Snowden leaks 'manhunt' for Wikileaks: 'Who owns the truth?'

Snowden leak: US and Britain's manhunt for Wikileaks viewers and Julian Assange

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

The latest leak from whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals that the US and Britain carried out a "manhunt" for Julian Assange and tracked Wikileaks viewers computer IP addresses.

With this manhunt and prosecution of whistleblowers ongoing, the question remains, "Who owns the truth in a democracy?" Shouldn't US citizens have a right to know the truth? Should global citizens have the right to know the truth?

In the case of the Afghanistan files on Wikileaks, Afghan War Diary, shouldn't the world know that the US targeted and murdered a man taking children to a tutoring lesson and a Reuters photographer, killed by bullets from a US Army helicopter? Shouldn't the US government and individual soldiers be held accountable for Collateral Murder? Is the US entitled to secrecy for its crimes? Should the messenger, whistleblower, or journalist, be hunted and prosecuted, and face more jail time, than those guilty of murder and targeted assassinations without the benefit of trial?

In today's news story revealing the manhunt for Wikileaks, its viewers and supporters, Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher at Intercept, write, "Top-secret documents from the National Security Agency and its British counterpart reveal for the first time how the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom targeted WikiLeaks and other activist groups with tactics ranging from covert surveillance to prosecution." 

Earlier, Wikileaks exposed how the US conspired to prevent adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Wikileaks exposed extensive spying on Bolivian President Evo Morales, Mohawks and other Indigenous activists in Chile and Peru. At the same time, Wikileaks exposed the five countries that worked together to push destructive mining in South America while targeting the efforts of Indigenous activists, which resulted in the death of many activists opposing mining in their villages.

On the lighter side, I'm guessing the reporters who plagiarized my work on Wikileaks and Indigenous Peoples are regretting it about right now. The NSA and Britain's counterpart were tracking Wikileaks site visitors and supporters, and even collecting IP addresses of computers.

Censored News coverage:

Wikileaks exposed espionage of Indigenous Peoples

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/12/wikileaks-revealed-us-espionage-of.html

Wikileaks: Top six ways US and Canada violated Indigenous Peoples rights

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/06/wikileaks-top-six-ways-us-and-canada.html

Wikileaks cables on Mohawks

http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-cables-on-mohawks.html

Peru new Indigenous law as Wikileaks exposes spying

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/09/peru-new-indigenous-law-as-wikileaks.html

Wikileaks secret cable confirms US spying of Evo Morales

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/09/wikileaks-secret-cable-confirms-us.html

US diplomats in Wikileaks, dirty rotten scoundrels

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/01/us-diplomats-in-wikileaks-dirty-rotten.html

Wikileaks: CIA role in alleged Evo Morales assassination plot

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/09/wikileaks-cia-role-in-alleged-evo.html

Also see Democracy Now's coverage today on how the US and Britain collected IP addresses of Wikileaks visitors: http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/18/julian_assange_on_being_placed_on


Brenda Norrell has been a news reporter in Indian country for 32 years, beginning as a reporter for Navajo Times, and freelance reporter for AP and USA Today. After serving as a longtime reporter for Indian Country Today, she was censored, then terminated. As a result she created Censored News, now in its 8th year with 3 million pageviews and no advertising.