[R-G] Fwd: Guantanamo "blasts" Wikileaks over report.

[Anthony Fenton]

FYI:

Wikileaks News Release "gitmo propaganda 2"
Tue Dec 18 03:02:55 GMT 2007

[ this is a substantial update to our earlier release; it includes a  
key admission by Guantanamo spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Bush who  
publically attacked Wikileaks in the New York Daily News, as re- 
reported by the New York Times ]

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Wikileaks_busts_Gitmo_propaganda_team

WASHINGTON--The US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has been  
caught conducting covert propaganda attacks on the internet. The  
attacks, exposed by government transparency group Wikileaks, include  
deleting detainees' ID numbers from Wikipedia, the systematic posting  
of unattributed "self praise" comments on news organization web sites  
in response to negative press, boosting pro-Guantanamo stories on the  
internet news site Digg and even modifying Fidel Castro's  
encyclopedia article to describe the Cuban president as "an admitted  
transexual" [sic].

Among the un- or mis-attributed responses to news stories were  
statements such as "[Guantanamo is] a very professional place full of  
true American patriots." and comments playing down the impact of  
leaked documents which among other matters mandated all Guantanamo  
detainees to have no contact with the Red Cross for at least the  
first 2-4 weeks after their arrival: "interesting document but not at  
all relevant today as much of this has changed over the years."

Shayana Kadidal, Managing Attorney of the Center for Constitutional  
Rights Guantanamo Global Justice Initiative, said in response to the  
report:

     "The military's efforts to alter the record by vandalizing  
Wikipedia are of a piece with the amateurism of their other public  
relations efforts: [such as] their ridiculous claims that released  
detainees who criticize the United States in the media have 'returned  
to the battlefield'."

Guantanamo command spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Bush, denied the charges  
(to the New York Daily News) only to spectacularly fall over himself  
when trying to attack Wikileaks over the report.

     "There has been no attempt to alter/change any information that  
has been posted anywhere," Lt. Col. Bush said in the statement e- 
mailed to us. "That would be unethical."  Bush said in a subsequent  
phone call that there's no way to know if any of the 3,000 uniformed  
military at Gitmo was responsible for the documented changes, but he  
promised his public affairs staff was not behind it. He also blasted  
[Wikileaks] for identifying one sailor in his office by name, who has  
since received death threats for simply doing his job - posting  
positive comments on the Internet about Gitmo.

Wikileaks subsequently asked noted computer security expert Bruce  
Schneier to independently review the evidence:

     "Based on the evidence, it is obvious that these changes came  
from people stationed at Guantanamo Bay. The only other possibility  
is that someone hacked into the Guantanamo Bay computers in an effort  
to frame the U.S. government; certainly possible but much less likely."

Barring obscure loopholes, the admitted acts of the Guantanamo Bay  
Public Affairs Office are unlawful:

    1. "publishing material which is misleading as to its  
origin" (covert propaganda)
    2. "publicity of a nature tending to emphasize the importance of  
the agency or activity in question" (self aggrandizement)
    3. "publicity or propaganda within the United States" (domestic  
propaganda)

The first two activities are illegal under several appropriations and  
other acts as detailed in a similar case investigated by the  
Government Accounting Office in 2005: [ http://gao.gov/decisions/ 
appro/303495.htm ]

The third, depending on how the Public Affairs Office funding was  
structured during time the activities took place may also be illegal.  
Since 1951, the following prohibition on the use of appropriated  
funds for propaganda purposes has been enacted annually: "No part of  
any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used  
for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not  
heretofore authorized by Congress." [ http://fas.org/sgp/congress/ 
2005/s020205.html ]

Joint Task Force Guantanamo has often claimed to be outside of US  
legal jurisdiction, for example in regards to the Habeas Corpus  
rights of detainees. However most of the news organizations and other  
sites affected are located in the United States as are the majority  
of their readers.

Wikileaks has referred the matter to the GAO and Depart of Defense  
Inspector General for further investigation.

See http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Wikileaks_busts_Gitmo_propaganda_team  
for the full report.