
CIA Director: Wikileaks Is a 'Hostile Intelligence Service' - dates
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mike-pompeo-cia-director-wikileaks-is-a-hostile-intelligence-service
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chalchal
"Pompeo said Assange portrays himself as a crusader but in fact helps enemies
of the United States, including aiding Russia’s interference in last year’s
presidential election.

However, Pompeo did not comment on how Trump has previously lavished praise on
Assange for the information he has made public.

Nor did Pompeo mention that he himself had cited and linked to WikiLeaks in a
tweet attacking the Democratic Party. Pompeo at the time was a Republican
congressman and member of the House Intelligence Committee.

The CIA declined to comment on that."

[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/14/cia-
director...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/14/cia-director-
brands-wikileaks-a-hostile-intelligence-service)

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leephillips
Not sure what he means by “embedded by [sic] state actors like Russia,” but
isn’t is clear by now that Wikileaks has, at the least, aligned its interests
with Russia’s, and, quite likely, is largely controlled by the Kremlin?

~~~
helthanatos
Does it matter who it's controlled by as long as it does some good? As far as
citizens are concerned, it should be / is treason to keep these secrets.
People say Snowden is terrible for doing what he did and he is hiding in
Russia. They are wrong for thinking their thoughts about how "unAmerican" he
is. WikiLeaks could start releasing nonsense, but when they do that, their
purpose is at an end.

~~~
geofft
Yes. If it does _biased_ good, it may not be doing good at all. For instance,
there are claims that Wikileaks had the opportunity to leak RNC emails, and
decided not to. It is certainly one thing to say that the DNC and RNC don't
get to have privacy (I'm not sure I'd agree, but I can see the argument). It
is another thing entirely to say that one of these groups doesn't get privacy
and the other one does. Both of them make sausage. Both of them are American
political parties. It's unpleasant, there's undoubtedly rampant corruption in
both, and people are sending internal emails without an eye to the fact that
the general public might read and misinterpret them. But if only one group
becomes the target of Wikileaks, the general public will get upset at them
_and not the other_.

If Wikileaks is controlled by some entity with an agenda, it is very easy to
attack and embarrass and cause political problems for other groups, opposed to
that agenda, and refuse to attack groups aligned with that agenda. No lies are
required. They can release selective truth, and generate public outrage
directed in a particular way, thereby clearing the path for whatever groups
they like. Those groups would probably generate as much outrage if they were
the target of Wikileaks, and we have no way to verify what Wikileaks
themselves might be hiding.

It's sort of a Richelieu "Give me six lines written by the hand of the most
honest man and I would find something in them to have him hanged" situation:
they're hanging only the honest men they dislike.

(Also I'm sort of weirded out by your phrasing "They are wrong for thinking
their thoughts" \- I'm guessing you meant just "They are wrong to think" or
something?)

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DarkKomunalec
But when the NSA breaks the constitution and lies to congress, they're not
hostile? It's pretty obvious he doesn't mean hostile to the American people,
but to the US government.

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davidgerard
The other term for "non-state hostile intelligence service" is "free press".

~~~
LeeHwang
I caught that as well. It really gives the fake news meme a horrific twist.

Especially in the light of the all the warmongering in the mainstream papers.
[https://theintercept.com/2017/04/07/the-spoils-of-war-
trump-...](https://theintercept.com/2017/04/07/the-spoils-of-war-trump-
lavished-with-media-and-bipartisan-praise-for-bombing-syria/)

Yet everyone I know on the right and left is anti-war. The alt-right of all
people even had a huge protest in DC.

Its beginning to feel like Iraq WMD's again. Sad times.

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daxfohl
Meh, in a way you could view it as the most important thing everything needs
these days. Extra motivation to keep your secrets tight. And insight into what
you've messed up.

