'How to stop leaks' document

In a delightful twist, a British military manual - the Defence Manual of Security, or Joint Services Protocol 440 (JSP440) - specifically dealing with how best to avoid leaks was leaked onto the site in October last year. It warned that the Chinese "[have] a voracious appetite for all kinds of information; political, military, commercial, scientific and technical" and that spying is no longer like "the novels of John Le Carre". Journalists are listed in the document as one of the "threats" to security, alongside foreign intelligence services, criminals, terrorist groups and disaffected staff. In an even more self-referential moment, a Pentagon document naming Wikileaks itself as a threat to national security was leaked - to Wikileaks.

9/11 pager data

More than 500,000 pager messages sent in the United States on the day of the September 11 attacks were published to Wikileaks in November last year. Some were from federal and local officials, but most were from ordinary people. There was a debate over whether the release was legitimately in the public interest, revealing personal messages such as "I'm ok & love you..xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox". A Wikileaks spokesman defended the leak, saying that it represented "one more building block to getting a full picture of what happened on that day."

BNP membership

The names, addresses and occupations of 13,500 members of the far-Right British National Party were released on to Wikileaks in 2008. The list included the names of several police officers, senior members of the military, doctors and professors. It came as senior military figures warned that the BNP's politics were "fundamentally at odds" with the values of the British military, and BNP figures said that the "establishment" was trying to "derail" the party. At least one person on the list was fired from their job after it was revealed that they were a member of the BNP.
 Sarah Palin's email account     

Ahead of the 2008 US Presidential Election, Republican candidate John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin had her private Yahoo email account hacked by Anonymous, an online group best known for an ongoing battle with the Church of Scientology. Two emails, her contact list and various family photos were posted to Wikileaks. The McCain campaign described it as a "shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law". It was found that Mrs Palin had been using the private account for official business, and it was alleged that this was to avoid American public record laws.    

Trafigura's Minton Report

In 2009 the internet went crazy over oil trading company Trafigura's attempts to block publication of an internal study about the health effects of waste dumping in Africa. The draft report, written by scientific consultant John Minton, said that the chemical processes Trafigura used to clean the dumped gasoline was amateurish and would probably have left dangerous sulphur compounds untreated. It was said that these compounds could cause severe burns to the skin and to the lungs, permanent ulceration, corneal damage, vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of consciousness and death to people who came into contact with it. The Guardian gained possession of the report, but Trafigura took the newspaper to court to gain an injunction. However, Wikileaks also had received the report, and within hours the information that The Guardian was legally prevented from publishing was all over Twitter.

Australian internet blacklist

Last year, as the Australian government plotted a "great firewall of Australia" intended to prevent internet users in that country from seeing websites which the government deemed unsuitable, Wikileaks got hold of the proposed blacklist. It published them despite warnings from Bjorn Landfeldt, a University of Sydney professor involved in creating the list, that the list "constitute[d] a condensed encyclopedia of depravity and potentially very dangerous material" and "the concerned parent's worst nightmare" as children would inevitably seek it out. About half of the listed items were not child pornography or anything similar, but included Wikipedia entries, YouTube videos, fringe religious sites, fetish, straight and gay pornography, and even a travel agent's website and one of a dentist in Queensland.              

Climate Research Unit emails

More than 1,000 emails sent over 10 years by staff at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit were posted on Wikileaks after being accessed by a hacker. They appeared to show that scientists engaged in "tricks" to help bolster arguments that global warming is real and man-made. One said: "I've just completed Mike's Nature [the science journal] trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie, from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline." The report was described by sceptical commenters as "the worst scientific scandal of our generation". The head of the CRU, Professor Phil Jones, stepped down from his role in the wake of the leak, although following a House of Commons inquiry which found that he had no case to answer he was reinstated.                         

Guantanamo Bay operating procedures

 The "Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Delta", the US Army manual for soldiers dealing with prisoners at Camp Delta, was released on Wikileaks in 2007. Human rights groups were concerned to discover that according to official guidelines, prisoners could be denied access to the Red Cross for up to four weeks. It also showed that inmates could earn "special rewards" for good behaviour and cooperation - and that one such "reward" was a roll of toilet paper.
 Scientology

In 2008, Wikileaks published "the collected secret 'bibles' of Scientology", including some of internal workings and strange practices of the controversial Church. It showed that there were eight "levels" of "Operating Thetans", with Level Eight being the highest, that Scientologists can aspire to. It also instructed adherents to carry out difficult-to-understand "drills" including: "Find a tight packed crowd of people. Write it as a crowd and then as individuals until you have a cognition. Note it down." The drills were written by the Church founder L Ron Hubbard himself. Lawyers for the Church of Scientology attempted to force Wikileaks to take the information down, calling it the "Advanced Technology of the Scientology religion", but the site refused.                                                                 

Wikileaks' 10 greatest scoops

Wikileaks, the whistleblowing website, has released 90,000 documents about American and British actions in Afghanistan since the start of the war. Here are its 10 greatest previous scoops.

Iraq Apache helicopter attack:

Horrifying video footage showing 15 people including two Reuters journalists being shot dead by a US Army Apache helicopter gunman, taken from the helicopter's gun camera, appalled the world when it was released on Wikileaks.

The crew were heard laughing at the "dead b-----ds" and saying "light 'em up!" and "keep shooting, keep shooting".

The US military has refused to discipline the helicopter's crew, saying that there were "insurgents and reporters in an area where US forces were about to be ambushed.

"At the time we weren't able to discern whether (Reuters employees) were carrying cameras or weapons."

                                           

WikiLeaks: Pakistan, the world's nightmare

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: Many of the cables in the first lot of Wikileaks' expose of intricate and dodgy U.S foreign policy pertains to Pakistan, a country variously described as a "nightmare" and a "headache" for the international community. The cables do not paint a flattering picture of Islamabad or its rulers.

For instance, one cable has the Saudi King Abdullah speak contemptuously of President Zardari. He calls Zardari the greatest obstacle to that country's progress and is quoted as saying "When the head is rotten, it affects the whole body."

Another cable describes a "dangerous standoff" with Pakistan over nuclear fuel: In May 2009, U.S Ambassador to Islamabad Anne Patterson reported that Pakistan was refusing to schedule a visit by American technical experts because, as a Pakistani official said, "if the local media got word of the fuel removal, "they certainly would portray it as the United States taking Pakistan's nuclear weapons."

                                                      

Wikileaks: Pakistan accused of helping Taliban in Afghanistan attacks

   

Pakistan has armed, trained and coordinated Taliban and al-Qaeda attacks in Afghanistan, according to the military reports.

                  

  Western officials suspect Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency retains links with militants to gain influence in the region.

They are thought to have collaborated with terrorist leaders to order suicide bombings over the last six years.

Vehicles were allegedly filled with explosives in Pakistan before being driven across the border into Afghanistan, sometimes with ISI collusion.

John Kerry, the head of the Foreign Relations Committee in the US Senate, said the leak was worrying and had come at a "critical stage" for policy in the region.

"These documents may very well underscore the stakes and make the calibrations needed to get the policy right more urgent," he said.

"However illegally these documents came to light, they raise serious questions about the reality of America's policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Just last week, Hillary Clinton said she believes Osama bin Laden is still hidden inside Pakistan.

The documents detail a 2006 meeting with senior Taliban leaders in which Pakistani officials pushed for an attack on Maruf, a district of Kandahar that lies beside the Pakistan border. An offensive began later that year.

The files also link active and retired ISI officers to some of the conflict's most notorious leaders. According to the reports, in 2007, they sent also 1,000 motorbikes for use in suicide attacks.

The reports name former ISI chief General Hamid Gul as a go-between and claim he regularly met al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders to order suicide attacks.

In one classified "threat report", Gul is described ordering magnetic mines to be planted in snow on roads used by military vehicles.

"Gul's final comment to the three individuals was 'make the snow warm in Kabul' basically telling them to set Kabul aflame," the report said.

Another accuses him of meeting Arab "elders" in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt to plan a series of suicide bombings.

Yesterday Gen Gul angrily denied the allegations. "They are talking about a 74-year-old general who retired long ago and has nothing to do with this," he said.

"They are looking for some scapegoat and this is the sign of their defeat in Afghanistan."

Many of the reports are unverified, and Pakistanis have dismissed some of the more spectacular plots as fabrications. One claimed plans to assassinate government officials by disguising a remote-controlled bomb as a Koran, another involved poisoning beer supplies for Western troops in Afghanistan.

Much of the detail came from paid informers or Afghan intelligence officers – regarded as generally hostile to Islamabad.

A senior Pakistani intelligence source said simply releasing thousands of raw, unverified reports was misleading.

"Intelligence works in an entirely different fashion," he said. "We receive a preliminary report – which could come from anyone – and then you have to corroborate it from different, independent sources," he said. "A lot of this stuff will turn out to be untrue but we need weeks to check it."

                         

Pakistan military cast in favourable light

                                   

KARACHI: While the leaked US State Department memos reveal that President Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif have been described as ‘dirty’ and ‘dangerous’ respectively, Saudi Arabia “sees Zardari and other leading Pakistani politicians as corrupt”, and the US is “astonished” that Zardari remained in power, Pakistan’s military appears to have won over US officials and world leaders.

The role of Pakistan Army

Even though some French officials in particular are sceptical of the military, US officials have praised the military over the years.

Similarly, older memos have revealed support for former president and chief of army staff Pervez Musharraf from various countries, including the UAE and Israel. A 2007 memo says, “The United States Government will continue to support Pakistani President Musharraf, and is seeking to boost his military defensive capabilities.”

Even though US officials describe the changes in Pakistan as ‘dramatic’ and ‘encouraging’, the credit is given to the Pakistan Army. Global support for the civilian set-up appears almost non-existent. According to a March 2009 memo, “The Saudis say they have been holding back economic and political support pending evidence that the political situation in Pakistan is stabilising.”

The head of France’s interagency Afghanistan-Pakistan cell Jasmine Zerinini told a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in January 2010, “General Kayani has ‘learned the lesson of Musharraf’ and was staying behind the scenes.”

“However, he is manipulating the government and parliament, to prevent change on Pakistan’s policy towards Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border, and also to stir up controversy regarding the Kerry-Lugar bill that ties continued US aid to increased civilian control of the military.”

The Pakistan Army’s reservations about the Kerry-Lugar bill are a matter of public record.  A press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations on October 7, 2009 about the 122 Corps Commanders Conference stated, “Kerry Lugar bill also came under discussion during the conference. The forum expressed serious concern regarding clauses impacting National Security. A formal input is being provided to the Government. However, in the considered view of the forum, it is the Parliament, that represents the will of the people of Pakistan, which would deliberate on the issue, enabling the Government to develop a National response.”

Zerinini is also quoted as saying that France “does not want to return to a  relationship (with Pakistan) based on military equipment sales, as in the 1980s, and is instead focusing on counter terrorism in addition to economic and trade links.”

In a briefing memo to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009, France’s relationship with Pakistan was described as “relative newcomers who have requested close cooperation with the UK and US, particularly in areas of counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency assistance.”  However, the memo also states, “Paris officials complain that Pakistani cooperation in combating the Afghan Taliban refuged in their country is weak, if not non-existent.”

Jasmine Zerinini also “argued that the west had missed its opportunity to push the Pakistani military to crush the Afghan Taliban taking refuge in Pakistan.  Citing Jalaladin Haqqani as an example, Zerinini said in 2004 he had standing as a leader in the jihadi community, but did not have the organisation to represent a significant military threat. However, since then, large amounts of funding, predominately from Gulf donors, have allowed Haqqani to create a network that would be difficult for the Pakistani military to defeat, even if it had the will to do so.”

Memos released by WikiLeaks support the theory that Gulf donors are funding militancy.

US officials highlighted the success of Pakistan’s military operations in several meetings. The chief of the Turkish General Staff General Ilker Basbug met with US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates in Ankara on February 6, 2010. The memo states, “Basbug also raised Pakistan, recalling his October visit at the invitation of General Kayani. During his visit to Swat he had witnessed a hundred-fold improvement in security since his previous visit, citing the return of civilian populations to the region as a clear success for Pakistani forces. Gates agreed, observing that the degree of success by Pakistani forces ran counter to all of our intelligence predictions.”

Gates praised the Pakistan Army in a meeting with France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on February 8, 2010. The memo states, “SecDef (Gates) described the dramatic changes that had taken place over the past year.”

Gates also noted that it was “astonishing that President Zardari had remained in power and that the Pakistanis had conducted such effective COIN (counter-insurgency) operations.”

According to the memo, Gates “noted that coordination between ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) and Pakistan’s armed forces was improving – and this was creating a more difficult situation for the Taliban along the border. The Pakistan operation in South Waziristan had flushed out Taliban and al Qaeda elements; they were more vulnerable on the move. Moreover, Pakistan’s aggressive campaign against the insurgency had won broad political support among all political parties.  Operations in the West and North-West had begun to accrue respect for Pakistan Army that Musharraf had squandered.  It is important for all of us to talk to the Pakistanis and provide economic assistance.  SecDef commented that one can never be an optimist about Pakistan, but that the changes had been striking.  Kouchner agreed with SecDef’s analysis that the changes in both the political and military spheres were ‘nothing short of a miracle’.”

However France’s Minister of Defence Herve Morin struck a different tone in his meeting with Gates the same day. Morin “expressed doubt about the willingness of the Pakistani government to fight extremists at home.” Morin said Afghan President Hamid Karzai had told France that if the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was closed, it would largely solve issues in Afghanistan.

According to the memo, “SecDef replied that he had told the Pakistani government two weeks earlier that al Qaeda was helping the Pakistan Taliban to destabilise Pakistan.  SecDef highlighted the dramatic changes in Pakistan over the past 18 months, especially in Swat and Bajaur provinces, which offered some hope of progress.  SecDef said that there was increasing coordination between US and Pakistani forces across the border.”

In a June 2009 meeting between then US Centcom Commander General David Petraeus and Egyptian General Intelligence Service Chief Omar Soliman, Petraeus is quoted as saying he was “encouraged by the Pakistani military’s operations in the Swat Valley and Northwest Frontier Province, including their focus on holding and rebuilding affected areas.”

Soliman, according to the memo, “credited the Pakistani government for doing a better job of convincing people that extremists pose a real threat to Pakistani national security.”

                                   

Wikileaks on Pakistan

In the State Department cables released by Wikileaks and so far reported, the most eye-catching as far as Pakistan is concerned is a row with Washington over nuclear fuel.

According to the New York Times, the cables show:

“A dangerous standoff with Pakistan over nuclear fuel: Since 2007, the United States has mounted a highly secret effort, so far unsuccessful, to remove from a Pakistani research reactor highly enriched uranium that American officials fear could be diverted for use in an illicit nuclear device. In May 2009, Ambassador Anne W. Patterson reported that Pakistan was refusing to schedule a visit by American technical experts because, as a Pakistani official said, “if the local media got word of the fuel removal, ‘they certainly would portray it as the United States taking Pakistan’s nuclear weapons,’ he argued.”

The Pakistan Army is deeply sensitive about any questions on the safety of its nuclear weapons.  The country is also often awash with conspiracy theories accusing the Americans of harbouring secret plans to dismantle the nuclear weapons.

That said, the row reported by the NYT appeared to have been about HEU at a nuclear research reactor rather than the weapons themselves, so it may turn out to be less dramatic than it appears.  Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are considered to be well-guarded although analysts have cited a risk of militants trying to seize nuclear material which they might use to make a dirty bomb. (For a factbox on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

Of potentially huge significance for Pakistan are cables, reported in The Guardian, saying that Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear programme.

“The Saudi king was recorded as having ‘frequently exhorted the US to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons programme’, one cable stated. ‘He told you [Americans] to cut off the head of the snake,’ the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir said, according to a report on Abdullah’s meeting with the US general David Petraeus in April 2008.” The Guardian reported.

Pakistan has traditionally had a very close relationship with Saudi Arabia.  But it has also been building bridges with Iran, whose cooperation it needs to secure a settlement in Afghanistan.

Rival India earned Tehran’s opprobrium by voting against it at the International Atomic Energy Agency over its nuclear programme. Though India has since been trying to repair the damage it does not seem to have got very far, since Iran has started speaking out publicly about Kashmir - angering New Delhi, which dislikes outside interference in Kashmir as much as Pakistan welcomes it.  India has meanwhile been trying to improve its own relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Well worth watching how Pakistan and India handle their relationships with Saudi Arabia and Iran in the event of heightening tension between the two.