), which provides: "Whoever having unauthorized possession of, access to, or control over any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, (etc. etc.) relating to the national defense, ... (which) the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates (etc. etc) the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same (etc) ...

Pressure was also placed on Amazon.com to no longer carry the servers for WikiLeaks and E-Bay’s Pay Pal was given a bit of a strong lecture that they should no longer serve as a means for WikiLeak fans to send in donations. A noose has been drawn tighter around Assange as he faces rape charges that numerous countries are upholding and his colleagues tell of stories of Assange feeling nervous to sleep in the same five star hotel on London’s East Side more than one night in a row (even cutting back on his room service!).

While it can be said it’s better late than never to the slow-motion reaction of our fearless leaders, it’s much easier – and more fun – to ask, where were they five months ago? Since that time, nearly every journalist seemed able to track him down at a “secret location” for an interview. If our crack intelligence community is unsure of his whereabouts, just follow a few reporters around and eventually they’ll be led to him. It’s not exactly like he’s hiding in a cave in Pakistan, so what’s the trouble?

When Dan Rather was able to locate Saddam Hussein and sit down with him for an interview, former pro basketball star Charles Barkley wondered on a broadcast why Rather didn’t stab Hussein with a fork and save the world a lot of trouble and a lot of lives. Sure, we would have lost Rather, but he would have ultimately been remembered more fondly than he is today. The same should be true for Assange. Isn’t there a reporter with a fork and access to Assange willing to take one for the team?