…a bunch of classified documents in the hopes of derailing the effort.
So on Morning Joe we have a panel of people all against the war commenting on it. (In fairness the entire regular panel is against the war anyway so they would have to have a guest on to defend it.) Is there outrage, is there anger and this kind of leak? Nah.
They are less excited about it then you would expect, they say it is info we mostly already know, no big surprises. Harold Ford makes the correct observation that war is generally not clean and easy and the administration needs to explain that to the public. Barnicle points out that “this is Bush info” is not going to fly.
Will anyone be prosecuted for this? Unlikely. That would depress the administration’s base that is already depressed going into a midterm. They may or may not care about Afghanistan but they sure care if it is lost on their watch.
You can be sure about one thing, you will see none of the media outrage that you did over the Palme Affair.
Bottom line, this is dishonorable act by people who don’t understand the meaning of the word and care less for the well being of the troops and the country than they do about their agenda. They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent that the law allows. This will take place sometime after the Beatles reunite by using Voodoo to revive zombified remains of George and John.
Memeorandum thread here
Update: Stacy links, thanks
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 
“Bottom line, this is dishonorable act by people who don’t understand the meaning of the word and care less for the well being of the troops and the country than they do about their agenda”
-The same argument was used against Daniel Ellsberg by the Nixon Administration:
>>H.R. Haldeman, Richard Nixon’s chief of staff, can be heard citing Donald Rumsfeld, then a White House aide, on the effect of the Pentagon Papers, news of which had been published that morning:
“Rumsfeld was making this point this morning,” Haldeman says. “To the ordinary guy, all this is a bunch of gobbledygook. But out of the gobbledygook comes a very clear thing. … It shows that people do things the president wants to do even though it’s wrong, and the president can be wrong.”<<
-http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/28/opinion/28iht-edellsberg.html?_r=1
Ellsberg and his cohort, Anthony Russo were indicted under the Espionage Act of 1917. Due to Nixon White House bungling, charges were dropped.
Ellsberg knew what he did was technically wrong, but in publicizing it he also knew these documents would have a profound effect on public opinion about the Vietnam war. He risked jail to do this.
Julian Assange isn't so brave, or maybe smarter than Ellsberg, in that he is hiding, probably in Sweden where laws protect him from seizure. These cables Assange has published give no tactical battlefield information valuable to our enemy. It is simply information the State Dept. wants to keep quite, so they slap a clearance on them to effectively keep the public in the dark about how poorly our fight has been going. The idea being, that if the public comes to understand exactly how badly things have been going, they will oppose our continued presence in Afghanistan.
This vet says More Power to you Mr. Assange! It's time to bring our troops home. This war is a lost cause, just like Vietnam…
[…] This story was the No. 1 topic today on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” which is monitored religiously by Da Tech Guy:So on Morning Joe we have a panel of people all against the war commenting on it. (In fairness the […]
[…] Instalanche: Welcome all. Some other morning joe tidbits from today here and here, check out my latest examiner column here, an interesting take on the OK governer’s race at […]
The individual(s) who obtained this information and intentionally released it almost certainly took a (signed) oath that they would safeguard the same for the sake of national security. He/she/they violated the sacred trust of their nation. During a time of war. Adhering to our enemies and giving them aid. See U.S Constitution Article 3, Section 3.
One can think what they want of the media that prints this stuff. But those that leak it are traitors. They place the nation at risk and, yes, they do cost lives. But since we usually cannot identify the actual individuals whose lives they have indirectly ended, they go to their grave in denial.
Questions for Mr. Walters: Who gets to decide which classified information at times of war get to be leaked? Where does this end if individuals can violate their oaths for money and/or elevated views of self import, and be regarded as heroes by the left?
Should the President’s staff leak classified information on national security matters because they disagree? How about justice department employees leaking information covering ongoing investigations of terrorists that can imperil their prosecution? How about State department officials leaking important negotiation platforms and their limits to our enemies because they disagree?
Treason should only be used as an option of last resort, and then only when national survival or clear moral absolutes necessitate such action (e.g. actions by the Schwarze Kapelle).
This is not the case here and, in a democracy where people can peacefully invoke major change every two years, highly unlikely to ever be warranted in the United States. I hope our defense and justice departments bring down the hammer.
“Questions for Mr. Walters: Who gets to decide which classified information at times of war get to be leaked? Where does this end if individuals can violate their oaths for money and/or elevated views of self import, and be regarded as heroes by the left?”
-I signed the paper when i was cleared TS……
Like Ellsberg, and others in this ongoing controversy , an individual has to make that decision. They are well aware of prosecution if they divulge classified material. Those of us who have handled classified documents know that much of what is classified is classified solely to hide information from the public. Not all classified material is of a tactical or strategic nature.
Would I have released embarrassing, non-tactical material that the public has a right to know? I doubt it because I had a wife and family. There was too much to loose. But my hat is off to Ellsberg and Assange for informing the public about information vital for public understanding of ongoing conflicts.
So . . . Mr. Walters gets to decide.
(Very Reasonable) Hypothetical: Even our closest allies will be looking at this controversy. What if the current leaks result in Pakistani and other foreign intelligence agencies shutting off intelligence sharing for fear of an outing in Wikileaks through US treachory. How many dead soldiers, CIA agents, or US civilians (from terror attacks) does it take to transform this from enlightened dissent to horrific murder? One? Ten? A thousand? You are on a slippery slope, Mr. Walters. Again, unless the treason is a last resort for national survival, or is a last resort to combat violations of grave moral absolutes, it is a despicable self serving crime, fully worthy of its unique identification within the US Constitution.
I am thankful you no longer have access to classified information.
If you are a Christian, and find the State acting in ways contrary to your beliefs, it is your Christian duty to oppose the State. From a more secular perspective, if you believe the State is engaging in a long train of abuses, it is your duty to throw off that State, as it is written in our Declaration.
Americans once swore an oath of duty to a creed. Today, that oath is sworn upon the State. Sad and troubling indeed.
It was sickening this evening as I read about the hundreds of names and locations of Afghan civilians and, in some cases, their families that are included within the leaked classified documents. The torture and death that awaits many of them — and those they love — will likely come swiftly.
I will pray for the safety of those who, hoping for a better life, reached out to us with the faith we would not betray them. I will also pray for the soul(s) of those who so impetuously leaked this information, and those who so callously printed it. Lastly, I pray the aiders and abetters come to accept their own culpibility in the many murders likely to take place.
Expect our forces to receive far less aid in the future. Not only from foreign intelligence agencies as mentioned in a prior comment, but now also from the local populations. And who can blaim them?
Our leaders need to track down the source(s) and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. This nonsense must end now.