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2010-05-04 |
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The original charges were preferred on 5 July 2010. Those charges were dismissed by the convening authority on 18 March 2011. The current charges were preferred on 1 March 2011. On 16 December through 22 December 2011, these charges were investigated by an Article 32 Investigating Officer. The charges were subsequently referred without special instructions to a general court-martial on 3 February 2012. |
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Name(s:) |
David Coombs |
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Title: |
civilian defense counsel |
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Concerning: |
Charges, Cablegate, Stealing USG Property, Specification 12, Charge II, Article 134, 18 USC 641, 641, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Title: |
March 1, 2011 Charge Sheet |
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Concerning: |
"Bradley Manning Charge Sheet March 1 2011, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Title: |
US v Pfc. Manning | Transcript of Manning's formal plea to the charges including excepted and substituted language |
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Author: |
Alexa O'Brien |
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Title: |
Journalist |
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The original charges were preferred on 5 July 2010. Those charges were dismissed by the convening authority on 18 March 2011. The current charges were preferred on 1 March 2011. On 16 December through 22 December 2011, these charges were investigated by an Article 32 Investigating Officer. The charges were subsequently referred without special instructions to a general court-martial on 3 February 2012. |
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Name(s:) |
David Coombs |
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Title: |
civilian defense counsel |
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Concerning: |
Charges, Cablegate, Stealing USG Property, Specification 12, Charge II, Article 134, 18 USC 641, 641, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Title: |
March 1, 2011 Charge Sheet |
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Concerning: |
"Bradley Manning Charge Sheet March 1 2011, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Title: |
US v Pfc. Manning | Transcript of Manning's formal plea to the charges including excepted and substituted language |
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Author: |
Alexa O'Brien |
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Title: |
Journalist |
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2010-05-27 |
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The original charges were preferred on 5 July 2010. Those charges were dismissed by the convening authority on 18 March 2011. The current charges were preferred on 1 March 2011. On 16 December through 22 December 2011, these charges were investigated by an Article 32 Investigating Officer. The charges were subsequently referred without special instructions to a general court-martial on 3 February 2012. |
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Name(s:) |
David Coombs |
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Title: |
civilian defense counsel |
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Concerning: |
Charges, Cablegate, Exceed Auth Access, 18 USC 1030(a)(1), CFAA, 1030(a)(1), Charge II, Specification 13, Article 134, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Title: |
March 1, 2011 Charge Sheet |
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Concerning: |
"Bradley Manning Charge Sheet March 1 2011, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Title: |
US v Pfc. Manning | Transcript of Manning's formal plea to the charges including excepted and substituted language |
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Author: |
Alexa O'Brien |
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Title: |
Journalist |
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The original charges were preferred on 5 July 2010. Those charges were dismissed by the convening authority on 18 March 2011. The current charges were preferred on 1 March 2011. On 16 December through 22 December 2011, these charges were investigated by an Article 32 Investigating Officer. The charges were subsequently referred without special instructions to a general court-martial on 3 February 2012. |
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Name(s:) |
David Coombs |
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Title: |
civilian defense counsel |
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Concerning: |
Charges, Cablegate, Exceed Auth Access, 18 USC 1030(a)(1), CFAA, 1030(a)(1), Charge II, Specification 13, Article 134, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Title: |
March 1, 2011 Charge Sheet |
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Concerning: |
"Bradley Manning Charge Sheet March 1 2011, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Title: |
US v Pfc. Manning | Transcript of Manning's formal plea to the charges including excepted and substituted language |
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Author: |
Alexa O'Brien |
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Title: |
Journalist |
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The original charges were preferred on 5 July 2010. Those charges were dismissed by the convening authority on 18 March 2011. The current charges were preferred on 1 March 2011. On 16 December through 22 December 2011, these charges were investigated by an Article 32 Investigating Officer. The charges were subsequently referred without special instructions to a general court-martial on 3 February 2012. |
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Name(s:) |
David Coombs |
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Title: |
civilian defense counsel |
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Concerning: |
Charges, Cablegate, Stealing USG Property, Specification 12, Charge II, Article 134, 18 USC 641, 641, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Title: |
March 1, 2011 Charge Sheet |
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Concerning: |
"Bradley Manning Charge Sheet March 1 2011, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Title: |
US v Pfc. Manning | Transcript of Manning's formal plea to the charges including excepted and substituted language |
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Author: |
Alexa O'Brien |
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Title: |
Journalist |
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The original charges were preferred on 5 July 2010. Those charges were dismissed by the convening authority on 18 March 2011. The current charges were preferred on 1 March 2011. On 16 December through 22 December 2011, these charges were investigated by an Article 32 Investigating Officer. The charges were subsequently referred without special instructions to a general court-martial on 3 February 2012. |
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Name(s:) |
David Coombs |
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Title: |
civilian defense counsel |
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Concerning: |
Charges, Cablegate, Exceed Auth Access, 18 USC 1030(a)(1), CFAA, 1030(a)(1), Charge II, Specification 13, Article 134, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Title: |
March 1, 2011 Charge Sheet |
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Concerning: |
"Bradley Manning Charge Sheet March 1 2011, United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning |
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Title: |
US v Pfc. Manning | Transcript of Manning's formal plea to the charges including excepted and substituted language |
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Author: |
Alexa O'Brien |
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Title: |
Journalist |
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Title: |
Letter from Julian Assange to the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom Louis B. Susman |
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Author: |
Julian Assange |
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Title: |
Editor in Chief |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
WikiLeaks |
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Audience: |
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Louis B. Susman |
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Concerning: |
"Cablegate |
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2010-11-28 |
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MR. CROWLEY: The Secretary made a number of calls over the weekend to her counterparts. And from Deputy Secretary Jim Steinberg, Under Secretary Bill Burns, the assistant secretaries, ambassadors, we did everything we can to reach out to governments in advance of the anticipated release of these documents. We will be doing follow-up calls during the course of the week.
QUESTION: P.J., could you just give us a rundown of who the Secretary has called? And did she call anybody else today or was it all previous to the release?
MR. CROWLEY: I'm not aware that she's had any calls today. She had a number of calls over the weekend. I think we've got a list. I'll give it to you. |
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Name(s:) |
Phillip J. Crowley |
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Title: |
Assistant Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Public Affairs, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/Z8FnS |
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Title: |
Letter from Harold Hongju Koh to Jennifer Robinson and Julian Assange |
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Author: |
Harold Hongju Koh |
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Title: |
Legal Adviser |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
Department of State |
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Audience: |
Julian Assange, Jennifer Robinson |
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Concerning: |
"Cablegate |
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Title: |
Harold Hongju Koh |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
LittleSis |
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Mitigation Team to address the policy, legal, security, counterintelligence, and information assurance issues presented by the release of these documents. |
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Name(s:) |
Patrick Kennedy |
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Title: |
Under Secretary for Management |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate, WikiLeaks Mitigation Team |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/KVW5s |
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Shortly before WikiLeaks began its gradual release of State Department cables last year, department officials sent emails to contacts on Capitol Hill predicting dire consequences, said one of the two congressional aides briefed on the internal government reviews. |
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Agency(ies): |
Reuters |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/dZZBf |
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November 2010
When the press and WikiLeaks announced that they were going to release purported State cables starting on November 28, 2010, the State Department took the following immediate actions: 1) Established a 24/7 WikiLeaks Working Group composed of senior officials from throughout the Department, notably our regional bureaus; 2) Created a group to review potential risks to individuals; and 3) Suspended SIPRNet access to NCD (SIPRNet is a DOD network).
The Department also created a Mitigation Team to address the policy, legal, security, counterintelligence, and information assurance issues presented by the release of these documents. During this period, the Department kept Congress apprised of both the international fallout caused by the WikiLeaks' disclosure and the steps undertaken to mitigate them. The Department convened two separate briefings for members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate within days (December 2, 2010) of the first disclosure by WikiLeaks and appeared twice before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (December 7 and 9, 2010). |
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Name(s:) |
Patrick Kennedy |
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Title: |
Under Secretary for Management |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/KVW5s |
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Department has suspended access to the Net Centric Diplomacy (NCD) database of diplomatic reporting , and its classified 'ClassNet' web sites and SharePoint sites previously accessible through the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), while retaining access via the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System. |
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Agency(ies): |
Office of the Press Secretary, White House |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/M1g6Q |
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MR. CROWLEY: Good afternoon and welcome to the Department of State. Obviously, Im sure the Secretary of State answered all of your questions on that particular subject. Let me mention just briefly a couple of other things before coming back to the issue that Im sure youre focused on today.
The Secretary this morning had a very productive session with Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu. They did talk about the WikiLeaks issue, and the foreign minister appreciated the direct and candid comments that the Secretary provided.
[...]
With that
QUESTION: P.J., just a couple short things on the whole WikiLeaks fiasco. One, have you gotten any formal complaints or protests from foreign governments about this? I realize it wasnt you that released them, but are you aware of any formal (inaudible)?
MR. CROWLEY: I am confident that from embassies first and in succeeding days, we will hear reaction from various governments to bring you to the present point. The Secretary made a number of calls over the weekend to her counterparts. And from Deputy Secretary Jim Steinberg, Under Secretary Bill Burns, the assistant secretaries, ambassadors, we did everything we can to reach out to governments in advance of the anticipated release of these documents. We will be doing follow-up calls during the course of the week.
Were conscious of the fact that probably the stories that weve seen today are not the last ones to be reported on this subject, so we are going to continue this diplomatic outreach for as long as it takes. But I would expect that we will be having feedback from governments during the course of this process. Im just not aware of any particular feedback at this point. Obviously, the Secretary had a chance to talk to Foreign Minister Davutoglu, as she indicated when she met with you earlier. She will have a number of conversations this week with her counterparts and other leaders during the OSCE Summit. So well be getting some feedback.
QUESTION: Okay, and then the second thing is that do you there is a lot of stuff in these cables that talks about the what diplomats report back.
MR. CROWLEY: Thats a diplomatic term, 'stuff.'
QUESTION: Yeah. (Laughter.) Talks about what diplomats what American diplomats are expected to report back to Washington about their host government or foreign other foreign leaders. Theres been a lot of handwringing, at least in Europe, about this kind of about some of this kind of reporting in terms of the German political scene and the candid assessments of foreign leaders as well as this intelligence-gathering or gathering of biometric data at the UN. Will any of that change or are these going to continue to be kind of standard operating procedure for diplomats abroad? Or are you --
MR. CROWLEY: Well, and Ill just establish the principle up front that were not going to talk about any particular cable.
In our conversations with our counterparts around the world, I think there is, in diplomatic circles, an understanding that this is what diplomats do. We have our diplomats posted around the world, many in challenging circumstances. They are trying theyre interacting with government officials; theyre interacting with members of civil society; theyre trying to interpret events on the ground. These events are increasingly at a more rapid pace than perhaps might have occurred in the past. They report back what they see, what they hear to the State Department here in Washington and to other agencies across the government. Many of these reports are raw, unvarnished. They provide on-the-ground perspective. They inform policies. They inform actions.
But as the Secretary made clear, policies are set here in Washington. The information that is collected and provided is useful. In some cases its accurate. In some cases its not. In some cases it might be a vantage point from one foxhole that might may or may not necessarily represent a broader perspective.
But this is what diplomats do. Weve very proud of what our diplomats do. We will learn from this experience. As the Secretary has said, weve already made adjustments in how we the access that we provide to our reporting documents. But we will not change how we do diplomacy around the world.
QUESTION: So the answer the short answer to my question was no, its not going to change anything?
MR. CROWLEY: I liked my answer better.
QUESTION: Well, is that --
MR. CROWLEY: No. I mean we --
QUESTION: No. You --
MR. CROWLEY: Its a very valid point. As the Secretary said, in some cases people leak information because they think theres been wrongdoing. This is information that helps people understand how we conduct the foreign policy of the United States day in and day out in difficult assignments around the world. Were very proud of our diplomats. We do we think they do an excellent job of helping inform policy. Were not going to change what we do.
QUESTION: Okay. So their instructions from Washington wont change. And then the corollary to that is that are you concerned at all that some people might water-down or be less candid in their appraisals of people because of this?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, I think the Secretary last night sent a message to the troops, if you will. And well be making clear that we value the diplomatic work that is done at posts all over the world. Well we are going to we have already and we will continue to look to see how information is stored, who has access to that information, both within our department and across the government. But certainly, without getting into any specific cable, what you see here is information that is very, very important to the conduct of the foreign policy of the United States.
Jill.
QUESTION: P.J., specifically on that question of how this information is stored, the understanding that we seem to have is that post 9/11, in an effort to avoid stove-piping, they brought a lot of this information together under the DOD. Does the Secretary have a view at this point I know Jack Lew said each organization, agency, now has to study, put together a team. But does the Secretary believe that it is a good idea for State Department cables and other communication to be in a system along with DOD?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, we have stood here and weve talked about whole-of-government efforts on our policy. Theres a great deal of interaction between the State Department and the Defense Department and across other agencies of government. So you do have to share information to be able to have a common perspective on the development and execution of both a foreign policy that includes a military dimension and a civil dimension. So the sharing of information is vitally important to the coordination and conduct of our national security policies. That should not change.
I think the other phenomenon one phenomenon, of course, is the imperative after 9/11 of a need to share. And we will evaluate that imperative against the need to protect or the need to know. And so this will be something that we will be reviewing, and there is obviously tension between those two approaches.
I think the other thing weve learned here is that it is not just the greater coordination and interaction across agencies, but its also the digitization of the information that is comes into the State Department. If you go back probably 25 years, these were done by paper and teletypes and so on and so forth. We do have a digitized system that allows us to report in real time. That has great value and benefit.
But we have taken steps to review who has access to the networks and the databases on which our information and the information of other agencies is resident, and we will tighten up those access standards as we go forward. But we are have been for many months reviewing the implications of this expected release.
QUESTION: P.J. --
QUESTION: P.J. --
MR. CROWLEY: Yeah. Charlie.
QUESTION: With all respect, you didnt answer Matts question about whether the language whether you expect that the language from people reporting from the field to change or Ill use the word to soften, but thats my word or do you expect them to be as frank |
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Name(s:) |
Phillip J. Crowley |
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Title: |
Assistant Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Public Affairs, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate, WikiLeaks 24/7 Task Force, Banking Blockade |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/KQi8j |
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Title: |
Daily Press Briefing - November 29, 2010 |
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MR. GIBBS: Yes, ma'am.
Q Thanks. We have the statement that you put out yesterday condemning the WikiLeaks release, but what was the reaction from the President when someone informed him yesterday that these documents had come out and reports were coming out about the contents of the documents?
MR. GIBBS: I was not in the PDB [President's Daily Brief] when the President was directly briefed on this. This would actually not have been yesterday, but would have been sometime last week when -- after we became aware of the upcoming release. The President was briefed by those in his daily intelligence briefing on the size the scope of the information that was to become public. And obviously, the Secretary of State and the State Department at a foreign minister level have been very active in discussions with our allies and our partners around the world about what is in these documents.
I think it is safe to say that the President was -- it's an understatement -- not pleased with this information becoming public. As you saw during the presidential campaign and during his time in the White House, open and transparent government is something that the President believes is truly important. But the stealing of classified information and its dissemination is a crime.
Q Have any world leaders called him to talk about the release or to complain about the contents of --
MR. GIBBS: The calls have originated -- the calls that our government has made have originated from the State Department and the Secretary of State, so I would refer you more specifically to them. The President has not been on the phone around this.
Q Will he speak on this at all? Will he speak -- will he comment publicly on this issue?
MR. GIBBS: There are no plans for him to talk about this today, no.
Q Robert, I know administration officials have been out there today talking about ways to tighten up the procedures --
MR. GIBBS: Yes.
Q -- or handling this material.
MR. GIBBS: Yes.
Q But why was the information so vulnerable to being stolen in the first place?
MR. GIBBS: Well, I think we have for -- and I speak a little bit for previous administrations, as well -- there is always the balance of need to know and need to share. If you look at one of the main critiques in the pre-9/11 intelligence world was a difficulty in information-sharing about threats up and down and across different government platforms. That is something that I think each and every administration struggles with.
Understand that we want soldiers on the front lines of battle to have the most up-to-date intelligence that's possible about the enemy that they face, the tactics that they use. That's important. It is obvious, though, that serious controls and oversight have to be in place in order to balance, as I said earlier, the need to know and the need to share.
Specifically the Department of Defense has made it much more difficult for somebody to get access to and to copy and move both this type and this volume of information, disabling the ability to, for instance, plug in a thumb drive or a CD and copy vast amounts of information; limiting the access to certain documents based on rank; greater oversight.
All of those things as well as -- I don't know if you all heard the statement that the Secretary of State just made where she announced a similar review at the State Department, as well as Jack Lew's memo to agencies reminding them of how one handles sensitive and classified information, and to convene groups to ensure that the best practices are being used, and to evaluate whether those practices are sufficient to ensure that this type of information isn't released.
[...]
Q Is the President worried because of the WikiLeaks disclosure that other countries will no longer be candid with American diplomats? And is the President worried that countries like Yemen or the Gulf states will now be forced into a position where they are publicly not cooperating with American efforts either against AQAP in Yemen or against Iran's nuclear program?
MR. GIBBS: Well, I think for obvious legal reasons I don't want to get into the specifics of these purported cables. I will say that while we -- and you've heard the statement that we released from me yesterday, the statement from the Secretary of State and from our Ambassador at the United Nations -- obviously a breach of these type of discussions is decidedly not good. That does not, however, change the fact that we have a series of problems that have to be addressed on the world stage, and that without -- it is hard to imagine progress on those issues without American leadership moving those forward.
You mentioned Iran. I think it's important to -- let's focus on that for a second. Iran is not a threat because we have said to other countries it is a threat and you should treat it as such. I think it is obvious that countries throughout the world, countries in North America, countries in Europe, countries in the Middle East all understand the threat that a nuclear Iran poses, again, not because we said it was a threat but because they recognize, either for regional stability or overall global stability, that dealing with their pursuit of a nuclear weapons program is a grave concern not just to us but also to them.
I do not believe that the release of these documents impacts our ability to conduct a foreign policy that moves our interests forward and addresses both regional and global concerns about the issues that threaten this world.
Q Is the administration considering taking legal action against WikiLeaks itself?
MR. GIBBS: I would say two things. Obviously there is an ongoing criminal investigation about the stealing of and the dissemination of sensitive and classified information. Secondly, under the administration -- or I would say -- should say administration wide, we are looking at a whole host of things, and I wouldn't rule anything out.
[...]
Q You called the leak of this classified information 'not good,' but how does the White House view it? Is it more of a headache than it is anything of a serious nature?
MR. GIBBS: Well, Dan, I don't -- I think obviously it is a very serious -- it's a serious crime, first and foremost. It is -- I don't think anybody would stand here and tell you this isn't a concern about security. This is a concern that, as you heard the Secretary of State discuss, some of these -- some of this information could contain names of people that are working with our government to help on issues like human rights, on issues of democracy, in places where those aren't so easy to work on.
So, again, I don't think anybody would stand up here and tell you that this isn't a serious concern. At the same time, I do not believe it does and I do not believe we could ever afford to let it greatly impact our ability to pursue a foreign policy that's in our interest and in the interest of the world. And I think we have touched on and we have talked about several issues -- counterterrorism, the spread of nuclear weapons, a whole host of things -- that demand our attention, demand our engagement, and we'll continue to receive it.
Q These documents also purport to highlight discussions about North Korea, the collapse of North Korea, reunification of the Peninsula. How do you think this kind of information could impact the tense situation in that region?
MR. GIBBS: I'm going to break these issues slightly apart. Obviously for the first reason, Dan, in order to handle sensitive and classified information as government, I've got to sign an oath. There's a safe in my office in the event that I keep any of that information. I'm not going to break the law and discuss openly what may or may not be in sensitive or classified cables.
We are working -- there have been meetings throughout the weekend, meetings again here today to discuss the ongoing situation on the Korean Peninsula. We continue to urge China to use its influence and persuasion with the North Koreans to address their behavior and to address the serious problems that arose last week.
The information that may or may not be on the Internet doesn't affect our ability to continue to focus on that. As obviously you heard |
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Name(s:) |
Robert Gibbs |
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Title: |
Press Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Office of the Press Secretary, White House |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/htxya |
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Title: |
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 11/29/2010 |
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Author: |
Robert Gibbs |
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Title: |
Press Secretary |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
White House |
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Concerning: |
"Cablegate |
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Archive Link |
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Title: |
White House Daily Briefing, Nov 29, 2010 |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
White House |
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Concerning: |
"Cablegate |
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SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, good afternoon. Do we have enough room in here? I want to take a moment to discuss the recent news reports of classified documents that were illegally provided from United States Government computers. In my conversations with counterparts from around the world over the past few days, and in my meeting earlier today with Foreign Minister Davutoglu of Turkey, I have had very productive discussions on this issue.
The United States strongly condemns the illegal disclosure of classified information. It puts people's lives in danger, threatens our national security, and undermines our efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems. This Administration is advancing a robust foreign policy that is focused on advancing America's national interests and leading the world in solving the most complex challenges of our time, from fixing the global economy, to thwarting international terrorism, to stopping the spread of catastrophic weapons, to advancing human rights and universal values. In every country and in every region of the world, we are working with partners to pursue these aims.
So let's be clear: this disclosure is not just an attack on America's foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations, that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity.
I am confident that the partnerships that the Obama Administration has worked so hard to build will withstand this challenge. The President and I have made these partnerships a priority and we are proud of the progress that they have helped achieve and they will remain at the center of our efforts.
I will not comment on or confirm what are alleged to be stolen State Department cables. But I can say that the United States deeply regrets the disclosure of any information that was intended to be confidential, including private discussions between counterparts or our diplomats' personal assessments and observations. I want to make clear that our official foreign policy is not set through these messages, but here in Washington. Our policy is a matter of public record, as reflected in our statements and our actions around the world.
I would also add that to the American people and to our friends and partners, I want you to know that we are taking aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information. I have directed that specific actions be taken at the State Department, in addition to new security safeguards at the Department of Defense and elsewhere to protect State Department information so that this kind of breach cannot and does not ever happen again.
Relations between governments aren't the only concern created by the publication of this material. U.S. diplomats meet with local human rights workers, journalists, religious leaders, and others outside of governments who offer their own candid insights. These conversations also depend on trust and confidence. For example, if an anti-corruption activist shares information about official misconduct, or a social worker passes along documentation of sexual violence, revealing that person's identity could have serious repercussions: imprisonment, torture, even death.
So whatever are the motives in disseminating these documents, it is clear that releasing them poses real risks to real people, and often to the very people who have dedicated their own lives to protecting others.
Now, I am aware that some may mistakenly applaud those responsible, so I want to set the record straight: There is nothing laudable about endangering innocent people, and there is nothing brave about sabotaging the peaceful relations between nations on which our common security depends.
There have been examples in history in which official conduct has been made public in the name of exposing wrongdoings or misdeeds. This is not one of those cases. In contrast, what is being put on display in this cache of documents is the fact that American diplomats are doing the work we expect them to do. They are helping identify and prevent conflicts before they start. They are working hard every day to solve serious practical problems to secure dangerous materials, to fight international crime, to assist human rights defenders, to restore our alliances, to ensure global economic stability. This is the role that America plays in the world. This is the role our diplomats play in serving America. And it should make every one of us proud.
The work of our diplomats doesn't just benefit Americans, but also billions of others around the globe. In addition to endangering particular individuals, disclosures like these tear at the fabric of the proper function of responsible government.
People of good faith understand the need for sensitive diplomatic communications, both to protect the national interest and the global common interest. Every country, including the United States, must be able to have candid conversations about the people and nations with whom they deal. And every country, including the United States, must be able to have honest, private dialogue with other countries about issues of common concern. I know that diplomats around the world share this view but this is not unique to diplomacy. In almost every profession whether it's law or journalism, finance or medicine or academia or running a small business people rely on confidential communications to do their jobs. We count on the space of trust that confidentiality provides. When someone breaches that trust, we are all worse off for it. And so despite some of the rhetoric we've heard these past few days, confidential communications do not run counter to the public interest. They are fundamental to our ability to serve the public interest.
In America, we welcome genuine debates about pressing questions of public policy. We have elections about them. That is one of the greatest strengths of our democracy. It is part of who we are and it is a priority for this Administration. But stealing confidential documents and then releasing them without regard for the consequences does not serve the public good, and it is not the way to engage in a healthy debate.
In the past few days, I have spoken with many of my counterparts around the world, and we have all agreed that we will continue to focus on the issues and tasks at hand. In that spirit, President Obama and I remain committed to productive cooperation with our partners as we seek to build a better, more prosperous world for all.
Thank you, and I'd be glad to take a few questions.
MR. CROWLEY: We'll begin with Charlie Wolfson of CBS in his last week here covering the State Department.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Where are you going, Charlie?
QUESTION: I'll (inaudible) into the sunset, but let me get to a question.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes, sir. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, are you embarrassed by these leaks personally, professionally? And what harm have the leaks done to the U.S. so far that you can determine from talking to your colleagues?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Charlie, as I said in my statement, and based on the many conversations that I've had with my counterparts, I am confident that the partnerships and relationships that we have built in this Administration will withstand this challenge. The President and I have made these partnerships a priority, a real centerpiece of our foreign policy, and we're proud of the progress that we have made over the last 22 months.
Every single day, U.S. Government representatives from the entire government, not just from the State Department, engage with hundreds if not thousands of government representatives and members of civil society from around the world. They carry out the goals and the interests and the values of the United States. And it is imperative that we have candid reporting from those who are in the field working with their counterparts in order to inform our decision-making back here in Washington.
I can tell you that in my conversations, at least one of my counterparts said to me, 'Well, don't worry about it. You should see what we say about you.' (Laughter.) So I think that t |
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Name(s:) |
Hillary Clinton |
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Title: |
Secretary of State |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/Ro0gP |
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Title: |
State Department Briefing, Nov 29, 2010 |
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Author: |
Hillary Clinton |
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Title: |
Secretary of State |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
"Cablegate |
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Title: |
Clinton: WikiLeaks' Release Attacks International Community |
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Author: |
Jim Garamone, Lisa Daniel |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
American Forces Press Service, Department of Defense |
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Archive Link |
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BRIEFING--WIKILEAKS
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to receive a briefing on WikiLeaks Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information. The Committee was briefed by departmental witnesses. |
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Agency(ies): |
United States Government Printing Office |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url Link
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QUESTION: (Inaudible) out of Iran the Iran talks next week. What are your expectations for these talks? I mean, are there any indications that Iran is coming ready to negotiate with you? And do you think the Wikileaks could actually help by showing Iran what all of its neighbors think of it?
MR. CROWLEY: (Laughter.) Let me take the first thing first. We would like to see Iran engage in a real process. I think I quipped last year: What's our objective for the first meeting? A second meeting. But that would signal Iran is ready to answer the questions that the international community has. I mean, Iran is alone in the fact that it is unable or unwilling to answer the questions that have arisen about the nature of its nuclear program. But these are not impossible questions to answer. We will come next week prepared to engage on the nuclear issue, engage on other topics of interest with Iran. We hope that they will come to this meeting with the same seriousness of purpose. We're under no illusions here. We understand that this may be difficult and we understand that Iran may not come prepared to engage constructively. But we're showing that we're willing to offer this continue to offer this engagement and we hope that we will have a productive meeting next week. |
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Name(s:) |
Phillip J. Crowley |
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Title: |
Assistant Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Public Affairs, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/Y6JcI |
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However, shortly after stories about the cables first began to appear in the media, State Department officials were already privately playing down the damage, the two congressional officials said. |
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Agency(ies): |
Reuters |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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November 2010
When the press and WikiLeaks announced that they were going to release purported State cables starting on November 28, 2010, the State Department took the following immediate actions: 1) Established a 24/7 WikiLeaks Working Group composed of senior officials from throughout the Department, notably our regional bureaus; 2) Created a group to review potential risks to individuals; and 3) Suspended SIPRNet access to NCD (SIPRNet is a DOD network).
The Department also created a Mitigation Team to address the policy, legal, security, counterintelligence, and information assurance issues presented by the release of these documents. During this period, the Department kept Congress apprised of both the international fallout caused by the WikiLeaks' disclosure and the steps undertaken to mitigate them. The Department convened two separate briefings for members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate within days (December 2, 2010) of the first disclosure by WikiLeaks and appeared twice before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (December 7 and 9, 2010). |
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Name(s:) |
Patrick Kennedy |
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Title: |
Under Secretary of Management |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Url Link
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/f52sa |
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Philip J. Crowley, spokesman for the State Department, denied in an email message any federal involvement: 'This is not true. We have instructed State Department employees not to access the WikiLeaks site and download posted documents using an unclassified network since these documents are still classified. We condemn what Mr. Assange is doing, but have given no advice to anyone beyond the State Department to my knowledge.' |
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Name(s:) |
Phillip J. Crowley |
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Title: |
Assistant Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Public Affairs, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url Link
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/8RE82 |
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However, shortly after stories about the cables first began to appear in the media, State Department officials were already privately playing down the damage, the two congressional officials said. |
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Agency(ies): |
Reuters |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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November 2010
When the press and WikiLeaks announced that they were going to release purported State cables starting on November 28, 2010, the State Department took the following immediate actions: 1) Established a 24/7 WikiLeaks Working Group composed of senior officials from throughout the Department, notably our regional bureaus; 2) Created a group to review potential risks to individuals; and 3) Suspended SIPRNet access to NCD (SIPRNet is a DOD network).
The Department also created a Mitigation Team to address the policy, legal, security, counterintelligence, and information assurance issues presented by the release of these documents. During this period, the Department kept Congress apprised of both the international fallout caused by the WikiLeaks' disclosure and the steps undertaken to mitigate them. The Department convened two separate briefings for members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate within days (December 2, 2010) of the first disclosure by WikiLeaks and appeared twice before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (December 7 and 9, 2010). |
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Name(s:) |
Patrick Kennedy |
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Title: |
Under Secretary of Management |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/f52sa |
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However, shortly after stories about the cables first began to appear in the media, State Department officials were already privately playing down the damage, the two congressional officials said. |
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Agency(ies): |
Reuters |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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November 2010
When the press and WikiLeaks announced that they were going to release purported State cables starting on November 28, 2010, the State Department took the following immediate actions: 1) Established a 24/7 WikiLeaks Working Group composed of senior officials from throughout the Department, notably our regional bureaus; 2) Created a group to review potential risks to individuals; and 3) Suspended SIPRNet access to NCD (SIPRNet is a DOD network).
The Department also created a Mitigation Team to address the policy, legal, security, counterintelligence, and information assurance issues presented by the release of these documents. During this period, the Department kept Congress apprised of both the international fallout caused by the WikiLeaks' disclosure and the steps undertaken to mitigate them. The Department convened two separate briefings for members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate within days (December 2, 2010) of the first disclosure by WikiLeaks and appeared twice before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (December 7 and 9, 2010). |
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Name(s:) |
Patrick Kennedy |
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Title: |
Under Secretary of Management |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/f52sa |
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Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, executive, briefing on Update on WikiLeaks Unauthorized Disclosures, 1 p.m., 304HVC. |
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Agency(ies): |
United States Government Printing Office |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
United States Government Printing Office |
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2010-12-31 |
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A congressional official briefed on the reviews said the administration felt compelled to say publicly that the revelations had seriously damaged American interests in order to bolster legal efforts to shut down the WikiLeaks website and bring charges against the leakers...'
'I think they just want to present the toughest front they can muster,' the official said...
But State Department officials have privately told Congress they expect overall damage to U.S. foreign policy to be containable, said the official, one of two congressional aides familiar with the briefings who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity...
'We were told (the impact of WikiLeaks revelations) was embarrassing but not damaging, said the official, who attended a briefing given in late 2010 by State Department officials...
'From our standpoint, there has been substantial damage...We believe that hundreds of people have been put at potential risk because their names have been compromised in the release of these cables,'State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told Reuters.
A spokeswoman for the office of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, which oversees all U.S. intelligence agencies, said, 'The irresponsible and reckless behavior of WikiLeaks has of course caused damage and will continue to be damaging in the months and years to come.'
But current and former intelligence officials note that while WikiLeaks has released a handful of inconsequential CIA analytical reports, the website has made public few if any real intelligence secrets, including reports from undercover agents or ultra-sensitive technical intelligence reports, such as spy satellite pictures or communications intercepts.' |
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Agency(ies): |
Reuters |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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QUESTION: Does the U.S. ambassador in Mexico, Carlos Pascual, does he still have your confidence after the WikiLeaks scandals?
(In Spanish.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I deeply regret the WikiLeaks situation, and I've told President Calderon that. But I do really appreciate what Ambassador Pascual has done in his time as our ambassador because he's worked closely with many parts of the Mexican Government. We are close friends and partners with Mexico but we don't always agree on everything, as no two countries do. And so I'm going to continue to really support the important work that's being done, and it will be up to the ambassador to determine how effective he can be going forward |
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Name(s:) |
Hillary Clinton |
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Title: |
Secretary of State |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/DNxRy |
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QUESTION: You know there's been a flare-up on the WikiLeaks issue because the president has expressed very little confidence in the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. Is he going to be there? Do you have confidence in the U.S. Ambassador? (Speaking in Spanish.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, this was a very unfortunate situation. I spoke personally with President Calderon about it and expressed our regret. But at the same time, the Ambassador has been very instrumental in working to make sure that the United States Government responded to the Mexican needs. I think the Ambassador will make an assessment as to whether or not he can continue to be as helpful as he has been in the past' |
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Name(s:) |
Hillary Clinton |
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Title: |
Secretary of State |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/r1xFz |
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QUESTION: Can we switch to Mexico?
MR. TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Ambassador Carlos Pascual. You have announced that the Ambassador Carlos Pascual, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, have resigned. Is he another victim, high-profile victim of WikiLeaks?
MR. TONER: He made a personal decision. He, I believe, said in his statement that he didn't want to be a distraction to what is one of our most important bilateral relationships. He enjoyed all along the support of the Secretary and, obviously, the President. We feel he accomplished a great deal in his role, but he made the decision that he didn't want to impede this important relationship. I'm not going to characterize it in any way whatsoever. It's really his decision.
QUESTION: Is he going to be doing something else at the State Department? According to the press release, he was going to come and perform some other duties within the State Department. Can you share something about --
MR. TONER: I believe that's what the statement said. I don't have any more details at this time.
QUESTION: And do you expect any other maybe other governments to complain because the ambassador because of the reports of WikiLeaks and perhaps face similar situations?
MR. TONER: We've said all along that it's a difficult time for us. It's going to make our work more difficult. But at the same time, we demand or we ask that our embassies rather provide us with candid assessments, and that's going to continue.
Go ahead. And then --
QUESTION: Did (inaudible) dissuade him from resigning?
MR. TONER: I would just say that he enjoyed the support of the Secretary and the President all along during his tenure.
Go ahead, in the back.
QUESTION: Can you tell us, do you have an idea when he made official, transmitted his decision to Secretary Clinton?
MR. TONER: The first part of your question again?
QUESTION: Can you tell us when he made official or transmitted his decision to Secretary Clinton?
MR. TONER: On March 19th.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: Let's say have you taken us steps --
MR. TONER: Can we just (laughter.) That's okay.
QUESTION: -- for the future? I mean, what are you telling the other governments now for the future, that WikiLeaks-like things will not happen?
MR. TONER: I'm not sure I know how to answer that, Goyal.
QUESTION: I mean --
MR. TONER: I'm sorry. WikiLeaks --
QUESTION: That WikiLeaks took place, now what are you telling to the governments now, that no more in the future something like this will happen? Or how are you protecting the information?
MR. TONER: That's a broader topic for discussion. And we're obviously taking measures that to protect our classified information in light of WikiLeaks.
[...]
QUESTION: -- the Hindu newspaper in India is coming out with a WikiLeaks publication, the last one week. Has there been any high-level contact between the U.S. and India after that on those issues?
MR. TONER: Not that I'm aware of. |
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Name(s:) |
Mark Toner |
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Title: |
Deputy Spokesperson |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/EQcSf |
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QUESTION: Can we switch to Mexico?
MR. TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Ambassador Carlos Pascual. You have announced that the Ambassador Carlos Pascual, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, have resigned. Is he another victim, high-profile victim of WikiLeaks?
MR. TONER: He made a personal decision. He, I believe, said in his statement that he didn't want to be a distraction to what is one of our most important bilateral relationships. He enjoyed all along the support of the Secretary and, obviously, the President. We feel he accomplished a great deal in his role, but he made the decision that he didn't want to impede this important relationship. I'm not going to characterize it in any way whatsoever. It's really his decision.
QUESTION: Is he going to be doing something else at the State Department? According to the press release, he was going to come and perform some other duties within the State Department. Can you share something about --
MR. TONER: I believe that's what the statement said. I don't have any more details at this time.
QUESTION: And do you expect any other maybe other governments to complain because the ambassador because of the reports of WikiLeaks and perhaps face similar situations?
MR. TONER: We've said all along that it's a difficult time for us. It's going to make our work more difficult. But at the same time, we demand or we ask that our embassies rather provide us with candid assessments, and that's going to continue.
Go ahead. And then --
QUESTION: Did (inaudible) dissuade him from resigning?
MR. TONER: I would just say that he enjoyed the support of the Secretary and the President all along during his tenure.
Go ahead, in the back.
QUESTION: Can you tell us, do you have an idea when he made official, transmitted his decision to Secretary Clinton?
MR. TONER: The first part of your question again?
QUESTION: Can you tell us when he made official or transmitted his decision to Secretary Clinton?
MR. TONER: On March 19th.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: Let's say have you taken us steps --
MR. TONER: Can we just (laughter.) That's okay.
QUESTION: -- for the future? I mean, what are you telling the other governments now for the future, that WikiLeaks-like things will not happen?
MR. TONER: I'm not sure I know how to answer that, Goyal.
QUESTION: I mean --
MR. TONER: I'm sorry. WikiLeaks --
QUESTION: That WikiLeaks took place, now what are you telling to the governments now, that no more in the future something like this will happen? Or how are you protecting the information?
MR. TONER: That's a broader topic for discussion. And we're obviously taking measures that to protect our classified information in light of WikiLeaks.
[...]
QUESTION: -- the Hindu newspaper in India is coming out with a WikiLeaks publication, the last one week. Has there been any high-level contact between the U.S. and India after that on those issues?
MR. TONER: Not that I'm aware of. |
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Name(s:) |
Mark Toner |
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Title: |
Deputy Spokesperson |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/EQcSf |
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On April 5, 2011, the Government of Ecuador declared the United States Ambassador to Ecuador, Heather M. Hodges, persona non grata under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, citing alleged confidential cables released to the public by WikiLeaks. On April 7, the U.S. Government took reciprocal action, informing Ecuador's Ambassador to the United States, Luis Benigno Gallegos Chiriboga, of the decision to declare him persona non grata under Article 9(1) of the Vienna Convention. Ecuador's new Ambassador to the United States, Nathalie Cely, took office in December 2011. The U.S. Ambassador-designate to Ecuador, Adam Namm, awaits confirmation by the U.S. Senate. |
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Agency(ies): |
Bureau of Western Affairs, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/t6RGX |
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Ecuador's government said Tuesday that it was expelling the United States ambassador, Heather M. Hodges, over comments made public in a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks in which Ms. Hodges referred to high-level police corruption in Ecuador and possible knowledge of it by the president.
Ms. Hodges recommended in a cable dated July 10, 2009 and published Monday by the Spanish newspaper El Pais that the United States revoke a visa for Jaime Aquilino Hurtado, the national police commander who served from April 2008 to June 2009.
In the cable, she discussed multiple reports of illegal activities by Mr. Aquilino Hurtado, including his possible involvement in schemes to extort bribes from a taxi union, steal public funds and ease trafficking of undocumented Chinese immigrants.
In a particularly sensitive part of the cable, Ms. Hodges noted that 'some Embassy officials believe that President Correa must have been aware of them when he made the appointment' of Mr. Aquilino Hurtado.
'These observers believe that Correa may have wanted to have an ENP chief whom he could easily manipulate,' said Ms. Hodges, using the initials for the Ecuadorean National Police. |
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Name(s:) |
Simon Romero |
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Title: |
Reporter |
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Agency(ies): |
New York Times |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/dyLju |
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Excerpt from the U.S. State Department Press Briefing:
MR. TONER: Just briefly at the top I know some of you were asking me via email and others in the Press Office our Embassy did today receive official communication through appropriate diplomatic channels that the Ecuadorian Government has declared Ambassador Heather Hodges persona non grata. Ambassador Hodges is one of our most experienced and talented diplomats and the Department considers her expulsion unjustified. And we deeply regret the Ecuadorian Government took it. The Department will examine its options to respond to this Ecuadorian action.
With that, I'll take your questions.
QUESTION: What kind of options?
MR. TONER: You're aware of the I think well aware of some of the options. We've literally just received this news.
QUESTION: Well, enlighten me again.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.) (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Are all options on the table? (Laughter.)
MR. TONER: Okay. You're you've we've been down this road in other cases and we're all aware of some of the options. Again, I don't want to get into details. We're evaluating our options. We literally just received this news before coming I did before coming down here, so --
QUESTION: All right. I did notice --
MR. TONER: -- it's still very early.
QUESTION: -- that the Ecuadorian Government has recently either reopened or announced plans to open consulates in New Orleans, which I think has been reopened now after Katrina, and to open one in Phoenix. Is this the kind of thing that you would look at --
MR. TONER: I don't I really --
QUESTION: -- in terms of rescinding their permission? I mean, apparently, they're eager to have branch offices in this country even at the same time as they're expelling your ambassador. Is that the kind of thing that could be looked at and --
MR. TONER: Well --
QUESTION: -- as well as just the straight-out reciprocal action?
MR. TONER: Again, there's a number of options we can take. We just received this news, so it's really premature for me to be speculating on what actions we might take.
QUESTION: All right.
MR. TONER: She's again, Ambassador Hodges is one of our most experienced diplomats, and we deeply regret her expulsion.
QUESTION: Did the diplomatic note say why she was being PNGed?
MR. TONER: It did not. Actually, it did not specify.
QUESTION: All right. Without getting into the reasons that may or may not have been behind the expulsion, do you have concerns about corruption in Ecuador's police force?
MR. TONER: I think that well, Matt, it's a fair question. I believe that we have corruption concerns in a number of countries. Corruption is never is always a corrosive factor in many democracies. And we're going to candidly assess that kind of corruption where we see it, but I don't want to specifically address that issue.
QUESTION: Well, do you is I'm sorry, Ecuador, are you concerned about corruption in Ecuador's police force?
MR. TONER: Again, this is something that we would talk about in our Human Rights Report. I don't have specific information for you on that. I can look into it.
QUESTION: Mark, can you confirm that it was because of a WikiLeaks document?
MR. TONER: Again, we received no official reason for her PNG.
QUESTION: Did you get any official I mean, it's surely, you will have asked. Do you get did you get any unofficial explanation for it?
MR. TONER: Well, Arshad, again, we've seen various press reports and other public comments that did link it to that, but I can't speculate.
QUESTION: And do you think if it is linked to that, do you think this is a justified action?
MR. TONER: Well, again, I don't want to talk about the contents of allegedly classified material, but speaking more broadly about the issue, our diplomats overseas conduct vital work in informing our policy decisions back in Washington. We believe that their assessments need to be candid and need to be classified in many cases. And it's always difficult when we lose those kinds of channels.
QUESTION: Well, Mark --
MR. TONER: Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: -- I'm just confused about one thing. After the sentence that says, 'Ambassador Hodges is one of our finest,' whatever that line is, what's the next sentence?
MR. TONER: 'We consider her expulsion unjustified.'
QUESTION: Well, if they didn't give you a reason, how do you know it's unjustified?
MR. TONER: Well --
QUESTION: I mean, how can you come to a judgment that it's unjustified if you don't know what the reason for it is?
MR. TONER: Well, Matt, again, we believe she's doing stellar work and that there is no reason for or justification for her expulsion.
QUESTION: Well, yeah, but presumably, if you're saying that it is unjustified, that there is some reason that you don't accept for her that they've made either publicly or privately to you?
MR. TONER: Well, again, I referred what I answered to Arshad I referred to some of the public comments that we've seen. But certainly, we believe she's doing good work and there's no reason for her to be a persona non grata.
QUESTION: Change topic?
MR. TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: Just one more on this?
MR. TONER: Go ahead.
QUESTION: Up to now, how would you assess relations with Ecuador?
MR. TONER: I think they're on good standing. It's one of our key allies in the region and we want to take that relationship forward. And we deeply regret this incident and the impact it's going to have |
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The U.S. has suspended its dialogue with Ecuador and declared its Ambassador to the US as persona non grata in retaliation of a similar action by government of Ecuador.
'Assistant Secretary (of State, Arturo) Valenzuela called in Ambassador (Luis) Gallegos at 10:30 this morning and informed him of our decision to declare him persona non grata. I believe he's required to depart the United States as soon as possible,' State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
'The unjustified action of the Ecuadorian Government in declaring (US) Ambassador (to Ecuador) Hodges persona non grata left us no other option than this reciprocal action. I believe we said when I announced Ambassador Hodges was declared persona non grata, I said we were considering actions, and this is one of those,' Mr. Toner said.
'We are also suspending the bilateral dialogue which had been scheduled for June,' the State Department spokesman said.
We are interested in a positive relationship with Ecuador, but the regrettable and unwarranted decision to declare Ambassador Hodges persona non grata is going to be taken into account as we move forward in the relationship, he added. |
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Hindu |
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09QUITO572 |
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Heather Hodges |
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United States Ambassador to Ecuador |
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Embassy Quito, Department of State |
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"Cablegate, Ecuador |
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Q Can you talk to me about this aid to an anti-Syrian government broadcast group, I guess, that was revealed in Wikileaks last week? There's some reporting that administration officials are concerned that people who participate in this could be targeted by the Syrian government.
MR. CARNEY: Well, Wendell, you know we're not going to comment on alleged leaks of classified material. As you know also, the U.S. government provides support to civil society, democracy and human rights activists around the world in line with our values, among them respecting the fundamental human rights of free speech, peaceful assembly and human dignity. U.S. outreach to Syrian civilian society is entirely consistent with those principles. |
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Jay Carney |
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Press Secretary |
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White House |
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Cablegate |
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2011-06-30 |
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QUESTION: Bradley Manning's trial begins tomorrow. I'm wondering if you have any thought ' this building has any thoughts on that? Or, more broadly, just on the impact ' the negative impact, how bad the impact was from the WikiLeaks disclosures.
MS. NULAND: Well, with regard to the trial, it's now a law enforcement matter, so I'm obviously not going to comment on it when the issue's in the courts. With regard to the impact of WikiLeaks, we were quite clear at the time, and we remain clear, that it was very ' a very bad thing.
QUESTION: Can I ask, following that ' at the time you ' this building voiced some serious concerns about the effect it might have on sources and methods and, in particular, a number of human rights activists around the world who've spoken to embassy officials. Can you speak to the overall impact now, several months later, that you've seen from the disclosure of these documents?
MS. NULAND: Well, beyond saying, Kirit, that you know that we stood up a cell in this building to work with individuals who were concerned about their security and we've made good progress in trying to help some of these individuals, I think I won't go into a broad, aggregate effort to, sort of, quantify this. But we were concerned and we have taken measures to try to help those who have been concerned about government --
QUESTION: And do you think those measures have been effective?
MS. NULAND: In a number of cases, we've been able to be quite effective.
QUESTION: And have there been any cases in which you feel that somebody's still at risk?
MS. NULAND: Again, I think it won't help the people involved for me to go any deeper on this issue.
QUESTION: Okay. And my last question will be just the diplomatic impact, just following on Matt's question, if you could speak to that at all. I mean, that was a subject at the Secretary's meetings for months after the initial release --
MS. NULAND: Absolutely.
QUESTION: -- I mean, have ' are you guys still reeling from that, or is that kind of patched up for the most part?
MS. NULAND: Well, as you know, the Secretary spent a good amount of time ' I would argue months ' working with and reassuring governments around the world and rebuilding trust. And her personal involvement in that, along with the President's, was absolutely key to getting ourselves back to strong positions with some of our interlocutors around the world.
QUESTION: And you do feel that you've reached that point? In other words, where things have patched up?
MS. NULAND: Well, look, I'm not in a position to qualify/quantify, but I would say that we have not had continued representations about WikiLeaks over the past six, seven months. So --
[*****] QUESTION: But there have been some kind of tactical changes, I mean, right ' of some diplomats not being able to take notes in certain meetings, or like meetings being restricted? I mean there have been practical effects since then, wouldn't you say?
MS. NULAND: Well, we've obviously taken steps both on the strategic level and --
QUESTION: Well, and host governments also have on you, haven't they?
MS. NULAND: I don't think that you can necessarily make a direct link. I mean, in diplomatic conversations, sometimes it's appropriate to have small meetings, and sometimes it's appropriate to have bigger delegation meetings. Obviously, individual governments have made their own policy decisions, but more importantly, this building and this government, broadly, has taken steps to address some of the issues that allowed the WikiLeaks thing to happen in the first place.
QUESTION: Can you be a little bit more specific about when you say 'It was a very bad thing'? Because it sounds as though from one of your answers to Kirit is that this has pretty much blown over now. And in the light of that, I wonder how difficult it's going to be for the Administration to make the case that this was, in fact, as damaging as you claim it was ' or as you claimed it was at the time.
MS. NULAND: Again, this is now a legal case. The case will be made by the lawyers, and I'm not going to get in the middle of it.
QUESTION: No, I understand. But can you be a little bit ' I mean, 'It was a very bad thing,' is not particularly enlightening.
MS. NULAND: Matt, we spoke extensively at the time about the damage to America's reputation, about the damage to individual ' individuals who had been open and honest with us, about the risks with regard to trust that are essential for diplomacy. And as I said, the Secretary, the President had to spend many months reassuring governments afterwards. I can't quantify the residual impact standing here today. But what's most important is that this case is now in the U.S. courts --
QUESTION: No. It's in the military courts.
MS. NULAND: -- and that he will face justice. Yeah. |
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Name(s:) |
Victoria Nuland |
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Title: |
Spokesperson |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate, WikiLeaks 24/7 Task Force, WikiLeaks Persons at Risk Group, WikiLeaks Mitigation Team |
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Url Link
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/hgq1b |
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Title: |
Daily Press Briefing - December 15, 2011 |
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Department of State |
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The next chart kind of puts this problem in a global perspective. This is the world according to oil. It's what the world would look like if the size of the country was relative to how much oil it had. Now we've got to modify this a little because WikiLeaks just exposed some papers from Saudi Arabia that said they've been fibbing about how much oil they have, that they really have 40 percent less oil than they said they have. That's true I think of all of the OPEC countries, because back when they could produce enough oil to drive the price of oil down, they could produce a certain percentage of their reserves. |
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Name(s:) |
Roscoe Bartlett |
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Title: |
United States Representative |
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Agency(ies): |
United States House of Representatives |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url Link
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ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Yeah. I think the Indians, first of all, are concerned sometimes about some of the kinds of equipment that we sell Pakistan, to help Pakistan meet its legitimate defense needs. They worry that some of that equipment could be used against India. We reassure them that we have quite strict end use requirements on these various platforms and equipment. So that's something that again we have a regular and continuing conversation about.
But broadly speaking, as I said earlier, they like we understand that it's in our interest to try to help Pakistan right now, and help Pakistan to confront the huge range of challenges that it faces. And it does them and it does us no good to sort of stand back and disengage. It's very very important to try to help.
In the Indian's case, of course they still have some quite important concerns about groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and others. But they've made the judgment it's best to try to do that by talking to them rather than by lecturing them using megaphone diplomacy.
QUESTION: Do they see it as a conflict if the U.S. is still engaged with Pakistan?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: They do. Very much so. If there's been any positive side to WikiLeaks it's been that they've seen from all the cables that have been released that we actually do have quite a strong and sincere dialogue with the Pakistanis on a lot of these issues that are of concern to India.
QUESTION: The Indian attitude towards the U.S. disengagement in Afghanistan?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: They hope we don't disengage. |
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Robert Blake |
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Assistant Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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QUESTION: Pakistan grants CIA permission to search bin Ladin compound ' can you confirm that?
MR. TONER: No.
QUESTION: I just wanted to follow an earlier question on U.S., Pakistan military. Also WikiLeaks, if you have seen reports in the last few days, they are saying that whatever money you've been spending on bringing Pakistani journalists to train in the U.S, they've been preaching, actually, to the officials back home in Pakistan anti-U.S.
MR. TONER: I'm not going to comment on the substance of those cables. Our exchange programs are above board and are reputable and are a wonderful opportunity for us to expose, for example, these journalists but other professions to the American system and how, for example in this case, journalism works. But I'm not going to speak to the contents of a Wiki cable. |
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Mark Toner |
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Deputy Spokesperson |
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Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url Link
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http://archive.is/LD58V |
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QUESTION: What's the ' what's your latest understanding of the situation in Syria? Have you heard from the Turkish foreign minister about his trip?
MS. NULAND: As you know, the Secretary and Minister Davutoglu spoke the other day before he went in to Syria. We are expecting them to speak again when the foreign minister has finished his consultations, but we haven't yet had that call. I think the meetings are ongoing on the ground in Syria now.
QUESTION: That's not scheduled, then? It's basically whenever he finishes?
MS. NULAND: Right.
QUESTION: Do you expect that today?
MS. NULAND: Unclear whether they will speak today, but they will speak as soon as he has completed his round.
QUESTION: In his conversations so far, apparently, President Asad has said that they will not relent in going after terrorists. What do ' do you make anything of that?
MS. NULAND: We've seen the same press reports you have. It is deeply regrettable that President Asad does not seem to be hearing the increasingly loud voice of the international community, a voice of concern that is now growing in strength, in volume, and in number of countries making their views known. I would note in particular that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had a very strong statement yesterday abhorring the violence and calling on the regime for change. We've also seen the statement of the GCC and the Arab League. So the pressure on Asad is growing. The concern is that he is not listening.
QUESTION: Are you ' you're referring to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia?
MS. NULAND: Yes.
QUESTION: Which was, I think, Sunday.
MS. NULAND: That's right.
QUESTION: Not yesterday.
MS. NULAND: That's right.
QUESTION: Are you aware of King Abdullah ' of the other King Abdullah has said anything? He's a bit closer to the action.
MS. NULAND: I'm not aware. We'll check for you what we've seen. But I was ' just now I was referring to Saudi Arabia.
QUESTION: What do you think of the claim by the Syrian regime that there are militant elements that actually provoke these firefights and so on?
MS. NULAND: The kind of violence and use of armor and tanks against innocents that we've seen in Syria can't be justified on any basis.
QUESTION: So, Toria, with the United ' with these countries now, we've got the GCC, the Arab League, individual countries, what does the U.S. want to see them do? I mean, what's the message from the United States other than, of course, calling for him to stop the violence? But how far does the U.S. want them to go? Should they ' should the U.S. ' be calling for him directly to step down?
MS. NULAND: As the Secretary said last week, our concern had been that we hadn't had enough voices, particularly in the neighborhood, making clear that the path that he is on is unacceptable and is abhorrent. And that has changed radically, particularly given his horrible choices in Hama and in Deir al-Zour over the last week.
So to start with, the political condemnation is growing. As you know, the United States and many other countries have significant sanctions on Syria. We want to continue to work with our partners and particularly those with continuing economic interest in Syria to strengthen those sanctions. So those conversations are ongoing. We still believe that further action in the UN would be helpful, although the president's statement last week began to set the table for that.
And clearly, the decision by Foreign Minister Davutoglu, one of Syria's near neighbors, to go and give the message of the international community directly is significant, and we hope the regime is listening.
QUESTION: Can I follow up on that?
MS. NULAND: Please, Kirit.
QUESTION: I believe the UN is supposed to meet to follow up sometime this week. You said that you believe that the time is ' or that you believe that further UN action could be warranted. Do you think there should be a push for sanctions at the UN this week?
MS. NULAND: I don't want to speak to the timing. We had the president's statement last week. But I think what's significant in terms of what further UN action would represent is that the chorus and the community of nations who do not want to stand silent in the face of this kind of violence is growing. And that's important, obviously, in a UN context if we're going to take further steps there.
QUESTION: On the sanctions, do you expect these sanctions to include, one, gas and oil, and second, air transport, a boycott of giving access to Syrian airways, and vice versa?
MS. NULAND: Well, we have said in the past that we are particularly interested in further oil and gas sanctions. This is not something that would particularly apply in the United States context because our own economic contacts with Syria are limited. With regard to other things, we're asking all countries with trade relations with Syria to look deeply at what they can do to continue to pressure the regime.
QUESTION: Quickly, and I'm sure you've seen the latest comments from Foreign Minister Lavrov, which appear to be more critical than Russia has been in the past. Do you sense that Russia has now turned and that, therefore, it may actually be possible to get action and a resolution at the UN Security Council when it was not previously?
MS. NULAND: The actions that Asad has taken in the last week, I think, have certainly caught the attention of those countries which were more reticent to criticize him publicly, and that's why you're beginning to see this stronger public condemnation. We continue to believe that that political condemnation needs to be followed by increasing action on the economic side to increase the pressure on Syria.
In the back.
QUESTION: Did you discuss those economic sanctions with Turkish officials yesterday? Fred Hof met with the chief advisor of prime minister yesterday. And could you give us some details on this meeting?
MS. NULAND: Fred Hof, as you know, was talking to Turkey, was talking to a number of European countries. He's on a broad swing to look particularly at the issue of sanctions. I don't want to get into the specifics of those discussions, but they were primarily designed to talk about how we can up the economic pressure.
QUESTION: Is it possible to put in sanctions, bilateral sanctions to ' I mean, not United Nations Security Council only, but between Turkey and Syria like United States and Syria?
MS. NULAND: Well, certainly, any nation, it's within their sovereign right to apply sanctions bilaterally. That's the route that the United States has taken in the absence of stronger UN international action, so any of Turkey's neighbors or other countries could certainly go that route --
QUESTION: The last --
MS. NULAND: -- if they made that sovereign decision to do so.
QUESTION: Turkish officials from foreign ministry said today ' this morning, actually ' that Davutoglu will not convey any international community or someone else messages to Syrian officials, but only Turkish Government message. What does it mean?
MS. NULAND: Well, it's obviously appropriate that the Turkish foreign minister should convey the message of Turkey, Syria's neighbor. Our interest is in staying closely coordinated with all of our allies, with all of Syria's neighbors, as this diplomacy goes forward. And we've been very gratified in particular by the close coordination that the Secretary has had with Foreign Minister Davutoglu.
Please.
QUESTION: Why Foreign Minister Davutoglu was in Damascus today across Syria about (inaudible) people who were killed? And plus, the armored vehicles of Syria apparently was entering the city of Ibis, which is a very close Turkish quarter Would it be unfair to take this as an initial reaction of how the Syria sees Turkish reach out?
MS. NULAND: Sounds like that's a question for the Syrians, not a question for us. But our hope and our expectation is that the Syrian regime will hear the message that Foreign Minister Davutoglu is bringing and will heed the increasing call from the international community, which is joining us in calling for an end to the violence, a withdrawal of forces, and a beginning of a true political democratic process.
Elise --
QUESTION: Is the buffer zone right now ' is |
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Name(s:) |
Victoria Nuland |
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Title: |
Spokesperson |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url Link
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/WjUn1 |
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MS. NULAND: Mm-mm. Okay. Go ahead.
QUESTION: WikiLeaks ' a new cache has come out. Apparently, it is quite large. There are reports that, due to some sort of a password breach, they're out there on the internet un-redacted. And we remember the last time this happened, you were warning people around the world who might be included in those to be careful, or the implications of this.
Number one, how ' do you have some general reaction? And are you now warning people in those documents to beware?
MS. NULAND: Well, it won't surprise you that I'm not going to comment today on the authenticity of the documents released by WikiLeaks. But I would say, in the category of general comments, that the United States strongly condemns any illegal disclosure of classified information. In addition to damaging our diplomatic efforts, it puts individuals' security at risk, threatens our national security, and undermines our effort to work with countries to solve shared problems.
We remain concerned about these illegal disclosures and about concerns and risks to individuals. We continue to carefully monitor what becomes public and to take steps to mitigate the damage to national security, and to assist those who may be harmed by these illegal disclosures, to the extent that we can.
QUESTION: So at this point, you have not necessarily helped anyone who might be in danger? You're just monitoring?
MS. NULAND: I would say that we have, over time, taken steps to help individuals. I'm not prepared to go into the details, for the safety of those individuals. |
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Name(s:) |
Victoria Nuland |
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Title: |
Spokesperson |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url Link
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/abeBo |
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Title: |
Middle East Diget - August 30, 2011 |
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Department of State |
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AsiaNet: There was a lot of discussion recently regarding the WikiLeaks cables in India. Has it embarrassed you or has it affected your foreign policy initiatives?
Assistant Secretary Blake: I can't really comment on any of the WikiLeaks cables. We are in the process of prosecuting those who were responsible for this. We consider it a real breach of trust in our security. But our relations between the United States and India are very very strong and we're certainly able to manage things like this that come up.
[Problem with recording.]
AsiaNet: There's been a lot of discussion about the WikiLeaks cables in India. Has it embarrassed you? Has it affected your relations between the U.S. and countries mentioned in the leaks?
Assistant Secretary Blake: I can't really comment on the specifics of WikiLeaks. We condemn those releases. We consider them very much a breach of security. But as a general matter, I can tell you that they have not had a major impact on our bilateral relations. Our relations are very strong and we consider that India has got to be one of our defining partnerships of the 21st Century. |
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Name(s:) |
Robert Blake |
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Title: |
Assistant Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url Link
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/TVRih |
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NewsX: A considerable section in India has begun to believe that U.S. is really not committed when it comes to terror and especially terror directed against India given the recent WikiLeaks cables. M.K. Narayanan being forced by Timothy Roemer not to seek extradition of Headley. And Narayanan saying in so many words, and I'm quoting him, 'not to be seen making the effort, but the government is not seeking extradition at this time.'
Assistant Secretary Blake: We can never comment on the WikiLeaks cables, but as a general matter I'd like to say that first of all we take our counter-terrorism responsibilities very seriously and whenever we have any kind of information about a possible terrorist attack in India we share that immediately with our friends in India to be sure that those are stopped and prevented. And I would say that our cooperation on counter-terrorism is one of the very strongest aspects of our bilateral cooperation. |
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Robert Blake |
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Title: |
Assistant Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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http://archive.is/htRGf |
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The next chart kind of puts this in a global perspective. This is a chart which shows what the size of the countries of the world would look like if their size were relevant to the amount of oil reserves that they have. And you notice here that Saudi Arabia dominates the world. That's because Saudi Arabia may--we aren't really sure because they won't open their books. Saudi Arabia may have 22 percent of all the reserves in the world.
You may remember, oh, 6 weeks or a couple months ago, there was a WikiLeaks expose that said that maybe the Saudis had overestimated their oil reserves by as much as 40 percent. So the map might not look quite like this, but relatively like this.
Now, why would they overestimate their reserves?
When OPEC couldn't produce more oil than they were producing and they were all anxious for more revenues, OPEC decided that they would limit their production so as to keep the price of oil up. And so they permitted each of the countries to pump a percentage of their reserves.
And so if you look back at the history of this, you will see that, without finding any new fields, their reserves could go up 50 percent, sometimes their reserves doubled. It was kind of a contest amongst liars, because the more you said you had, the more you could pump because you could pump a percentage of what your reserves were. So we really aren't sure what these reserves are because they will not open their books, but it's roughly like this. Certainly, the largest reserves of all the oil are in Saudi Arabia. |
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Roscoe Bartlett |
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Title: |
United States Representative |
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Agency(ies): |
United States House of Representatives |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url Link
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QUESTION: Bradley Manning's trial begins tomorrow. I'm wondering if you have any thought ' this building has any thoughts on that? Or, more broadly, just on the impact ' the negative impact, how bad the impact was from the WikiLeaks disclosures.
MS. NULAND: Well, with regard to the trial, it's now a law enforcement matter, so I'm obviously not going to comment on it when the issue's in the courts. With regard to the impact of WikiLeaks, we were quite clear at the time, and we remain clear, that it was very ' a very bad thing.
QUESTION: Can I ask, following that ' at the time you ' this building voiced some serious concerns about the effect it might have on sources and methods and, in particular, a number of human rights activists around the world who've spoken to embassy officials. Can you speak to the overall impact now, several months later, that you've seen from the disclosure of these documents?
MS. NULAND: Well, beyond saying, Kirit, that you know that we stood up a cell in this building to work with individuals who were concerned about their security and we've made good progress in trying to help some of these individuals, I think I won't go into a broad, aggregate effort to, sort of, quantify this. But we were concerned and we have taken measures to try to help those who have been concerned about government --
QUESTION: And do you think those measures have been effective?
MS. NULAND: In a number of cases, we've been able to be quite effective.
QUESTION: And have there been any cases in which you feel that somebody's still at risk?
MS. NULAND: Again, I think it won't help the people involved for me to go any deeper on this issue.
QUESTION: Okay. And my last question will be just the diplomatic impact, just following on Matt's question, if you could speak to that at all. I mean, that was a subject at the Secretary's meetings for months after the initial release --
MS. NULAND: Absolutely.
QUESTION: -- I mean, have ' are you guys still reeling from that, or is that kind of patched up for the most part?
MS. NULAND: Well, as you know, the Secretary spent a good amount of time ' I would argue months ' working with and reassuring governments around the world and rebuilding trust. And her personal involvement in that, along with the President's, was absolutely key to getting ourselves back to strong positions with some of our interlocutors around the world.
QUESTION: And you do feel that you've reached that point? In other words, where things have patched up?
MS. NULAND: Well, look, I'm not in a position to qualify/quantify, but I would say that we have not had continued representations about WikiLeaks over the past six, seven months. So --
[*****] QUESTION: But there have been some kind of tactical changes, I mean, right ' of some diplomats not being able to take notes in certain meetings, or like meetings being restricted? I mean there have been practical effects since then, wouldn't you say?
MS. NULAND: Well, we've obviously taken steps both on the strategic level and --
QUESTION: Well, and host governments also have on you, haven't they?
MS. NULAND: I don't think that you can necessarily make a direct link. I mean, in diplomatic conversations, sometimes it's appropriate to have small meetings, and sometimes it's appropriate to have bigger delegation meetings. Obviously, individual governments have made their own policy decisions, but more importantly, this building and this government, broadly, has taken steps to address some of the issues that allowed the WikiLeaks thing to happen in the first place.
QUESTION: Can you be a little bit more specific about when you say 'It was a very bad thing?' Because it sounds as though from one of your answers to Kirit is that this has pretty much blown over now. And in the light of that, I wonder how difficult it's going to be for the Administration to make the case that this was, in fact, as damaging as you claim it was ' or as you claimed it was at the time.
MS. NULAND: Again, this is now a legal case. The case will be made by the lawyers, and I'm not going to get in the middle of it.
QUESTION: No, I understand. But can you be a little bit ' I mean, 'It was a very bad thing,' is not particularly enlightening.
MS. NULAND: Matt, we spoke extensively at the time about the damage to America's reputation, about the damage to individual ' individuals who had been open and honest with us, about the risks with regard to trust that are essential for diplomacy. And as I said, the Secretary, the President had to spend many months reassuring governments afterwards. I can't quantify the residual impact standing here today. But what's most important is that this case is now in the U.S. courts --
QUESTION: No. It's in the military courts.
MS. NULAND: -- and that he will face justice. Yeah.
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Victoria Nuland |
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Spokesperson |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate, WikiLeaks 24/7 Task Force, WikiLeaks Persons at Risk Group, WikiLeaks Mitigation Team |
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QUESTION: So on the first anniversary of the protests ' it's exactly a year ago ' do you believe that U.S. policy toward Syria and what's going on in Syria has been on target, lacking, or ambitious? How do you characterize it?
MS. NULAND: You're asking me to give a grade --
QUESTION: I mean, I'm asking you as the ' this is the top diplomatic entity in this town and they're the ones that conduct foreign policy toward all parts of the world. So how do you assess your policy towards Syria thus far?
MS. NULAND: I think the more appropriate point to be making on this one year anniversary -- and as you know, there was some upheaval before a year ago today, but we think about this as the anniversary because it was a particularly horrific and violent day. It was the one ' today's the one year anniversary of the beginning of the peaceful political protest that followed the killing of school children in Daraa for the crime of writing some anti-Assad graffiti on the walls.
So what have we seen in this year? As the peaceful protests have grown, the Assad regime has become more and more bloody and violent vis-a-vis its own people, has gone into town after town trying to suppress the violence with guns rather than sitting and talking with its own people.
So the international community has responded. And you've seen over these months, more and more countries increase their sanctions on Iran ' on Syria. Just today ' well, more and more countries closing the noose on Syria, refusing to trade, refusing to conduct normal diplomacy, refusing to allow normal flights and commerce, et cetera. We're seeing the impact on the Syrian economy. We're seeing the impact on the increasing isolation of Syria. We are going to keep up the pressure until the Syrian people achieve their objectives.
Nicole.
QUESTION: Does the Administration have any comment on the alleged Assad emails that were printed in the Guardian newspaper? And did the Administration have access to them before they were published?
MS. NULAND: On your last question, I think the answer is no. I don't have any information to indicate that we saw them before they were published. But we don't have any reason to believe that they're anything but authentic. And they really tell an amazing tale. Far from being detached from what his military is doing, Assad seems to take pride in the viciousness of his own security forces. And he seems to make fun of the idea of actually sitting down and talking with his people. So it really illustrates the character of this guy who ' and why he has lost legitimacy not only in the eyes of his people, but in the eyes of the international community.
I'm getting the high sign.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MS. NULAND: Let's do one more.
[START MATT LEE] QUESTION: I got a few more. First of all, on that one: Since you're willing to comment now on the substance of stolen documents, I'd like for you to talk about some WikiLeaks cables. Will you be willing to do that?
MS. NULAND: I will not.
QUESTION: Why is it that you're willing to draw conclusions from emails that were clearly stolen from the people who were writing the back and forth to each other in this case and not on something ' I mean, do you agree that these were stolen?
MS. NULAND: I can't speak to how the Guardian acquired them. I would send you to the Guardian on that.
QUESTION: Right. Well, you know, WikiLeaks didn't speak to how they acquired their documents.
MS. NULAND: They were classified government cables, and we're obviously not going to comment on them. |
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Name(s:) |
Victoria Nuland |
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Title: |
Spokesperson |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/jWv5z |
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Status of Freedom of Speech and Press
The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction.
Censorship or Content Restrictions: The government did not penalize anyone for publishing items counter to government guidelines, but the media practiced occasional self-censorship. In July, local and regional media criticized the Media Workers Association of Grenada for stifling a story about an editor who was arrested for being verbally abusive to a magistrate. Some journalists avoided coverage of Wikileaks-sourced material as a result of legal or political uncertainties regarding its use. |
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Agency(ies): |
Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate, WikiLeaks Persons at Risk Group |
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QUESTION: On another subject, this nomination of Brett McGurk, is it in trouble? And can you confirm that the State Department is investigating allegations of these emails between him and Ms. Chon of The Wall Street Journal?
MS. NULAND: Well, first of all, on the subject of the emails, they're out there for everybody to see. I'm not going to get into emails between Mr. McGurk and the woman who subsequently became his wife. With regard to Mr. McGurk's nomination, I think you know that he spent the better part of the last decade serving our country in and out of Iraq, working for a Republican administration, a Democratic administration. He is, in our view, uniquely qualified to serve as our ambassador, and we urge the Senate to act quickly on his nomination.
QUESTION: So obviously you're sticking with him. But can you confirm that ' because there are reports ' that the State Department actually has looked into these alleged emails, or the allegations that these might have compromised security or sensitive information?
MS. NULAND: I don't have anything to say on the emails.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that?
MS. NULAND: Yeah.
QUESTION: Because, I mean, there are rules for Foreign Service officers to not get into situations where you're blackmailed. There's sort of a sense that you have to act morally. There are these regulations in your guidebooks. And some people have lost security clearances over having extramarital affairs. So I wonder why it is that this doesn't seem to be ' factor at all into your decision in keeping this ' keeping his nomination out there.
MS. NULAND: Again, we consider him uniquely qualified. All of the necessary things were done before his nomination, and we urge the Senate to confirm him.
Jill.
QUESTION: Can you confirm that those emails actually came from the State Department system, in ' within the State Department system?
MS. NULAND: I'm not going to speak about the emails. They're out there for you to look at. They're obviously very much available for anybody to read.
QUESTION: Aren't you investigating how they were leaked? They're from your own system.
MS. NULAND: I'm not going to get into our internal issues here.
QUESTION: Well, why not? You talk about WikiLeaks all the time. Those were essentially emails.
MS. NULAND: Goes to your usual point, Matt, that we speak about --
QUESTION: What, the lack of consistency?
MS. NULAND: Yes. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Yeah. Oh, okay, great. When ' you said you did ' all the necessary things were done before his nomination. What are those necessary things? Was that like a security clearance and vetting and --
MS. NULAND: All that stuff.
QUESTION: Well, I mean ' no, I ' what are they? I don't know. What has to be done, not just in his case but in any nominee's case?
MS. NULAND: His nomination was managed in the exact ' with the exact same processes that we use for everyone.
QUESTION: Well, okay. What does that mean? I mean, does that mean that there's an FBI check or --
MS. NULAND: I'm going to refer you to the White House for how they do this.
QUESTION: All right. And then --
QUESTION: Just one more on that.
MS. NULAND: Yeah.
QUESTION: If you do ' if you did do that, are you sharing this with members of Congress who have severe problems with his nomination?
MS. NULAND: We always work with Congress on our nominees, and we're continuing to do that in this case.
QUESTION: Can you confirm that there has been at least one meeting with ' on the specific issues, not on the specific issues that were about the emails, with people on the Hill?
MS. NULAND: I'm not going to comment on the specifics of our conversation with Congress, but in all these nomination procedures, we work with the Hill on any --
QUESTION: Right.
MS. NULAND: -- issues that they have as our --
QUESTION: But are you --
MS. NULAND: -- nominees are being reviewed.
QUESTION: But are you aware that this ' that people from the State Department have gone to the Hill and/or have spoken to members of the committee who have raised concerns about these specific issues. And by these specific issues, I don't mean the more specific substantive issues that senator ' people like Senator McCain have raised. I'm talking specifically about the emails. Do you know if they have been ' if this issue has been discussed with people on the Hill?
MS. NULAND: Beyond saying that we continue to work with appropriate members and staff on his nomination in support of it, as we do with all nominees, I'm not going to get into details. |
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Name(s:) |
Victoria Nuland |
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Title: |
Spokesperson |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/a2XfE |
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