Wikileaks Release Obama's Fault? Palin Says Yes

Serious Questions about the Obama Administration's Incompetence In The Wikileaks Fiasco



We all applaud the successful thwarting of the Christmas-Tree Bomber and hope our government continues to do all it can to keep us safe. However, the latest round of publications of leaked classified U.S. documents through the shady organization called Wikileaks raises serious questions about the Obama administration’s incompetent handling of this whole fiasco.

First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months?

Assange is not a “Journalist,” any more than the “editor” of al Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a “journalist.” He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?

What if any diplomatic pressure was brought to bear on NATO, EU, and other allies to disrupt Wikileaks’ technical infrastructure?

Did we use all the cyber tools at our disposal to permanently dismantle Wikileaks? Were individuals working for Wikileaks on these document leaks investigated? Shouldn’t they at least have had their financial assets frozen just as we do to individuals who provide material support for terrorist organizations?

Most importantly, serious questions must also be asked of the U.S. intelligence system. How was it possible that a 22-year-old Private First Class could get unrestricted access to so much highly sensitive information?

And how was it possible that he could copy and distribute these files without anyone noticing that security was compromised?

The White House has now issued orders to federal departments and agencies asking them to take immediate steps to ensure that no more leaks like this happen again. It’s of course important that we do all we can to prevent similar massive document leaks in the future. But why did the White House not publish these orders after the first leak back in July? What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part?

We are at war. American soldiers are in Afghanistan fighting to protect our freedoms. They are serious about keeping America safe. It would be great if they could count on their government being equally serious about that vital task.


- Sarah Palin




Palin Slams Obama Administration Over Wikileaks "Fiasco"



High ranking members of the current administration are not the only ones criticizing the dumping of hundreds of classified U.S. government documents by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks - possible 2012 presidential contender and former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin is also venting her frustration.

In a post published on the social networking site Facebook on Monday, Palin slams the Obama administration over the document leak saying,"...the latest round of publications of leaked classified U.S. documents through the shady organization called Wikileaks raises serious questions about the Obama administration's incompetent handling of this whole fiasco."

Since this weekend, Wikileaks has published hundreds of classified U. S. diplomatic messages, the first of what the organization says is a quarter million similar documents.

In addition to being published on Wikileaks website, the documents were acquired in advance by five major newspapers in Europe and the U. S. (The New York Times, The Guardian of the UK, El Pais of Spain, Le Monde of France, and Der Spiegel of Germany.) CNN declined a last minute offer to discuss advance access to some of the documents because of a confidentiality agreement requested by Wikileaks that CNN considered unacceptable.

(CNN is committed to carefully and responsibly reporting on the documents already published by Wikileaks and the five newspapers, focusing not only on what the leaked documents say, but also what their publication means for global relations and U. S. diplomacy.)

Earlier on Monday, Palin sent a tweet in which she intoned that preventing the leak was possible, and compared it to an order by a U.S. federal court judge which stopped the gossip website Gawker from publishing excerpts of her book online prior to the book's official release date.

"Inexplicable: I recently won in court to stop my book "America by Heart" from being leaked, but US Govt can't stop Wikileaks' treasonous act?" Palin said in the tweet.

The jurisdiction for Palin's case against Gawker was the American court system; Wikileaks, an international entity whose site is hosted overseas, is not subject to the same jurisdiction.

In her Facebook post, Palin cited issues with the security of military intelligence following the Wikileaks release of 76,000 classified U.S. government documents in July.

"Most importantly, serious questions must also be asked of the U.S. intelligence system. How was it possible that a 22-year-old Private First Class could get unrestricted access to so much highly sensitive information? And how was it possible that he could copy and distribute these files without anyone noticing that security was compromised?," Palin said in the post.

She also criticized the White House for a "lack of urgency" in preventing future leaks.

"It's of course important that we do all we can to prevent similar massive document leaks in the future," Palin said. "But why did the White House not publish these orders after the first leak back in July? What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part?"

Palin did give the government credit for one thing: stopping an Oregon teen who was arrested, law enforcement officials said, after he attempted to detonate what he believed was an explosives-laden van parked near a tree-lighting ceremony in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square on Friday.

"We all applaud the successful thwarting of the Christmas-Tree Bomber and hope our government continues to do all it can to keep us safe," Palin said.


View Larger Map


Sources: CNN, Facebook, NY Daily News, Google Maps