Assange Ups The Ante

Julian Assange and his cronies in crime have it in for the US.  Why this is so is for psychiatrists not historians to determine.  Today the desire of the supposed foe of secrecy in government launched his most direct attack on the security of the US and many other countries by releasing a cable which never, but never should have been classified only SECRET and thus available to the nimble fingers of the mentally skewed Bradley Manning.

The latest dispatch from the neitherworld of WikiLeaks details physical facilities identified by US embassies as critical to the security interests of the US.  By any reckoning, this release puts both places and people squarely in the crosshairs of any individual or group wishing to wreak havoc.  As such, it provides direct and substantial "aid and comfort" to enemies of the United States--and other countries as well such as the UK where several facilities are located.  Admittedly any individual with even the minimal Internet skills of the Geek and a fertile imagination could have located the vast majority of the listed facilities without the assistance of WikiLeaks, but a list with the official imprimatur of the State Department makes each and every location more inviting.

This release escalates the damage caused by Assange by a significant extent.  The previous dumps were, at most, embarrassing, with the caveat that longer term repercussions caused by reticence on the part of either American diplomats or their interlocutors may cause ripples of damage far more significant than the short term appearances indicate.  This time WikiLeaks is intentionally and with malicious aforethought seeking material harm to the US and other countries, including civilian casualties.

This malice has been implicit in the earlier releases, but this time there is no mere implication--only direct challenge to the Obama administration.  It is part of the Assange strategy of seeking to terrorize the US government into immunizing him and his organization against reprisals, legal or otherwise.  It is also part and parcel of Assange's remarkable hubris, an arrogance which surpasses the capacity of mere words to describe adequately.

The Assange arrogance is resident in his belief that he alone has the moral authority to determine what constitutes a legitimate state secret.  It is resident as well in his preposterous demand that President Obama resign if it can be shown that he knew of the spy-on-the-UN cable sent over the signature of Secretary of State Clinton.  It is resident as well in his threat to decrypt a "poison pill" of state and corporate secrets currently on hard drives of Assange groupies around the world.

With respect to the threatened "poisoned pill" which purportedly includes unseemly details from Gitmo as well as footage showing an air attack in Afghanistan with civilian fatalities and details from such diverse corporate "bad guys" as Bank of America and BP, the answer is simple, "Publish and be damned!"  No "revelations" such as these will topple the US.  They will not even topple the president.  It is an Assange bark without any real bite behind it.

Assange must know that the computer system to which Specialist Bradley had access was limited to low order material, classified at SECRET and below.  The real hot metal on target stuff is not classified this low down the pole with the apparent unfortunate exception of the critical facilities list.  The probability of any "poison pill" dump having any larger impact on the interests and security of the US than that contained in the critical facilities list is slim to none.

The real issue now that Assange has so blatantly thrown down the gauntlet is whether or not President Obama will show more backbone than a snail and order Cyber Command or some other, blacker, organ of state to go ahead and take WikiLeaks down for good.  The challenge has been made.  Will our commander-in-chief respond quickly, massively, and effectively to it?

The recurrent, distributed denial of service attacks carried out by legions of zombies from Asia, Russia, Africa, and the Central Asian Republics in recent days against WikiLeaks servers provides perfect cover to move in with the killer blow.  It can be done without leaving any Made In the USA fingerprints, if the Clueless Guy in the Oval directs that it be done.

So far Mr Obama has treated the three WikiLeaks dumps with a measure of indifference which surpasses belief.  He has done zilch either to counter the potential negative effects of the dumps, reassure the American and global  public that steps have been taken to preclude any future repeats, or let Assange know he had picked on the wrong country and the wrong president.

Given that Assange, hiding behind his lawyers, has threated to unleash his version of a "thermonuclear bomb" with the promised/threatened "poison pill" of unexpurgated documents, the president must step up and strike back.  Investigations by the Justice Department and explanations or apologies from the State Department do not cut the mustard now.  Only direct and serious words--and actions--from the POTUS will be sufficient.

Come on, Barack, this Assange creature has made it mano a mano, so man up over it and slap the bastard and his buddies where it hurts.