Air Force legal office: All of our members' families can be prosecuted for reading WikiLeaks!

Air Force legal office: All of our members' families can be prosecuted for reading WikiLeaks!

www.rawstory.com

Almost anyone in the United States, and especially soldiers or the families of US Air Force members, could be under the threat of prosecution by the military, according to a recent "guidance" document issued by the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) public affairs office.

The advisory took on new significance Monday as Julian Assange, founder of the secrets peddling website, was in a British court to argue against his extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning in relation to allegations of sexual assault and impropriety.

(visit the link for the full news article)

What the?!?

PROSECUTION for merely READING the materials?!?

Boy, if this isn't EVER another reason to avoid joining the military, I don't know what is!

Talk about totalitarian rule over its members, with threatening language used towards even family members?

Seems the war on information is stepping up even further people!

Forget about LEAKING documents, you are now considered a criminal and enemy combatant for simply VIEWING them!

www.rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Incredible... Nazi Germany.. .*cough* I mean...the United States is really shining bright with the examplary freedom & liberty it loves to spread.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


So much for freedom of speech etc...

Well, the thing is, I think most of us understand that when one signs up for the military, they basically sign their lives away and become the "property" of Uncle Sam.

Where this particular development becomes disturbing is that they appear to be EXPANDING that outward into people who have NOT signed with them. So they are targeting CIVILIANS now.

Really creepy development.

Yeah well they wont be missing much ,Just keep your eyes on the altimeter boys and girls.

They're just reminding USAF personnel, in their typical legalese gobblydegook, as is their responsibility, that classified information is still classified even if released.

Anyone who reads it is opening themselves up for prosecution...military or not So while technically this is just a CYA thing for the USAF, it only brings to light that we're all in the same boat. which is nothing really new.

I'd say the effectiveness of this law has just been undermined if not totally eradicated. While the government can choose to prosecute at will to make someone's life miserable, they're going to have a hard time making it stick now. That has to piss them off.

Even if the military wanted to prosecute a staff member or spouse, they wouldn't have a case. Since the military has no ownership of the wikileaks site, or any other informative site for that matter, it would fall into a "jurisdictional" setting.
According to Article 3 section 2, states :

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Thus the hole reasoning of " due process". No organization would be able to prosecute any users of such site, without the courts and jury being present to impose law. Which clearly, law would out weigh the Military's stance. Further, if said organization attempted to identify these actions as treasonous, then the Article 3 section 3 kicks in.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The military's stance, is simply trying to dis-inform its members. Attempting to keep them in the dark, and the gossip to a minimal level. But lawfully, have no case.

And yet there's still people who think wikileaks is the one in the wrong in this situation.

Now that really is messed up. I have two inlaws in the military - one Air Force and one Army. Technically I'm family so they're saying I can be prosecuted for reading WikiLeaks now? Or even if my wife reads it (who is directly related to both)?! That's total and utter BS and well... a little too late now :-D and I'll continue to read it all I want.

I'm not in the military and neither is the wife - they have no right to tell me what I can and can't read once its on the internet. Don't want me to read this stuff? Do a better job at keepin it classified!

reply to post by Terrormaster


With the way technology is going it won't be long before they begin prosecuting and jailing people related to military members who thought about reading Wikki leaks.
Sounds silly and over the top right now????
So did every God Damned headline on the front pages these days!!!!!
Pick a headline/news article from the front page RIGHT NOW and get in your Delorian, travel back to good ol' 1985 and ask the people what they think! You'll see!!!

A measure which would allow a judge to punish the parents of teenagers who engage in the risky practice known as 'sexting,' was introduced today in the Texas Legislature, and immediately received the support of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, 1200 WOAI news reports.

link
see, it's easy. The people in 1985 just said...."WTF", oh wait, they don't know what chatting shorthand is yet.
They said "WHAT THE **** is sexting?????? and why are there laws against it????

This is just another scare tactic, a pathetic attempt at trying to limit the information family members of active duty military personnel have access to.

God forbid those family members get a glimpse of the whole picture of what their loved ones are sacrificing and dying for...

Not to mention the fact that, if those members and their spouses actually thought for themselves and saw through the lies and BS, my, my...what kinda of a " chain of command " would we have if those who serve actually questioned the legitimacy of those it took orders from?
I think its fearmongering, trying to sway those members and their spouses from having an opinion, much less a thought of their own~

This is really becoming a Garden of Eden/Tree of Knowledge scenario. Satan said they would gain knowledge and God said they would die.

So unless I am mistaken essentially this says a good patriot can't have access to this information on risk of punishment however an enemy of the state will have free access.

Unless there is a distinct fear that this information will cause a real patriot to demand answers for misdeeds there is absolutely no reason to make this rule. And if there are misdeeds to be answered for one who really loves their country would know it is not only their right but it is their duty to demand answers and reform where applicable.

Is this what they fear?

Originally posted by Whereweheaded
Not to mention the fact that, if those members and their spouses actually thought for themselves and saw through the lies and BS, my, my...what kinda of a " chain of command " would we have if those who serve actually questioned the legitimacy of those it took orders from?
I think its fearmongering, trying to sway those members and their spouses from having an opinion, much less a thought of their own~

agree with you there, BTW prefer the new avatar [less gross and less off-putting IMO]
it's like something out of Atlas Shrugged; the irrationality/Bizzaro-Nature of TCOTBIP gets more obvious as time passes.

Hopefully it makes the members of these services think twice about what they are really fighting for. I almost went down a military path, but seeing all the lies and corruption going on it is more about the money than human rights and dignity.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


I agree-- creepy development!! Particularly because I predict this will receive very little attention. There will be no widespread condemnation of the notion. There may even be some on these boards who will agree with the idea.

If it quacks like a duck...

An update—

Update: Josh Gerstein at Politico was told by the Air Force Monday afternoon that the AFMC guidance “is being taken down pending a further review of the legal opinions it was based on.” (...)

Update 2: Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Johnson provided this statement on the evening of February 7:

“Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) recently published an internal news story that discussed the implications of downloading presumed classified information from WikiLeaks. The release was not previously coordinated with Headquarters Air Force and has been removed from the AFMC website. The Air Force has provided guidance to military members and employees to avoid downloading what could be classified information into Air Force unclassified networks and reminded them that publication of information does not itself constitute declassification of such information. The Air Force guidance did not address family members who are not Air Force members or employees. The Air Force defers to the Department of Justice in all non-military matters related to WikiLeaks.”

Sources: FAS Secrecy News, Politico.

Well, its not much different than the mandate pushed thru that all citizens must purchase health insurance ... and that got challenged in a court. It was deemed illegal