By Cliff Montgomery – June 30th, 2013
The Obama Administration has created quite a spectacle in its drive to punish all those who leak secrets to the media – or, as more reasoned individuals might put it, ‘all those who work to let the people know what the government is doing in its name’.
Such reported leaks used to be called ‘journalism’. Some even called it ‘democracy’. Whatever one might call it, the Obama crew clearly doesn’t like it.
Edward Snowden – the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who first informed The Guardian newspaper about the Agency’s massive spying activity on most Americans – is merely the latest in a long line of well-connected individuals who have done their part to restore democratic accountability in America, only to find themselves attacked by our self-appointed Big Brothers.
On June 13th, FBI Director Robert Mueller told the U.S. House Judiciary Committee that Snowden’s revelations have caused a “significant harm to our nation and our safety.” Snowden “is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation,” added Mueller.
Yet a recent move in the Obama Administration’s crusade against democratic accountability may well reveal its utter absurdity.
The administration “has named Gen. James Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a key suspect in an investigation into who leaked details of Stuxnet to the media,” stated The National Journal on June 28th.
Stuxnet is the computer virus which in 2010 was used to sabotage Iran’s nuclear-enrichment facilities. According to The New York Times, Cartwright was one of the leading figures behind the development and active management of the virus.
It appears that “Cartwright has been served a ‘target letter’ indicating that he’ll be investigated, and possibly charged,” The National Journal declared.
“Cartwright could be indicted under the Espionage Act, putting him in the same predicament as Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning,” continued the news source.
“If so, he’d be Obama’s ninth such target – and among the highest-ranking officials ever to be charged in the law’s 96-year history,” pointed out the Journal.
It’s one thing to accuse an idealistic young contractor of treason. It’s another thing to make the charge against a general who’s dedicated his life to defending the nation against its enemies.
The Journal recognizes the possible morass Obama may have gotten himself into this time.
“Anything short of an indictment” for the respected general “would open the president up to accusations that he only pursues leaks when it involves ordinary federal employees and not distinguished public servants,” stated the news source.
“The appearance of a double standard for espionage charges would likely only increase the pressure on Obama,” declared the Journal, which added that he has “been criticized for invoking the Espionage Act more often than any other president.”
