(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Taking a bold step in its mission to expose secrets of all kinds, the controversial WikiLeaks organization (www.wikileaks.org) released close to 100 thousand military documents Sunday, providing the basis for allegations that Pakistan has been aiding Afghan insurgents.
According to the New York Times, WikiLeaks gave only a handful of news agencies access to some 92,000 individual reports prior to making the data widely available online on July 25.
WikiLeaks describes the leaked materials as follows: “The reports, while written by soldiers and intelligence officers, and mainly describing lethal military actions involving the United States military, also include intelligence information, reports of meetings with political figures, and related details.”
Describing its process and standards for journalism, the Times said it had verified several of the reports against public reports and its own staff member accounts. Further substantiating the accounts, government officials contacted by the Times did not dispute the authenticity of the information.
The leaking of these reports has, unsurprisingly, drawn a lot of negative response from officials including White House National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones, who was reportedly one of many US officials calling the release of the documents irresponsible. He stated, “The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk and threaten our national security.”
In a press conference held in London, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said anger and outrage were the expected reaction to its activities from the groups being exposed.
“We’re familiar with groups whose abuse we expose attempting to criticise the messenger,” Mr. Assange said. “We don’t see any difference in the White House response to this case.”
Founded in December 2006, Wikileaks has provided a venue for whistleblowers to anonymously distribute sensitive materials, such as the US military’s operating manual for its Guantánamo Bay prison. It was the subject of wide media attention earlier this year for releasing a video of a US helicopter attack in Iraq, in which a journalist was killed.
According to the Times, criticism of WikiLeaks ranges from worries that information released could jeopardize Military operations, to fears that it limits the privacy rights of others.
As a hosted project, Wikileaks faces the constant threat of efforts to shut it down, due to the nature of its work, and the powerful organizations and institutions it antagonizes.
A California judge ordered the site shut down in 2008. It has managed to stay online, in part, by working with several so-called “bulletproof” hosting providers, including the Sweden-based (www.prq.se), which promises secure, no-questions-asked hosting services.
While their content and objectives are completely dissimilar, Wikileaks’ history bears some comparison to file sharing links site The Pirate Bay – especially from the perspective of a hosting provider. Both have spent years working to evade efforts to take them offline. Swedish ISP Black Internet, for instance, was recently ordered to stop providing access to The Pirate Bay (www.thepiratebay.com). That site has managed to remain online through many similar efforts.
According to the Wikileaks website, the organization’s hope is that pushing transparency upon government will reduce corruption.
“We believe that transparency in government activities leads to reduced corruption, better government and stronger democracies,” says the site. “All governments can benefit from increased scrutiny by the world community, as well as their own people. We believe this scrutiny requires information.”
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