Submitted by George Washington on 07/01/2014 12:43 -0400
It’s been a dramatic day for whistleblowing news.
A month ago, Glenn Greenwald announced that he was going to publish his biggest story yet: the names of those the NSA has been spying on.
Earlier today, Greenwald tweeted that he would finally publish the story tonight at midnight.
8 hours later, he tweeted:
After 3 months working on our story, USG [the United States government] today suddenly began making new last-minute claims which we intend to investigate before publishing
Many responded that it’s a trap, and that the government is dishonestly and illegally censoring Greewald.
At the same time, Cryptome announced that all of the Snowden documents will be released in July … supposedly in order to avert a war.
As the Register notes:
All the remaining Snowden documents will be released next month, according to whistle-blowing site Cryptome, which said in a tweet that the release of the info by unnamed third parties would be necessary to head off an unnamed “war”.
Cryptome said it would “aid and abet” the release of “57K to 1.7M” new documents that had been “withheld for national security-public debate [sic]“.
The site clarified that will not be publishing the documents itself.
***
“July is when war begins unless headed off by Snowden full release of crippling intel. After war begins not a chance of release,” Cryptome tweeted on its official feed. “Warmongerers are on a rampage. So, yes, citizens holding Snowden docs will do the right thing,” it said.
“For more on Snowden docs release in July watch for Ellsberg, special guest and others at HOPE, July 18-20: http://www.hope.net/schedule.html,” it added.
Given that – from ancient Egypt to modern America – mass surveillance has ALWAYS been used to crush dissent, and that top NSA officials say the U.S. gov has turned into the Stasis, Nazis or Soviets, release of the Snowden documents showing WHO the NSA is really targeting (i.e. government critics, not terrorists) are of vital public interest.
“The site clarified that will not be publishing the documents itself.”
What does this mean? That “someone” will be interpreting what’s in the documents? Smells fishy…
Greenwald should NOT say beforehand that he’ll be publishing–just do it without notice. Else it gives the evil ones time to “persuade” him not to.
Yesterday, Pulitzer prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald let the news slip via Twitter that the long-awaited, new NSA story was to be published on The Intercept at midnight. This morning, much to the dismay of myself and many, many others it appears that the new website – already suspiciously devoid of material – has caved to government pressure tactics and has successfully delayed the story.
According to a cryptic Tweet by Greenwald “After 3 months working on our story, USG today suddenly began making new last-minute claims which we intend to investigate before publishing”. Gee, can any of those claims be based on trumped up charges that publication would play right into the hands of the magically appearing out of nowhere at the most convenient times for a new Middle Eastern war ISIS? This does not bode well for those really big “imminent” NSA releases that have been promised by Greenwald. Could a total retraction be far behind?
While I have been a skeptic to the allegations that the new First Look Media venture that lured Greenwald and others with the siren song of creating a new media venture that would offer a much needed alternative to the corrupt state-corporate US media that serve as protectors of the entrenched establishment was all just an attempt to eventually suppress the leaks of whistleblower Edward Snowden this only serves to bolster them.
When you throw in with the billionaire wolves you will sooner or later being devoured and EBay founder Pierre Omidyar’s agenda has already been found by some, such as journalist Chris Floyd to be suspect with links to both the Ukraine coup government as well as the new regime of new right-wing leader of India Narendra Modi. The problem is that at the end of the day all of these elite pigs stick together and Greenwald should have been far more skeptical of his associations.
It would have been a brilliant touch were the story of NSA surveillance of domestic political dissidents and well known figures were to have broken during the week of the orgy of flag-sucking excess that is the Fourth of July and Greenwald may have ill-advisedly tipped his hand during that interview with GQ “The Man Who Knows Too Much” when he alluded to fireworks:
I think we will end the big stories in about three months or so [June or July 2014]. I like to think of it as a fireworks show: You want to save your best for last. There’s a story that from the beginning I thought would be our biggest, and I’m saving that. The last one is the one where the sky is all covered in spectacular multicolored hues. This will be the finale, a big missing piece. Snowden knows about it and is excited about it.
For now at least the fireworks show has been postponed, with the incessant fear-mongering that has now overtaken the USA!, USA!, USA! over the new Islamic caliphate and Obama sending more American troops back into Iraq it is probably better than even money that it will be cancelled altogether in the interests of national security.
Greenwald should have stayed at The Guardian.
http://carryingaflag.blogspot.com/
I think that from the get-go that Glenn Greenwald has been pretty careful so as to not end up in a Julian Assange situation, so to speak. I never understood why the delay in making what he found out public. I can only assume it’s because he doesn’t want the NSA to put out a fatwah on his ass. Otherwise, it looks like he’s just hyping his source, trying to sensationalize his work and sell newspapers. The skeptic in me really has a hard time giving him a pass, either way.
@Eddie, no “sensationalism” is necessary. This story has it’s own legs and doesn’t need to be hyped.
So let’s hear the whole thing and quit pussy-footing around.
I’m not saying the story isn’t important. I’m just saying Greenwald as the arbiter of what particular truth I’m allowed to hear is only slightly better than the government being the arbiter.
A story that gets suppressed, for whatever reason, eventually becomes less of a story and more of a historical footnote.
I agree with Eddie – this has dragged on long enough for me to be suspicious about the whole damn thing.
Ten bazillion documents and not one scandal big enough for the sheeple to wake up.
I was about to ask how Greenwald is still alive, but then digested Eddie’s comment above that holding some info back may be his only insurance policy.
@Olga – “Ten bazillion documents and not one scandal big enough for the sheeple to wake up.”
This was probably THE BIGGEST story/scandal of the last 12 months.
I think Admin posted these videos about what went down–if you missed them you should take a look.
“The United States of Secrets” – PBS documentaries, parts 1 and 2, available on YouTube.
@Eddie, I agree totally with your reply.
I’ve been saying for the last month or two, here and elsewhere that this whole Snowden thing is much ado about nothing. If this story has “legs of it’s own”, I sure as hell don’t see it. Greenwald says they want to “investigate” the documents before publishing. What for? These documents will either be cause for great concern or they won’t be regardless of and pre-investigation.
At first I thought they might be timing the release to coincide with various events to foster maximum outrage but now, not so much. Just publish the fucking documents and let the cards fall where they may. Surely thousands of journalists investigating the documents is better than a handful right?
I couldn’t grasp why Greenwald was crowing beforehand about the big release. He’s smarter than that. Remember Andrew Breitbart’s blabbing about his big forthcoming release regarding Obama? Something stinks here.