Second country that is being mass surveiled by the US is...

So, the 72 hour wait is up, and Wikileaks has provided an answer. It turns out the second country that is being mass surveiled is... Afghanistan!

Both the Washington Post and The Intercept stated that they had censored the name of the victim country at the request of the US government. Such censorship strips a nation of its right to self-determination on a matter which affects its whole population. An ongoing crime of mass espionage is being committed against the victim state and its population. By denying an entire population the knowledge of its own victimisation, this act of censorship denies each individual in that country the opportunity to seek an effective remedy, whether in international courts, or elsewhere. Pre-notification to the perpetrating authorities also permits the erasure of evidence which could be used in a successful criminal prosecution, civil claim, or other investigations.

We know from previous reporting that the National Security Agency’s mass interception system is a key component in the United States’ drone targeting program. The US drone targeting program has killed thousands of people and hundreds of women and children in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia in violation of international law. The censorship of a victim state’s identity directly assists the killing of innocent people.

Although, for reasons of source protection we cannot disclose how, WikiLeaks has confirmed that the identity of victim state is Afghanistan. This can also be independently verified through forensic scrutiny of imperfectly applied censorship on related documents released to date and correlations with other NSA programs (see freesnowden.is...).

^^ lol at the misspelling of victimization spellcheck X D ^^

wikileaks.com...

They later go on to say:

The Intercept stated that the US government asserted that the publication of this name might lead to a ’rise in violence’. Such claims were also used by the administration of Barack Obama to refuse to release further photos of torture at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

While one might seriously question the moral exceptionalism which would deny another nation and its people the right to react to a mass rights infringement in a manner of its own choosing, such claims of risk by the US government have in any event consistently fallen short.

Now, aside from the fact that this should have been a pretty easy guess, are any deaths actually going to come from the release of this information, as was stated by both the pentagon and the state department?

I mean, it's possible. IF there was a good reason for a terror attack on parts of the US from someone in Afghanistan, I'm sure this on top of all that has gone on over there in the past few years is reason enough.

So, what do you think guys?

Was this a bad call on Julian Assange's part, or did he make the right decision?

Since our involvement in Afghanistan, the poppy fields are back and bigger than ever. Our own troops have even been tasked on occasion to guard them. The illicit drug trade makes for a great non-traceable source of funding for compartmentalized black ops.

I mean, if you want to carry out clandestine activity and never have it on the books -- drug money is an easy way to fund one's operations.

This does not surprise me in the least.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

As I said, it should have been an easy guess. We were at war with them, and are facilitating drug trafficking. Of course they are going to want to hear/see everything going on there.

Well seeing as Afghanistan is potential hostile country and cesspit of hatred for the west I say the NSA and friends are doing there jobs properly.


Domestic spying and hacking allied country's leaders phone is a waste of resources and ethically wrong


But here they are doing there job. Its shame they don't spend more time defending against Chinese cyber attacks and less time storing my phone and email data!

originally posted by: andr3w68
lol at the misspelling of victimization Wikileaks X D ^^

I don't get that? 'Victimisation' is the correct spelling

My guess was Pakistan but close enough I guess!

I guess the NSA is just looking out for our interests over seas, those poppy fields though

I think Wiki Leaks backed off...

This was obvious.

Besides, you know damn well we are collecting everything on everybody.

I just dont see what shocking about this. I had it as a given they would be monitoring the entire ME !

a reply to: andr3w68

Firstly, WikiLeaks did not misspell 'victimization'. The press release was written by Julian Assange, who is an Australian national. Australia follows the British standard of spelling, therefore meaning that the spelling of 'victimisation' is correct when taking Julian's nationality and education into account.

I don't think much will come from this, and i didn't see much of a need for other media outlets to redact Afghanistan. Of course there is a possibility of violence, but i doubt it could get any worse.

I think WikiLeaks is playing a risky game though. We all know Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and WikiLeaks were, and are, close. I feel that WikiLeaks engaging in independent activity, directly in opposition to the Intercept, could harm the relationship between the aforementioned. That is unless, it is all just a publicity stunt...and i wouldn't put it past them.

originally posted by: andr3w68
a reply to: MystikMushroom

As I said, it should have been an easy guess. We were at war with them, and are facilitating drug trafficking. Of course they are going to want to hear/see everything going on there.

We are not at war with Afghanistan. We are over there to support and stabalise the country. That said, we are at war with insurgents who are residing inside the state.

Yes, the NSA is doing its job in collecting intelligence in the Middle-East. I would expect them to undertake such actions.

a reply to: smurfy

Will soon be changed to - "lol at the misspelling of victimization Spellcheck X D

What I should have said was, we were at war in thier country

a reply to: daaskapital

You can not really be that thick. That is past Darwin award stupid reason. So all those dead afghani citizens that you kill was not I guess the usa right. They i guess they all commit suicide. Like all the countries from pre Vietnam all that usa was good at was sowing death and destruction.

a reply to: whyamIhere
And then sue China for doing it to the usa.

But, ...this was a surprise to Afghanistan or anyone living there or anyone in the entire world?

We're still at war there.

originally posted by: andr3w68
a reply to: smurfy

Will soon be changed to - "lol at the misspelling of victimization Spellcheck X D

What I should have said was, we were at war in thier country

Oh the delicious irony.

Is anyone shocked it was Afghanistan though? Really?

a reply to: andr3w68
Big surprize cuz we set up there cellular comminications tower in the war y wouldnt we still be listening after all i would be especially after that car bomb instructor blew him and his trainees away

Good find!!

a reply to: andr3w68

I guess no titillating stories have been sent to wikleaks in while.
Now that the Snowden dog and pony show has played out and he has gone over officially to the Russians (as many of us knew all along) the poor confused Army guy is in jail awaiting his sex reassignment surgery, The Rapist needs some fresh "secret information" to release to stay (somewhat) relevant. What do we get....We are monitoring Afghan communications...

Just ...Wow.


V

originally posted by: neversaynever
a reply to: daaskapital

You can not really be that thick. That is past Darwin award stupid reason. So all those dead afghani citizens that you kill was not I guess the usa right. They i guess they all commit suicide. Like all the countries from pre Vietnam all that usa was good at was sowing death and destruction.

What? Lol.

No, i'm not that thick...and i'm not American...

It is correct that we are not at war with the state of Afghanistan. It is also correct that the NSA is doing its job by spying on the Afghan population...spy agencies exist for such tasks.

Obviously there have been crimes committed by the allied forces...and we can thank WikiLeaks for exposing them.

I would think that any country that knows where ashcanistan is would be spying on it as well, especially seeing as how the Chinese are busy buying up and digging up the country (copper, rare earths).