Latest Breaking News
In reply to the discussion: Are Troops Talking to Assange ‘Communicating With the Enemy’? [View all]struggle4progress
(118,032 posts)and I explained why communicating restricted military information to Assange or to Wikileaks can qualify as "communicating with the enemy" -- even if neither Assange nor Wikileaks were per se considered the enemy -- because either Assange or Wikileaks could be assumed subsequently to disseminate the information widely and indiscriminately, because the military leaker could therefore reasonably presume enemies of the US would therefore be likely to obtain access to the leaked information, because the statute contemplates both direct and indirect communication, and because the statute applies even when the enemy fails to acknowledge or even fails to receive the information
You then asked for links demonstrating that "communicating with the enemy" was expansively construed. I provided two official documents and duplicate links for both
The investigation in this case concerned a women who, contrary to order, began to frequent the Wikileaks website and who, contrary to advice, repeatedly attended Assange's trial. She also began to use screen names indicating sympathy with Assange, Wikileaks, and Manning; she further regularly posted pro-Assange Twitter messages; and in addition, she associated with some pro-Assange and/or pro-Manning groups in the UK. She also reportedly exhibited some psychological symptoms during this period. Since she had SIPR NET access and a Top Secret security clearance, there was some concern, and an investigation was launched, into whether she had communicated with the enemy. She was denied further access to restricted information. The investigation apparently produced no evidence that she had leaked anything
I do not think, and never claimed, that her attending Assange's trial could be construed as communication with the enemy. What I have asserted is simply that the directives of the Undersecretary's Memorandum of 11 January 2011 may include general orders for personnel to avoid contact with Wikileaks and/or any Wikileaks personnel, as that would explain why the investigation begins with the complaint that she had disobeyed a lawful order