WikiLeaks.org, which publishes confidential documents online, says that it is being harassed by U.S. military and intelligence agencies because of its disclosures of restricted information, including the forthcoming release of a classified U.S. military video of an air strike in Afghanistan that produced civilian casualties. But those claims are disputed and can hardly be taken at face value.
“That WikiLeaks is being targeted by the U.S. Government for surveillance and disruption is beyond doubt,” declared Glenn Greenwald in Salon.com.
In support of this conclusion he cited the detention of a minor in Iceland last week who was supposedly questioned about an incriminating WikiLeaks video. But there is no independent corroboration of this incident. And WikiLeaks’ account of what transpired, though recounted by Salon as fact, is disputed by Iceland’s police:
“Chief of police in Reykjavik, Fridrik Smari Bjorgvinsson, said the only link he has been able to establish between the allegations and his force was the arrest of a 17 year-old in Kopavogur on Monday for breaking into a business premises. Bjorgvinsson emphasised that Icelandic police have not been working with the American secret services on the matter, as Wikileaks spokesmen allege.”
Perhaps the Reykjavik police chief is also part of a global campaign to destroy WikiLeaks. Or perhaps the whole story is one of mystification and error.
The United States Air Force has forward deployed about one-third of its B-2 stealth bombers to Diego Garcia, or about half the B-2s considered fully operational at any given time.
Extreme heat is the leading weather-related cause of injury and death and innovations in the built environment can save money and lives.
By requiring all states to conduct flood infrastructure vulnerability assessments (FIVAs), the federal government can limit its financial liability while advancing a more efficient and effective model of flood resilience that puts states and localities at the fore.
FAS is invested in seeing more students gain science and technology skills and enter STEM careers, both for students and for our country’s competitive advantage.