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McCaskill and Graham Call For Prosecution in Wikileaks Case

While the world is reacting to leaks indicating that Saudi Arabia is funding Al Qaeda and Clinton ordered diplomats to engage in espionage, Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have called for the prosecution of those responsible for the leaks.


The leaks also show the Saudis pressuring the United States to attack Iran — once again having the United States do the dirty work for regional interests. Then there is the revelation that Iran smuggled weapons in ambulances to Hezbollah.

Graham insists that the matter is clear “we’re at war . . . If you can prosecute them, let’s try.” McCaskill agreed, stressing “I hope we can find out where this is coming from and go after them with the force of law.”

As with the disclosures of the torture program, some of these disclosures are likely not new information for Senators. Members of the intelligence committees have often been criticized for knowledge of abuses or even crimes in our government without making them public or taking significant action. Thus far, there has not been a single suggestion of public hearings on these allegations — only a demand to prosecute the person responsible for making them public. The problem is that some of this information shows that the public has been given false or misleading information on major policies. I guess this is an example of what Senator Rockefeller said was the harm of media coverage denying the public of its sense of happiness and contentment in their government.

I am a firm believer in the need to maintain secrecy in areas of national security, but some of these leaks raise (again) a growing lack of confidence in Congress in serving as a true check and balance on abuses.

171 thoughts on “McCaskill and Graham Call For Prosecution in Wikileaks Case”

  1. Blouise That does not surprise me at all. I have been cynical about war since Vietnam.

  2. Swarthmore mom,

    What I find shocking along those lines is the eager willingness of our elected politicians to use our American citizens as cannon fodder simply to appease other nations.

    These American politicians have banded together to form a giant monarch and view our sons and daughters as totally expendable to their royal alliances. They sit fat and happy at some foreign banquet table bartering away the lives of our military men and women in the service of some foreign potentate in exchange for another leg of roast beast.

  3. Awwww. Maybe he’s the Anti-Christ. Isn’t that cute? Trolls are so adorable when clubbed over the head with the truth like a baby seal! Since we’re talking fictional characters, maybe he’s Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, bringing gifts to all the good girls and boys. That seems a far more likely scenario given the facts.

  5. I think the most shocking thing to me in the leaks is how many Mideastern countries agree with McCain in that we should bomb Iran.

    We’re still waiting for them to unclench their fist.
    It seems other countries have already been extending them a hand.

  6. Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY):

    “WikiLeaks presents a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States. I strongly urge you to work within the Administration to use every offensive capability of the U.S. government to prevent further damaging releases by WikiLeaks.”

    ===================

    Domestic operations, in progress, present “a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States.”

    (Thanks for the link, Swarthmore mom.)

  8. Wikileaks is proving further that much of what is classified for so-called “national security” reasons is either embarassing or outright criminal activity by our government.

    The biggest risk to our national security comes not from Wikileaks but from our Empire’s endless wars, from today’s Iraq to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen to the future war with Iran.

  9. I think the most shocking thing to me in the leaks is how many Mideastern countries agree with McCain in that we should bomb Iran.

  10. Greg Mitchell of The Nation is blogging about all the Wikileaks stories–and will be updating throughout the day.

    From The Nation
    DAYBOOK for Monday: Special Edition — The New WikiLeaks, Day 2
    http://www.thenation.com/blog/156704/daybook-monday-special-edition-new-wikileaks-day-2

    Excerpt:
    SPECIAL EDITION
    Normally we present at least a couple of dozen wide-ranging items, plus a music video and “today’s laff” video but today will break the mold. For one thing, I will be on (or have been on, depending when you read this) Democracy Now! this morning talking about the WikiLeaks release, so I’m delayed in doing the usual Daybook.

    But I had planned a special WikiLeaks Day 2 anyway. After all, my live blog of the Sunday release, which ran from noon (just before the release) to midnight, drew massive traffic.
    *****

    BLOGGING THE WIKILEAKS RELEASE: Day 1
    http://www.thenation.com/blog/156701/blogging-wikileaks-release-return-here-all-day-updates

  13. Wikileaks will be rolling out the cables “bit by bit” over the next several months so… Apparently, there’s much more to come…

    As was said by Wikileaks in a “tweet” after the Washington Post expo, and I’m paraphrasing: …by year’s end, lights on, rats out.

  15. McCaskill agreed, stressing “I hope we can find out where this is coming from and go after them with the force of law.”

    How about finding out where the orders to torture came from and going after them with both the rule and the force of law?

    It should be a slam dunk prosecution as the suspects – Bush and Cheney – have boastfully admitted to the crime publicly and repeatedly.

    How about that, Claire?

    How about we clean up our own house first, Senators Chickenshit and Homophobe?

  16. And maybe — eventually — we’ll get around to dredging up the things that are going on right here at home — things that would likely drive people to the streets, en masse, if known.

    The situation is summed up perfectly by our host, who concluded, “I am a firm believer in the need to maintain secrecy in areas of national security, but some of these leaks raise (again) a growing lack of confidence in Congress in serving as a true check and balance on abuses.”

    Most would agree, I think…

    We need hearings — we need the transparency that we were promised.

  17. It would be exciting to see a pair of US Senators take a bipartisan stand and call for the prosecution of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, et al for the illegal and repeated violation of our domestic and international laws against torture. Now that these cables have been leaked, maybe people like al-Masri who was kidnapped and tortured by the CIA, illegally and in error, can get their day in court without “national security” being used as a fail safe defense by the government.

  19. McCaskill and Graham … what an inglorious pair.

    Thanks to those leaks, we, the people, have a somewhat better idea of what they, the government, are doing in our name and what other governments are pressuring them to do in our name and with the lives of our service men and women. I’ll bet the NYTimes is holding a lot back … but not for long.

    The “club” ain’t so exclusive if everybody knows your secrets and it’s very difficult to claim patriotism when you have sent a few thousand Americans to their death simply to please the Saudi Royal family.

    I vote to put McCaskill and Graham in the front line to lead the next charge the Saudis request.

    As to the Hezbollah’s weapons in ambulances … well, that’s right up Washington’s alley.

  20. i look at wikileaks as an orginization that can help lead us to abolishing war. the power of the ppl to know and to hold governments accountable.

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