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State Dept. Employee Investigated For Linking To WikiLeaks
New submitter Jimme Blue writes "An employee of the State Department is under investigation and may be fired for 'disclosing classified information.' Or, as others might call it, posting a link to WikiLeaks. 'His crime, he said, was a link he posted on August 25 in a blog post discussing the hypocrisy of recent U.S. actions against Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi. The link went to a 2009 cable about the sale of U.S. military spare parts to Qadaffi through a Portuguese middleman. ... The State Department investigators, he said, demanded to know who had helped him with his blog and told him that every blog post, Facebook post, and tweet by State Department employees had to be pre-cleared by the Department prior to publication."
He wants to be careful he may be the next drone attack victim.
Can anyone honestly pretend that information which has been leaked and posted on the internet still qualifies as classified?
Also, hasn't the Govt. ever heard of the streisand effect?
Send a written request for every possible publication. If they all do it, its most likely going to be allowed without publication soon enough.
Since when does being a government employee interfere with your freedom of speech?
Why aren't you doing sth. to stop your governemnt from all those wars, killings, rapes, child-tradings and other cruelties?
If you don't stand up right now, you're no better than all those 'clueless' Nazis!
Just because a classified document is made public doesn't mean it automatically becomes declassified. If this person has a security clearance then he should know that. That is the rule. He had security awareness training on it updated yearly. He signed off on the training each time. It was impressed upon him when applying for his clearance. And if State is like the agency where I work we were given specific instructions about this exact scenario. The summary was "if you have a clearance, don't go there, don't link to it, don't read it, don't talk about it, just plain don't".
Considering he has 23 years in and this is really more of a case of being a sloppy idiot instead of espionage, they should just give him the option of retiring from Federal Service so he can keep his benefits and move on. A deal he can't refuse, so to speak.
He while working for the state department gave credibility and verified leaked classified information in violation of state department policies. The fact that it was already out there in the public domain is irrelevant it has not been declassified.
He may get fired...a bit harsh but perfectly legal.
People may not like it, but anyone with a US security clearance has a requirement for "prepublication review". That usually applies to talking about your job or things you learned during your job. Since this guy worked for State, and he posted information about state, I think they have a good point. For all any of us know he knew about that Cable from seeing it at work. Just because it has been publicly disclosed does *not* mean it is not still classified. https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v41i3a01p.htm http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/prepub/index.shtml
Why the hell are there so many stories here at Slashdot that are almost purely political in nature, with virtually no relevance whatsoever to technology, or science, or computing, or math?
Sure, this story involves the Internet to some small degree, but it's about 1% of the total issue. The story before this is about some American drone killing some American citizen in some third-world country. Again, the science/technology/computing/math aspect of it is extremely minor.
Basically everyone in the world, even including many Americans, already know that American politics are rather fucked up. If we wanted to read about that sort of crap, we'd go to CNN's web site. We're here at Slashdot, however, because we're interested in discussing technical matters. Can't we go back to having at least some relevant discussion here, rather than politics all day long?
"Stuff that matters". Sure, we're nerds, but we're part of the world around us.
So the Bush Administration began talking and cooperating with Qaddafi in exchange for his abandonment of nuclear ambitions. Perhaps the Obama Administration sought to continue this because they too saw the facts as it stood, that Qaddafi had a hard grip on his country and didn't look like he was going out of power any time soon, and thus cooperation and diplomacy was in order for the interests of the US. Contrary to what idealists on the internet may believe, diplomacy isn't just talk, it's backed up with some quid-pro-quo -- you have to throw a dog a bone if you want some tricks out of him.
Of course, the amount of military parts given by the US pales in comparison to the EU's arms export to Libya -- France, UK, Germany, Malta, and Belgium in particular Maybe they too thought they were getting some safety in return as well?
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
"The King shall do no wrong, meaning if the king does it, it is legal." -Richard Nixon as portrayed on ATT's biography in 1978.
Yeah, from the beginning (I think it was his words) Slashdot was more like CmrdTaco's own blog.. And it still is.
Since when does being a government employee interfere with your freedom of speech?
Since he volunteered to work for the State Department and work in a diplomatic function. When working as a diplomat any public statements can reflect upon the United States government, not you merely yourself as an individual.
Everything is political as soon as more than 2 persons are involved.
Refugees. The average income in north Africa is around $1/day, in southern Europe it's around $100/day. As you can imagine there is a huge demand to move to the money. Southern Europe can't afford to take 5,000,000 migrants per year, they would collapse. Being a member of NATO requires a team player, meaning the USA must support its European allies- meaning payoffs to Qaddafi to stop the migrants.
If you don't have a security clearance, then posting such a link may not be a big thing. However, this gentleman did, and every time there is a major Wikileaks release we are reminded that the fact that it's released on Wikileaks does not change a clearance holder's contractual responsibility to protect classified information and that even linking to Wikileaks or talking about it at work could lead to our dismissal - and furthermore, that just because it's available on Wikileaks does not mean the information has been declassified.
Sometimes this is taken to ridiculous extremes - I once went to a public conference where we were informed that all US citizens had to treat a certain presentation as classified information - meanwhile, as a public conference with people attending from all over the world, those other people could do whatever they wanted with the information. It was clearly public knowledge, but US citizens present with clearances had to treat it as classified because the government said it was.
He may not go to jail, but he definitely violated the agreement he made with the government in exchange for his security clearance and will likely lose it. Unfortunately, that's something that will follow him around, and in many industries simply makes you unemployable.
When a supposed leak appears there is still some amount of uncertainty about whether the leak is authentic or not. Furthermore, there is the issue that several pieces of sensitive information may be unclassified on their own, but when combined become classified. So it may be prudent to classify some previously sensitive but unclassified data upon the release of other data.
Each individual person who works with classified data doesn't always have the whole picture, and are thus not in a position to judge whether they are causing additional harm by confirming that leaked information is authentic, or worse by providing additional commentary on the subject. People who are aware of the full picture need to assess the impact of the initial leak before determining the best course of action. This is why we have explicit declassification and review-and-approval procedures for public comments on sensitive information.
While the wisdom (or speed) of some of these decisions may be questionable, commenting on leaked data when you hold a security clearance is unquestionably stupid, unless you are intentionally and publicly whistle-blowing, and are prepared to deal with the backlash.
this is the kind of thing you normally see in 1980's movies about evil communist Russia.
This individual gives his real name and states that he is an employee of the State Department on his blog.
Suppose instead he was a private employee of Firm X and stated so in his postings, and posted something strongly critical of Firm X? Doesn't everyone here expect he would be reprimanded or fired because of his behavior?
I thought the general rule was that if you identify yourself as an employee of Firm X, then anything you say publicly should be consistent with what the management of Firm X would say. That if you wish to criticize Firm X then you do it anonymously.
Can anyone clarify this about general business policies?
I hope that when Barack Obama is inaugurated we will have a change from your fascist policies! I can't wait for January 20, 2009 to come!
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
just published a book that is critical of U.S. reconstruction projects in Iraq
a blog post discussing the hypocrisy of recent U.S. actions against Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi
Looks more like the State Dept was looking for anything to get him for.
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
It isn't "news for nerds & stuff that matters", it is "news for nerds, stuff that matters". The second clause describes the first, it doesn't add to it. It can be read more like "This website contains news for nerds, you know, the stuff that really matters."
And misses.
Obama and his State and Justice Deptos are such junk.
Next they will outlaw thinking on the job ... Bieden will be the role model there.
Look at the loozer Steven Chu. What a chink shit. He OKs a loan of $535 million using DoE money laundering tech to Solyndra, so they can conver 60% to cash as a pay-back through Bahamas banks, then kills Fermi Lab, which at $5 million per year budget, Chu Boy could have funded them for another 10 years.
But Noooo Hell Noooo. Our Chink Shit Chu Boy is on top game, just like his homi hero shit Obama Boy these days.
=
and they'll do anything they can to try to stuff the genie back in the bottle, including abrogating our most cherished Constitutional rights. Everyone knows now, with no hearsay or he said, she said, how incompetent and compromised the American government is. You can't go back from there without at least a massive wave of reform. But Obama, the current Congress, and the SCOTUS have no interest in that whatsoever.
We are past the event horizon of a second American Revolution. The question is exactly how long and what form it will take.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
he should be killed with a Predator from a drone
After seeing Qaddafi spelled 20 different ways in the news, I checked the wikipedia page for him and found this section
I then wrote this dinky perl script. It generates a few illegal combinations, but it's still fun.
my @p1 = qw(Q G Gh K Kh);
my @p2 = qw(a e u);
my @p3 = qw(d dh dd ddh dhdh dth th zz);
my @p4 = qw(a);
my @p5 = qw(f ff);
my @p6 = qw(i y);
my @p = (\@p1,\@p2,\@p3,\@p4,\@p5,\@p6);
my $name = ""; .= $phen;
foreach my $arr (@p) {
my @a = @{$arr};
my $num = int(rand(scalar(@a)));
my $phen = $a[$num];
$name
}
print $name . "\n";
William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
They're going after him on ridiculous grounds, but an employee should know better than to publically comment under his real name. They will always get you on something.
I am, but either they dismiss me, or if I get powerful enough, they throw me in gitmo, and what use am I there? So far, Wikileaks is one of our best hopes, as it raises mass awareness in a way that cannot be dismissed as the ravings of some blathering conspiracy nut. So right now, any information of value that I come across will be leaked to them, and I will point others to their information as much as possible. What other ideas do you have besides complaining?
War is peace. Ignorance is bliss.
Obi-Wan: "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were sudden
Perhaps its because *some* of us in America are sick and tired of the army of criminals running things nowadays, and the endless attempts to turn America into "The People's Republic of Amerika", and make us a third-world country.. If this doesn't bother you, OP, then you just go back to your "bread and circuses" and STFU.
We are not a nation that operates in the shadows by definition if not by fact. We need to get rid of the idea of classified information completely. Share all truth with all people. As far as national defense concerns go the real answer is to be able to devastate any nation that acts against us. We simply need to make certain that no nation dare to offend us with military actions or other means of attack. Ideas like keeping the M-1 rifle classified for sixty years after every government in the world has one in their hands is absurd. Our secrets are not helping us at all.
Because it has always been that way. I suggest you go read some archived stories from September 2001, for example.
Slashdot is what it is. You can always skip stories that you don't like.
As much as the Gov has drilled into the minds of the public through the media mongers, that Government workers are to stay away from wikileaks. Here comes an idiot complete with a blog. How ignorant can you be? Maybe it is time for him to retire? Meanwhile... "Peter Van Buren, who has worked for the department for 23 years and just published a book that is critical of U.S. reconstruction projects in Iraq, said this week that the State Department had launched an investigation against him earlier this month for disclosing classified information."
I believe his troubles began with this book, and the Feds are looking for a way to nail him for being so critical of the USA Government in his book.
A leak is not officially public until the information is acknowledged as official. By linking to it and using the information in a matter that acknowledge the data, an employee working with the DOD or DHS is actually verifying the veracity of the information.
I understand that you aren't a bisexual person with an authority fetish but there is no need to be such an insensitive clod about it. :(
Funny fact: If you moan ever so slightly during the pat down, they'll be even more thorough!
It has been claimed that Bradley Manning had access to all this stuff, at the time it was leaked allegedly by him, so others would also had this access too.
What they would not have had is the equivalent of the journalists, media and social networking able to make sense of a lot of boring documents to find the important parts and put them in context.
Do they want to have a situation where every politically aware, literate citizen of the USA (and the rest of the world) knows more about what the US government has been up to than employees of the US government ?
That would appear to be the end result of this policy, and seems a bit silly.
For a moment, I thought that you had created a greasemonkey script that detected incorrect ways to spell the name and replaced them with a correct one.
I have read some yankee Doodle Bolacks recently but really they been caught shagging Qadaffi now trying to hide the clap it caught ..
All U.S. government employees and contractors were warned when the first Wikileaks dumps happened that classifications had not changed and that it was still a violation to repeat any of that stuff.
We got memos. We got emails. It was a mandatory discussion topic at group meetings.
Everyone knew/knows that you can't repeat any of that information, you can't link to it, you can't read it from your work computer. If you're a fed or a contractor, that stuff might as well be radioactive anthrax.
He knew, period. He also knew there would be consequences. How stupid was this guy?
if he didn't have a book just out
Seems obvious this guy is actually trying to get fired for publicity to promote his new book:
1. Write book
2. Force your employer into taking action against you, then call the press and say "oh noes my employer doesn't want the people to hear the truth"
3. Profit!
I don't necessarily fault him for doing it. He obviously disagrees with his employer's policies, and resigning quietly won't bring attention to his message.