UPDATE 18 March: The New York Times has discovered the story, “Pentagon Sees a Threat From Online Muckrakers”.

—
For those of us looking for the story behind the story, Wikileaks has been a valuable source since 2007. Its revelations are not limited to one Government or case; rather, in the name of openness, it has been a site for exposure of the misdeeds and manipulations of those in power from China to the US to the United Nations.

In its latest scoop, Wikileaks reveals how the US Government tried to cripple the activities of….Wikileaks. The website summarises a 32-page classified (Secret/No Foreign Dissemination) report from the US Army:

Linking to Wikileaks in Australia? The Fine is A$11,000

The report recommends, “The identification, exposure, termination of employment, criminal prosecution, legal action against current or former insiders, leakers, or whistleblowers could potentially damage or destroy this center of gravity and deter others considering similar actions from using the Wikileaks.org Web site.”….As an odd justificaton for the plan, the report claims that “several foreign countries including China, Israel, North Korea, Russia, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe have denounced or blocked access to the Wikileaks.org website”.

The opening of the report:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Enduring America has a proud tradition (in its two-plus months in existence) of combining international news and video games. We were proud, for example, to feature the Muntazar al-Zaidi tribute games last month and not-so-proud to report the US Army’s use of video games to get American teenagers into military service.

Now, however, we may take a step back. How can anyone compete, for taste and decency, with “Save Israel?”: “You need to save Israeli citys. First, click on the city, to turn on the alarm. Now you can click on the rocket, to blow it up.”

Every so often, the story will pop up of the US military using video games to train its troops. Penny Coleman has found an interesting (and, if you wish, sinister) twist: using video games to recruit those troops.

Of course the military, describing the arcade in the middle of a large shopping mall in Pennsylvania, are a bit cagey about this: it’s just an “”state-of-the-art educational facility that uses interactive simulations and online learning programs to educate visitors about the many careers, training and educational opportunities available in the Army”.

Coleman’s translation cuts to the chase: “The only thing they’re teaching here is how to blow shit up.”
Read the rest of this entry »