VSQ/2; US/1; ATTN: HST/2; TSP/2
[ed.note: A reminder for those so inclined…
Former operator VSQ/2 Reports: (Kaj) Larsen is a former SEAL who caught some heat from a few team guys about 4 years ago for what some considered a slight lean toward "anti-war" views, apparently as opposed to "pro-war".
With respect to the Wikileaks "Collateral Murder" video, there are SOFs with considerable combat and covert experience who expressed an opinion that the Apache crew were way too eager to light up those people who at that specific time were not exhibiting an imminent threat posture.
When BG (Mark) Kimmitt remarks that firing on the van was legit because there "could have been" bad guys in it, he's way out in left field. He put up a lot of "could have" bravo sierra (‘BS’). By that tangled logic, every person, every vehicle in Iraq "could be" bad guys. Well, yes, but you don't go around lighting them all up based on "could’a been". He also describes the scene as "an active battlefield". It wasn't until the Apache crew instigated the engagement without sufficient IFF (identify Friend or Foe).
(Though Members US/1 and TSP/2 remain fans of BG Kimmitt, from his Intel Days, it should be noted.)
Carrying an AK or even an RPG in Iraq was not enough. There are friendlies who've done that. Frankly, if I was a non-tango Iraqi and my kids had been in that van, I have been in the basement the next day building IEDs. Mindlessly killing one innocent can create 10 new enemies who might have been friends. That's how critical IFF is in modern, asymetrical warfare.
Above COMMENTS are LIMITED DISSEMINATION. Below, OPEN SOURCE.]
‘WikiWars: The Mission of Julian Assange’ airs Sunday 8pm ET
One-hour documentary premieres Sunday, June 12, 8:00pm ET & PT
Julian Assange says he is on a mission to change the world, by fighting corruption and what he sees as injustice, through exposing secrets. He has launched a cyber war over the control of sensitive information, inciting a debate over the power of secrecy and who has the ‘right’ to release confidential information. Exposing everything from secret war logs, to diplomatic cables, to explosive videos, the 39-year-old Australian founder of the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks has been called both a hero and a villain.
CNN correspondent Kaj Larsen reports on the unconventional life and mission of the WikiLeaks revealer-in-chief in a one-hour documentary, CNN Presents – WikiWars: The Mission of Julian Assange. The documentary debuts Sunday, June 12 at 8:00p.m. ET and PT replays on Saturday, June 18 at 8:00p.m. ET and PT on CNN/U.S.
Through a series of in-depth interviews, conducted over several months between Australian freelance journalist Mark Davis and Julian Assange, WikiWars recounts Assange’s evolution from a convicted teenage computer hacker, to someone who provokes outrage from governments around the world. Assange has attained cult hero status among his supporters, but critics accuse him of being obsessed with targeting the U.S. military, and recklessly endangering lives.
Larsen interviews former WikiLeaks spokesperson, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, author of Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website, who describes an organization in turmoil – running short of funding and running high on infighting. Larsen also spoke with former hacker Adrian Lamo, who communicated with PFC Bradley Manning in a series of web chats that eventually led to Manning’s arrest for allegedly leaking confidential State and Defense Department records related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
And, he interviewed Brigadier General Mark T. Kimmitt, USA (Ret.) about the fallout from WikiLeaks’ release of the controversial “Collateral Murder” video which reveals U.S. soldiers shooting at a group of men, killing insurgents and two men later identified as journalists.
In the summer of 2010, in one of its most notorious leaks, WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of documents to The New York Times, Germany’s Der Spiegel, and the U.K.’s The Guardian. The Guardian’s Nick Davies says that many of the reporters who were part of this unprecedented collaborative review came away from the experience with concerns.
“All of us came across material, which was clearly likely to lead to the death of innocent civilians if we published it. All of us had the experience of bringing this to his [Assange’s] attention, and being told by him, in effect: ‘If an Afghan civilian helps coalition forces, then they deserve to die,” Davies says in the documentary.
Though Davies says Assange belatedly made some attempts to withhold some documents, he says sensitive identity data was released at the WikiLeaks website which, in his view, ‘reduced’ Assange’s moral authority. “He’d made a terrible tactical mistake,” says Davies.
In addition to the television airing, later this week users will find video excerpts from the documentary at www.cnn.com. Users will also find an article written by Kaj Larsen describing his first-person, behind-the-scenes account of his experience working on this documentary, and the impact of WikiLeaks upon journalism, diplomacy, government communications, and more.
Heather O’Neill is the senior producer for WikiWars; Ken Shiffman is a producer; Dana Rosenblatt is associate producer. Kathy Slobogin is managing editor for the CNN Special Investigations Unit.
CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively-syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.
-30-
[Information contained in BKNT E-mail is considered Attorney-Client and Attorney Work Product privileged, copyrighted and confidential. Views that may be expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any government, agency, or news organization.]
No comments:
Post a Comment