WikiLeaks Feature: The Revelations About Guantanamo Bay (Rosenberg and Lasseter)

This morning, WikiLeaks has begun the publication of 779 individual assessments by US authorities of former and current Guantanamo detainees. WikiLeaks has put up 67 of the files so far; meanwhile, seven news organisations have been given the entire set to prepare stories.

See also Obama Special: How the Administration Abandoned Its Promise to Close Guantanamo (Finn and Kornblut)

We begin coverage with the article from Carol Rosenberg and Tom Lasseter for one of those news outlets, McClatchy....

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US WikiLeaks Video: The Persecution of Bradley Manning --- State Department Spokesman Flounders

Matthew Lee of the Associated Press and Arshad Mohammed of Reuters test State Department spokesman Mark Toner --- how can the Department's report on human rights be reconciled with the complaint of the UN Special Rapporter on Human Rights and the International Red Cross that they cannot get access to Private Bradley Manning, detained over his alleged passing of documents to WikiLeaks?

Toner fails.

US WikiLeaks Feature: The Persecution of Private Bradley Manning --- UN Visit Denied (Nakashima)

A United Nations diplomat charged with investigating claims of torture said Monday that he is “deeply disappointed and frustrated” that U.S. defense officials have refused his request for an unmonitored visit with Pfc. Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst accused of passing classified material to WikiLeaks.

Juan E. Mendez, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, said his request for a private interview with Manning was denied by the Defense Department on Friday. Instead, he has been told that any visit must be supervised.

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US WikiLeaks Feature: Former State Department Spokesman Crowley --- Why the Treatment of Bradley Manning is Stupid

Bradley ManningWhen I was asked about the "elephant in the room," I said the treatment of Private Manning, while well-intentioned, was "ridiculous" and "counterproductive" and, yes, "stupid".

I stand by what I said. The United States should set the global standard for treatment of its citizens --- and then exceed it. It is what the world expects of us. It is what we should expect of ourselves.

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US WikiLeaks Feature: The Persecution of Private Bradley Manning --- State Department Spokesman Resigns

UPDATE 13 MARCH: The case of Bradley Manning has claimed a victim today, albeit not of anyone who has been responsible for his detention.

On Thursday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley dared to say that, while "Bradley Manning is in the right place" for his actions, his forced-nudity treatment by Department of Defense officials was "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid".

The remarks were documented by a BBC reporter, and by Friday afternoon, President Obama was having to hold the line, explaining that the handling of Manning was justified and appropriate. Asked "whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of the confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards", Obama replied that Pentagon officials "assure me that they are. I can't go into details about some of their concerns, but some of this has to do with Private Manning's safety as well."

Crowley has now paid the price for the criticism, resigning because White House officials are reportedly furious that he dared refer to mistreatment.

Crowley had told friends that he was deeply concerned that mistreatment of Manning could undermine the legitimate prosecution of the solider, and he worried that the case could damage the US reputation around the world after Obama had said he would end abuses of detainees.

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WikiLeaks and Libya 2009: Qaddafi's Son Saif Makes His Move

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif Al Islam claiming a prominent role in the current crisis, making the rounds of the media to promote the regime position.

This cable from the US Embassy in Tripoli in December 2009 offers a glance at Saif's move to expand his political influence, with his staff lobbying American diplomats for sales of military equipment: "he concerted attention that xxxxxxxxxxxx devoted to military and security issues during recent meetings with Emboffs suggests that Saif is beginning to insert himself into the political-military and security spheres."

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WikiLeaks Admission: US Officials Say Damage from Cables is Limited

Since the emergence of the WikiLeaks in late November, I have argued that their damage would be overstated. American diplomats have had to deal for many decades with "leaks", sometimes from officials in the Administration. While WikiLeaks was potentially on a bigger scale --- less than 1% of the 250,000 documents have been released --- redactions in the cables (although there have been a few notable errors in letting names through) have limited any repercussions.

This, of course, would not stop the US Government from proclaiming loudly that there have been grave consequences. "Embarrassment" is not the same as "damage", and there is plenty of that in the released cables, which show --- unsurprisingly --- that the private pursuit of US foreign policy differs from its public presentation. The priority for the Government would be to ensure that a document release on this scale does not happen again.

Now I have gotten support from an unexpected source.

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Tunisia Snapshot: How Its Youth Moved from Fear to Whispering to the "Jasmine Revolution" (Sam)

And then, WikiLeaks reveals what everyone was whispering. And then, a young man immolates himself. And then, 20 Tunisians are killed in one day.

And for the first time, we see the opportunity to rebel, to take revenge on the "royal" family who has taken everything, to overturn the established order that has accompanied our youth. An educated youth, which is tired and ready to sacrifice all the symbols of the former autocratic Tunisia with a new revolution: the Jasmine Revolution – the true one.

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WikiLeaks Latest: US Department of Justice Subpoenas Twitter Records of Volunteers (Greenwald)

Last night, Birgitta Jónsdóttir --- a former WikiLeaks volunteer and current member of the Icelandic Parliament --- announced on Twitter) that she had been notified by Twitter that the DOJ had served a Subpoena demanding information "about all my tweets and more since November 1st 2009.

What hasn't been reported is that the Subpoena served on Twitter -- which is actually an Order from a federal court that the DOJ requested -- seeks the same information for numerous other individuals currently or formerly associated with WikiLeaks, including Jacob Appelbaum, Rop Gonggrijp, and Julian Assange.  It also seeks the same information for Bradley Manning and for WikiLeaks' Twitter account.

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Tunisia Cyber-Special: "Anonymous" Takes Down the Government

In an operation which has received surprisingly little attention, Anonymous --- the collective which defended WikiLeaks last month by attacking sites of institutions such as Visa, MasterCard, and the bank Swiss Post Finance --- has taken down the on-line presence of the Government of Tunisia.

On Monday, in a general protest supporting Tunisian demonstrations over the economy and in a specific response to the Government's censorship and surveillance of websites and social media (see separate entry), Anonymous attacked six sites of the Government, including those of the Prime Minister and its Ministries, and the site of a private bank.

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