You can't make this up.......
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/06/cias-plan-put-end-their-leaking-problem/66634/
The GuardianThe massive communications surveillance in which the United States and British governments (and possibly other states) are engaged are being overlooked in the international frenzy over Edward Snowden's flight for freedom, emphasized attorney Michael Ratner, for WikiLeaks, as well as the organizations's founder, Julian Assange, in a press call this morning. Ratner, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, represents Assange and Wikileaks in the United States. He presented the legal case for Snowden's search for asylum, saying that the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees protects whistleblowers (presumably under its protections for political refugees) and that, since no international arrest warrant exists for Snowden, the United States is relying on intimidating other countries into closing their borders to him. Assange emphasized that Snowden is no traitor, since he neither spied on behalf of nor "adhered" to enemies of the United States.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/06/cias-plan-put-end-their-leaking-problem/66634/
The CIA's Plan To Put an End To Their Leaking Problem
REUTERS
The CIA's new campaign to prevent leakers among its ranks might have a ready-made starting point after a memo outlining details of the "Honor the Oath" campaign was "obtained" by the Associated Press. The inference that the memo may have itself been leaked is lending itself to some instantaneous and rather glaring irony:
CIA memo vowing crackdown on leaks leaked to AP http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cia-cracks-down-its-own-stop-leaks … via @trevortimm
CIA cracks down on its own to stop leaks
The new campaign comes straight from CIA Director John Brennan, who himself has an allegedly interesting relationship with leaks of classified information. He, some have argued, played a secondary but important role in steering journalists towards the classified tactics behind a foiled al-Qaeda plot in 2012, when he was Obama's counter-terrorism advisor. Incidentally, that's the same plot that probably prompted the DOJ to secretly obtain phone records of Associated Press reportersafter they wrote a story on it, in an attempt to identify their source or sources. The White House, in a Reuters piece chronicling Brennan's possible role in the classified information leak, strongly denied that Brennan had anything to do with conveying classified information to the AP or anyone else.
The memo was unclassified but marked for official use only, according the to Associated Press, indicating that the agency didn't intend for it to become public. Here's how Brennan's memo explains his new campaign to stop the CIA's leakage :
"Brennan says the 'Honor the Oath' campaign is intended to 'reinforce our corporate culture of secrecy' through education and training...Brennan writes that the campaign stems from a review of CIA security launched last summer by former director David Petraeus, following what Brennan calls 'several high-profile anonymous leaks and publications by former senior officers.'"
The new campaign will also tighten up the CIA's review of books or articles by former employees of the agency.
http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/24/if-obama-wants-no-more-snowdens-it-shoul
If Obama Wants No More Snowdens, He Should Stop Spying and Assassinating, Says WikiLeaks
The GuardianThe massive communications surveillance in which the United States and British governments (and possibly other states) are engaged are being overlooked in the international frenzy over Edward Snowden's flight for freedom, emphasized attorney Michael Ratner, for WikiLeaks, as well as the organizations's founder, Julian Assange, in a press call this morning. Ratner, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, represents Assange and Wikileaks in the United States. He presented the legal case for Snowden's search for asylum, saying that the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees protects whistleblowers (presumably under its protections for political refugees) and that, since no international arrest warrant exists for Snowden, the United States is relying on intimidating other countries into closing their borders to him. Assange emphasized that Snowden is no traitor, since he neither spied on behalf of nor "adhered" to enemies of the United States.
Snowden has applied for asylum in Ecuador and "possibly" in other countries, said Assange — a strong hint that the high-profile revealer of the NSA's secrets is not putting all of his eggs in one basket. Snowden is notcooperating with Russian intelligence agencies, contrary to some news reports, insisted the WikiLeaks founder, who himeself has taken refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Assange took the opportunity to tear into the U.S. government for its spying efforts, not just domestically, but around the word, emphasizing the universality of human rights. "The Obama administration was not given a mandate to hack and spy around the world." The administration's spying, and its subsequent bullying of of other countries to surrender Snowden "further demonstrates a breakdown in the rule of law by the Obama administration.
Assange tied Snowden's flight for freedom to the trial of Bradley Manning for releasing sensitive U.S. documents to WikiLeaks and its prosecution under the espionage act of an unprecedented number of leakers. "If such a precedent is permitted, it will result in the complete destruction of national security journalism in the United States." He pointed to public complaints by journalists about a "chilling effect" as sources dry up.
If the Obama administration wants to curtail the flow of leakers, said Assange, it should stop spying on the world, end its policy of indefinite detention, stop its assassination program and cease invading other countries.
http://www.businessinsider.com/lawrence-hutchins-murder-iraqi-conviction-2013-6
( Quick , a constitutional law sighting ! bottom line is the Constitution applies when the collateral damage is just foreign lives and not affronts to the regime... )
Conviction Thrown Out In Case Of US Marine's Alleged Kidnapping And Murder Of Iraqi Policeman
JULIE WATSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS JUN. 26, 2013, 7:49 PM 591 1
File photo of Abrams tank in Iraq.
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces threw out the conviction of Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, of Plymouth Mass., who has served about half of his 11-year sentence.
According to the ruling posted on the court's website, the judges agreed with Hutchins who claimed that his constitutional rights were violated when he was held in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer for seven days during his interrogation in Iraq.
Hutchins led an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping a retired Iraqi policeman from his home in April 2006, marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death in the village of Hamdania.
None of the other 7 members of the squad served more than 18 months.
The move is the latest in a series of twists and turns for Hutchins, whose case already was overturned once by a court that ruled his 2007 trial was unfair because his lead defense lawyer quit shortly before it began.
The same court that accepted his new petition overruled that decision, saying the problem was not grave enough to throw out the conviction. Hutchins was returned to the brig after eight months working at a desk job at California's Camp Pendleton at a desk job.
He was set to be released in July 2015 at the earliest.
Hutchins' lawyer, Babu Kaza, said he expects him to now be released in days.
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