Pentagon demands Wikileaks herd and rebag 100,000's of digital cats
Remix of iconic Banksy grafitti and Wikileaks logo (Nigel Parry)
On July 25th, Wikileaks not only published a database of 91,000 U.S. military files classified at the "secret" level from the war in Afghanistan, but it offered the raw database files in several formats for anyone with an internet connection to download.
One click and a 15MB standard *csv file was available in its entirety for anyone to load up in desktop database software such as MS Access or FileMaker Pro. Now the Pentagon wants Wikileaks to give it all back.
Prior to the public release, Wikileaks had provided copies of the raw database files to three publications—the New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel—with an embargo on publication until the official July 25th release.
The Guardian summarized the importance of the document cache:
A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency.
The disclosures come from more than 90,000 records of incidents and intelligence reports about the conflict obtained by the whistleblowers' website Wikileaks in one of the biggest leaks in US military history.
The files, which were made available to the Guardian, the New York Times and the German weekly Der Spiegel, give a blow-by-blow account of the fighting over the last six years, which has so far cost the lives of more than 320 British and over 1,000 US troops.
Several news organizations worldwide went on to republish the database's contents, often with a specific focus or making them searchable.
The Guardian interactive map of the database, showing IED attacks in Afghanistan.
Download the raw database file with the IED attacks straight from the Guardian's website.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's official national news publisher, also offers an online version of the Afghan war logs database, restricted to just the Canadian incidents and fully searchable.
CBC News' Amber Hildebrandt introduces the CBC version of the Afghan war logs database by saying:
"The six-year archive of reports was available in a file so large that older versions of Excel couldn’t handle the quantity, so the CBC decided to whittle it down by focusing only on Canada-related incidents. A searchable database has been created from the resulting data."
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's searchable database interface on their website.
A fully searchable interface appears on other websites, including an portal to the entire database at diarydig.org.
"The only acceptable course is for WikiLeaks to take steps to immediately return all versions of all of those documents to the US government and permanently delete them from its website, computers and records.
At various points in the often humorous briefing video, Morrell reacts to journalists shaking their heads and chuckling.
Pentagon Spokesman Geoff Morrell conducted a daily briefing at the Defense Department. He called on the website WikiLeaks to return all of the classified war documents in their possession and delete them from the website. (CSPAN)
SPOKESMAN MORRELL: These documents belong to the U.S. government. They don't belong to Wikileaks. They don't belong to anyone else.
JOURNALIST (BARBARA): I just want to make sure I understand. Are they copies on the Internet or are these documents missing from U.S. military possession?
SPOKESMAN MORRELL: Nothing is missing as far as we can tell. But they do not belong to anyone but us. We want whatever they have returned to us and we want whatever copies they have expunged, erased, gone.
[Morrell looks irritated at, and gestures at another journalist in the room]
SPOKESMAN MORRELL: What? What? Tony, you're shaking your head. I've caused some consternation to you.
JOURNALIST (TONY): What about asking the New York Times and other papers to return them also?
SPOKESMAN MORRELL: I don't know that the New York Times or the other publications are in possession of the documents...
JOURNALIST (TONY): They've had them for a month, Geoff!
SPOKESMAN MORRELL: ...I think they were allowed to review the documents is my understanding Tony. I do not believe that they are currently in possession of the documents.
Not even remotely credible:
The page on Wikileaks where you can download the raw data in multiple database formats and subsets.
The fact of the matter is that—10 days after the release of the files—downloads of the entire database file must surely be in the 5, 6 or even 7 digit numbers by now. Literally hundreds of thousands of people, maybe millions, have shared this file. The Taliban have commented on the file.
The 15MB database file of all 91,000 Afghan war log reports is a size small enough to be e-mailed as an attachment.
The entire file is smaller than three song files in MP3 format, ironic because that's exactly how the accused leaker, Bradley Manning, reported to Wired source/FBI informant Adrian Lamo that he smuggled them off base—on a CDR with "Lady Gaga" written on it.
Fifty times as many secrets could be burned on a single blank CD.
This cat is not just out of the bag. The bag has been recycled at least three times at the local neighborhood food coop, while the cat has given birth to at least 10 generations of kittens.
Such is life in a digital age, an ironic payback for a war-mongering state that has lavishly embraced technology for military purposes—installing Xbox-playing teenagers on military bases in the U.S. to kill, with remote piloted drones, Afghan civilians farming sheep on the other side of the world.
At 22 minutes into the Pentagon briefing, the journalist "Barbara" painfully spells out to Morrell the utter impossibility of getting the water that has leaked out of the dam, back behind the dam. Morrell initially responds with seeming clarity as to what is being required of Wikileaks but clearly has no answer for fixing the now impossibly larger problem, the elephant on the Internet:
SPOKESMAN MORRELL: Well. The demands we are making of them [Wikileaks] are entirely possible. They have the ability to erase it from their website and to return whatever is in their possession. So this is a very simple demand which can very easily be complied with.
The other part of your question, which is: it has hung out there for a while, it has been accessed by many other people, some of whom have downloaded said material and are exploiting it for journalistic or perhaps criminal purposes.
Obviously that's another problem that we have to deal with...
The U.S. military has not only turned its considerable resources to herding virtual cats but also to thought policing its own soldiers.
The Washington Times reported today that members of the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy have been sent a memo (full text below) telling them not to visit the Wikileaks website, which would make them guilty of violating Executive Order 13526, Section 1.1(4)(c), which states that:
"Classified Information shall not be declassified automatically as a result of any unauthorized disclosure of identical or similar information."
The Marine Corps version underlines that this not only applies to work computers, but to soldiers' home computers as well, and explicitly orders them not to ask friends to download the files on their home computers. They are warned that this will put them in danger of failing security polygraph tests:
The above negative actions will wreak havoc on a CI Poly when the question comes up regarding unauthorized disclosure, espionage, misuse of government information system or having committed a security violation.
Violators are threatened with investigation, computer confiscation, wages loss and being put on administrative leave.
Herding cats doesn't always work out.
When material has been leaked into the Internet and downloaded by tens or hundreds of thousands of individuals, posted on multiple websites, and repackaged by media organizations around the world, there is no putting that cat back in the bag. At that point it achieves the classification "Impossible to herd".
Surely the U.S. military realizes that? Why then, the attempts to stop members of the military accessing material that is freely available on news websites worldwide?
Surely the Pentagon knows that the Guardian has the documents available for download?
And then it hit me.
What the Pentagon is frightened of more than anything—more than the leaks getting out to the press, or the American people, or the world, or even to the Taliban itself—is those leaks seeping into the minds of American soldiers and helping them to figure out for themselves what Russian troops learned the hard way: That any war in Afghanistan is unwinnable.
I'll leave the last word to Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell who made a slip during the briefing:
SPOKESMAN MORRELL: We clearly would not be fighting a war that we did not believe to be unwinnable...
Or we would not be fighting a war that we believe to be unwinnable.
No wonder I confuse you Tony, I confuse myself!
Nigel Parry was cofounder of the Electronic Intifada, Electronic Iraq and Electronic Lebanon series of independent news websites. In 2004 on the EI website, he leaked the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion on the legality of Israel's wall early. In 1996, while working at the Palestinian university of Birzeit, he coordinated the first alt.news website produced by residents of a warzone and, during Shock & Awe, coordinated reporting from unembedded independent journalists on the ground in Baghdad with a satellite data modem.
FULL TEXT OF MEMO TO MARINE CORPS PERSONNEL
Subject: FW: BANIF 020-10, THE "WIKILEAKS" WEBSITE GUIDANCE
ALCON,
The CMC SSO has been determined that an amplification of BANIF 020-10 is necessary.
As previously stated:
"There have been rumors that the information found on the WKIKLEAKS website is no longer classified since it now resides in the public domain. This is NOT true! Executive Order 13526, Section 1.1(4)(c) states "Classified Information shall not be declassified automatically as a result of any unauthorized disclosure of identical or similar information."
"Despite the circumstances surrounding WIKILEAKS, we must continue to protect similar or identical information commensurate with the level of classification assigned per SECNAV M-5510.36, until the information is assessed by the appropriate OCAs."
USMC Personnel (Marines/Civilians/Contractors) are hereby cautioned and directed to NOT access the WIKILEAKS website from a personally owned, publically owned or US Government computer system. By willingly accessing the WIKILEAKS website for the purpose of viewing the posted classified material - these actions constitute the unauthorized processing, disclosure, viewing, and downloading of classified information onto an UNAUTHORIZED computer system not approved to store classified information. Meaning they have WILLINGLY committed a SECURITY VIOLATION.
Not only are these actions illegal, but they provide the justification for local security officials to immediately remove, suspend "FOR CAUSE" all security clearances and accesses. Commanders may press for Article 15 or 32 charges, and USMC personnel could face a financial hardship as civilian and contractor personnel will be placed on "Administrative Leave" pending the outcome of the NCIS investigation.
Do not ask friends to access the website from their home computer. The above negative actions will wreak havoc on a CI Poly when the question comes up regarding unauthorized disclosure, espionage, misuse of government information system or having committed a security violation. In a best case scenario, the case will be referred to NCIS and the personnel will lose their computer for however long NCIS requires. By the time the case is adjudicated, the USMC personnel will most likely lose the assignment for which her/she had to take the poly in the first place. Again, civilian and contractor personnel will be placed on "administrative leave" pending the outcome of the NCIS investigation.
USMC personnel need to view, process, and/or store classified or potentially classified information only on machines cleared for processing information at the appropriate security level.
Please pass this information to ALL HANDS: The Director of DIA has stated that he wants all personnel requesting a JWICS accounts to undergo a CI POLY. This means - at some point in the near future EVERYONE will be required to undergo a CI POLY. If they purposely accessed the "WIKILEAKS" website to view classified info - they have willingly placed classified information on an open network not authorized to view classified information and have willingly committed a security violation. In most cases they will fail the CI POLY.
The 15MB database file of all 91,000 Afghan war log reports is a size small enough to be e-mailed as an attachment. 
