Air Force Warns Everyone Is a
Criminal for Reading WikiLeaks
Leaked 'Guidance' Warns Airmen Against Letting
Families Read Docs
by Jason Ditz, February 07, 2011
Is it a hint at mass prosecutions to come, or simply another example of
the administration’s bluster overreaching and coming off downright
absurd?
It is unclear, but the US Air Force is
certainly
capturing headlines today with a “guidance” to its service members
that not only are they at risk of prosecution if they read WikiLeaks, but
that their families and everyone else are as well.
The release, dated Thursday but only coming to public knowledge today,
cautions that anyone who
reads the documents could be prosecuted for “espionage under the
Espionage Act,” and cautions members to make sure their families
don’t try to read the whistleblower’s leaks.
A spokeswoman for the Air Force insisted the
guidance was designed “to give guidance to military and civilian
servicemembers and employees to control their young’uns,” but now say
that the warnings are under review based on reports that there may be a
secret, alternative guidance from the Justice Dept.
Though administration officials have raised the possibility that the
seldom-used Espionage Act could be used against WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange (even this appears to be a matter of no small speculation) for
releasing the files, there has never in US history been an attempted
prosecution of a citizen for espionage for having read a website, nor
does it seem like such moves are immediately forthcoming.
http://news.antiwar.com/2011/02/07/air-force-warns-everyone-is-a-criminal-for-reading-wikileaks/
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