I started a second post to track my WikiLeaks document analysis because of the extraordinary length of the first. With this new post, my readers will also find a new format. I hope it serves to both educate, and enlighten.
Document Subject: Ambassador Shannon's Meeting with MOD Jobim
Key Terms and Topics: (Unless otherwise noted all quotes and links in this section are taken from, or lead to Wikipedia.)
A. Ambassador Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. He is the newly appointed ambassador to Brazil. "Previously he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, the head of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs within the Department of State of the United States from 2005 through 2009." (Thomas A. Shannon, Jr.)
B. Nelson Jobim: Former President of Brazil's "Supreme Federal Court." This is Brazil constitutional court, and it's rulings cannot be appealed. It's members are forced to retire at 70. The court is known for it's huge case load, having recieved 100,781 cases in one year. (Supreme Federal Court) Back on track, Mr. Jobim is currently Brazil's Minister of Defense. (Nelson Jobim)
C. DCA (Defense Cooperation Agreement) with Brazil: "On April 12, 2010 in Washington, D.C., Brazilian Minister of Defense Nelson Jobim and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates signed an agreement on defense cooperation between the governments of Brazil and the United States of America. As the two most populous democracies in the Western Hemisphere, the United States and Brazil enjoy an increasingly close bilateral relationship, including in the area of defense. The DCA will enable U.S.-Brazil defense cooperation to deepen and expand into new areas of mutual interest." (Source: U.S.-Brazil Defense Cooperation Agreement)
D. General Ken Keen: American commander in charge of the joint task force in Haiti called "Operation Unified Response." Their goal is, "providing humanitarian assistance following the 2010 Haiti earthquake." In a queer coincidence, "Keen had actually arrived in the country the morning before the earthquake on a visit and was at the U.S. embassy when the earthquake struck." One of his team of 5 has never been found. (Ken Keen)
E. General Floriano Peixoto Veira Neto: Brazilian general and commander of MINSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) since 2009. He had previously led a distinguished career as the commander of three other battalions. (General Floriano Peixoto Veira Neto)
F. MINUSTAH: Acronym for United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, led by the Brazilian army. The Earthquake took a very heavy toll on this mission. Their headquarters was destroyed, at at least three members confirmed dead. (MINUSTAH)
UPDATE: I lost internet connection last night while researching this thread. I will attempt to re-locate this document later today. Please scroll down to 12/7 for a continuation of descriptions of key terms and personalities from this document.
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12/6
WikiLeaks cables assess terrorism funding in Saudi Arabia, Gulf states (CNN, by Tim Lister, 12/6/2010)
I found an article on CNN discussing WikiLeaks documents which discuss the financing of terrorist organizations. According to the article, it is Saudi Arabia that plays the biggest roll in economically backing Sunni extremist groups. And guess who else is getting involved in the terror sponsorship business: Kuwait. "In particular, the cable says that while the United States had designated the Kuwait-based Revival of Islamic Heritage Society for providing support to al Qaeda and associated groups, the government of Kuwait 'has not taken significant action to address or shut down RIHS headquarters or its branches.'"
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12/6
WikiLeaks reveals U.S. list of worldwide infrastructure 'critical' to security of U.S. (MSNBC, 12/6/2010)
The list mentioned in the article title linked above, "includes factories, ports, fuel companies, drug manufacturers, undersea cables, pipelines, communication hubs and a host of other 'key resources.'"
I agree that such information should be treated as highly sensitive. If I owned a company, and asked my board of directors to compile a similar list, I would hold a meeting to have this information communicated to me. I would never write it down on an e-mail, or a power point presentation. I would treat it like the code to my companies vault, not distribute it to most of my employees, and the directors of the ancillary organizations we work with.
To clarify for those that don't get my analogy, I would not distribute a list of top security threats to 2.5 million people, and then bitch when the information somehow gets leaked out. I agree with the folks saying this information is very sensitive and could be physically damaging to the U.S., but our government's failure to work with WikiLeaks when they came to them months ago to discuss what information was to be released and how, and our outright declaration of Mr. Assange as "Americas Most Wanted" leaves little room for negotiation.
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12/7
The headline is everywhere. Mr. Assange has been arrested in London. We will know if he will be extradited to Sweden on rape charges within a couple of weeks. Although I do find the timing of said charges rather conspicuous, as a woman, I hold my judgment on this issue, and consider it completely separate from his role in the WikiLeaks releases.
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12/7
Thanks to the excellent organization of the WikiLeaks website, I was able to locate the document I was working on the other night when my internet failed. I will continue analyzing the key terms and personalities below. One key change to note: All links to Wikipedia, the source for a vast majority of my information, will be made at the beginning, instead of the end of each blurb. If I use a different site as my source, I will make a designation at the end.
Document Subject: Ambassador Shannon's Meeting with MOD Jobim
G. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva: Current President of Brazil, and founding member of the Workers Party. He sees himself, "as a negotiator, not an ideologue."
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12/9
The reason it has taken me so long to continue discussing the key terms from the Ambassador Shannon/MOD Jobim document is because of the wealth of information I found about the next term. But first, Big Brother is cracking down on folks who even view Wikileaks documents. Law students with any inkling of joining any branch of the government are being reminded that the Obama administration still views the leaks as classified. Therefore, viewing them could jeopardize future employment opportunities. (Source: Will reading WikiLeaks cost students jobs with the federal government?) The article also mentioned the fact that Pay Pal shut down WikiLeaks account, forcing potential donors to seek different ways to get the controversial company money.
Back on track with my analysis:
H. F-X2 Competition: A bidding war between air craft manufacturers from several companies that wanted to win the right to modernize Brazil's air fleet. The entire process was riddled with controversy. American company Boeing offered not only it's Super Hornets, but also the technology behind them. This would have been an unprecedented move for the U.S., demonstrating the high level of trust we have for the Brazilian government. After two years of negotiating, and tons of revised RFP's, it looks like the program is going to be canceled all together due to financial constraints. (For more information and a great historical read on the topic, check out this link: Brazil's F-X2 Fighter Competition.)
I. Colombian bombing of FARC facility in Ecuador: On March 1, 2008, Colombian leader Alvaro Uribe, "invaded Ecuador to kill a few FARC guerrillas, including number two, Raúl Reyes." (Sounds a lot like when we crossed into Pakistan to try to get Taliban fighters). This was a violation of international sovereignty. Brazil's President Lula stepped in as a mediator. (Source: Colombian attack on FARC in Ecuador)
J. The South American Defense Council (SADC): The SADC was, "proposed by Venezuela and Brazil to serve as a mechanism for regional security, promoting military co-operation and regional defence. From the beginning Brazil, Argentina and Chile, the countries that took the leadership of the project, made clear that they did not intend to form a NATO-like alliance, but a cooperative security arrangement, enhancing multilateral military cooperation, promoting confidence and security building measures and fostering defense industry exchange." Because of Plan Columbia (a special relationship with the U.S.), Colombia initially refused to join, but reconsidered and joined on July 20, 2008.
Now, to analyze the related document (Ambassador Shannon's Meeting with MOD Jobim)
The first paragraph states that the event being described was the first meeting between Ambassador Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., and Nelson Jobim, Brazil's Minister of Defense. Jobim saw the "overall bilateral security relationship" between the U.S. and Brazil at the time (February 18, 2010) as "strong and transparent." Jobim favored signing the DCA that was actually signed in April.
The next paragraph deals with Brazil and the U.S.'s combined efforts to help after the earthquake in Haiti. We learn that Brazil knows that Venezuela's Chavez's claim of a U.S. invasion of the island nation lacks credibility. Jobim, "underlined the importance of the UN approaching Haiti's future form the point of view of "constructing" the country rather than simply providing security and said that MINUSTAH will need an improved UNSC mandate to be effective in this role."
Paragraph three deals with the FX-2 competition, specifically, "President Lula's (and Jobim's) denial that there was a final decision in the FX2 competition." The almost-threatening nature of the "points" made in the following disclosure show how much confidence the U.S. had that their fighter jet would be chosen:
"While the sale has been conducted as a commercial transaction, its significance for the bilateral relationship should not be overlooked. The unprecedented decisions regarding the transfer of U.S. technology in support of the Super Hornet show the high level of confidence the USG places in its partnership with Brazil. Brazil, as it makes a decision, should try to consolidate and protect this important advance."
The final paragraph dealt specifically with regional tensions in South America:
"Jobim spoke of his efforts to ameliorate tensions between Colombia and Ecuador following the 2008 bombing of a FARC facility inside Ecuador by Colombian forces. Contacts between Defense Ministers, through the South American Defense Council (SADC), he said, had been key to managing the after effects of the strike, providing a good test case for the SADC."
Finally, Jobim "expressed concern about Chavez's increasingly complicated domestic situation. He worried aloud about the impact in Venezuela if Chavez resorted to violent repression of demonstrators."
Overall, this small document seems insignificant, but paired with the background information I provided, it is actually quite a juicy historical dispatch.
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12/14
Is Bradley Manning a hero? (CNN, 12/14/2010)
As I sit reading the above linked article from CNN written by Bob Meola, the man trying to pass a city ordinance in Berkley, CA to release Bradley Manning, I finally feel like I found someone who understands my own point of view. Manning explicitly stated in numerous e-mails his intentions of informing the public, so that we do not go to the voting booths ill-informed. The following paragraph in particular, written by Meola in Manning's defense, echoes my sentiments exactly:
"Democracy must be transparent or it is not democracy. It is the duty of citizens to participate in democracy and shine light on truth. Thomas Jefferson said that given a choice between having government and having newspapers, he would choose newspapers. Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime. It is the war criminals who should be prosecuted."
As a reader of many of Jefferson's writings in high school, I remember hearing the quote Meola references above, about preferring newspapers to government. A quick search on Google helped me locate it for you:
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." (Thomas Jefferson Quotes)
For too long, we Americans have been lazy, to the point that we have completely forgotten our roots. WikiLeaks offers us an alternative to violent revolution; a way to enlighten our minds, and reclaim our place in the democracy we claim to cherish.
In response to charges that the leaks endanger American lives, I also agree with Mr. Meola. Many more lives would be lost if we continue on our crash course in these wars. Furthermore, the very essence of what we symbolize as a nation is at stake; how history will remember the United States. As to Manning breaking his word and the law, I believe that he was forced to do so in order to expose how our own government is doing the same thing, but on a much grander scale.
Sure, there should be some secrets. But 99% of the leaked documents I have read so far were reported on the news, and even read like articles written by political pundits, not diplomats. The few that are truly "secret" should have been treated as such (i.e. encrypted and not distributed to most members of the military.) We are accused of being too stupid to understand the difficult decisions governments are forced to make. I counter that our stupidity is a direct result of the kind of information containment exemplified by the entire WikiLeaks debacle.
I love my country. I love it so much that I am willing to risk posting my controversial views in the hopes that other like-minded individuals may find solace in learning they do not support Manning and Assange alone.
Note: I posted these views as Kiabella on the comments section of the article being discussed.
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12/15
Air Force cutting off access to WikiLeaks news (CNN, 12/15/2010)
Now this one is really gonna make you wonder. The military is forbidding its members from accessing the WikiLeaks documents online, or from visiting the sites of any news organization that posts their content. The men and women who are willing to die for our country are being censored! Great. Welcome to the new Americhina.
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12/31
WikiLeaks show US frustrated with Egyptian military (Yahoo News via AP, by Sarah El Deeb, 12/31/2010)
As much as I love reading the dispatches on the WikiLeaks website and analyzing them, recent suspicious events have made me second guess visiting the site directly for now. But, I still scour news sites for interesting tidbits to share. Like this line from the article linked above: "U.S. diplomatic memos leaked this month show previously unknown friction between the two allies over military assistance and strategy." Reading further into the article, I learned that "The disagreements...are over a wide range of topics, with the U.S. pressing Egypt to focus its military toward terrorism, halting cross-border smuggling and helping out in regional crises." Furthermore, according to Steve Cook, "[T]he memos exposed that public talk of shared goals between the U.S. and Egyptian military is just rhetoric." Interesting stuff indeed!
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1/25
NYT: Financial crisis was 'avoidable,' inquiry finds (MSNBC, by Sewell Chan, 1/25)
As I read the above linked article, what I found most fascinating had nothing at all to do with the primary topic. The following paragraph to me exemplifies the kind of impact WikiLeaks has had upon our governments willingness to share information, and our expectations to receive it.
"Many of the conclusions have been widely described, but the synthesis of interviews, documents and testimony, along with its government imprimatur, give the report — to be released on Thursday as a 576-page book — a conclusive sweep and authority. The commission held 19 days of hearings and interviews with more than 700 witnesses; it has pledged to release a trove of transcripts and other raw material online."
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2/3
Politician nominates WikiLeaks for Nobel Prize (CNN, 2/3/2011)
Amen!
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2/16
"The WikiLeaks case endangers the reputation of the United States as a defender of free speech and an open Internet globally." (Tim Wu quoted in Time Magazine, Feb. 21, 2011, page 22)
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3/18
Pentagon Papers leaker: 'I was Bradley Manning' (CNN, by Ashley Fantz, 3/19/2011)
I would like to share with you some of the messages Bradley Manning is accused of sending out regarding the thousands of documents eventually published by WikiLeaks:
"hypothetical question: if you had free reign over classified networks for long periods of time... say, 8-9 months... and you saw incredible things, awful things... things that belonged in the public domain, and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC... what would you do?"
"its important that it gets out... i feel, for some bizarre reason ... it might actually change something ... ...I just... dont wish to be a part of it... at least not now... im not ready... i wouldn't mind going to prison for the rest of my life, or being executed so much ..."
When asked about his plan, ""hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms ...if not... that we're doomed ... as a species."
Would you have the courage of Bradley Manning? I know I am lacking, and view the young man currently rotting away in a military prison as a hero our founding fathers would be proud of.
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9/27/2011
Once again, Wikileaks is the reason we know the truth. All the recent headlines about bunker-busting bombs in Israel wouldn't exist without Wikileaks. By serving as an outlet for full disclosure, the truth has come to light once again.
Me
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