Watch Part One and Two Above
Montana Investigative Blogger
Crystal L. Cox
Crystal@CrystalCox.com
by Investigative Blogger Crystal L. Cox
She accused the Obama administration of “incompetence” and a “strange lack of urgency” in not stopping the release of 250,000 leaked diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, given that it had already published sensitive information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The former Governor of Alaska and vice-presidential nominee suggested that “cyber tools” should be used to shut down the whistle-blowing website permanently. It has twice been the subject of targeted attacks by hackers to bring it offline this week.
Mr Assange, a 39 year-old Australian former computer hacker who set up WikiLeaks in 2006, has kept out of public view since the release of the first leaked American diplomatic cables on Sunday. He has denied he has blood on his hands. Mr Assange is the subject of an international arrest warrant over allegations of rape in Sweden.
Writing on her Facebook page on Monday, Mrs Palin questioned why the US authorities were not looking for him in the same way that it had hunted suspected terrorists.
“The latest round of publications of leaked classified U.S. documents through the shady organization calledWikileaks raises serious questions about the Obama administration’s incompetent handling of this whole fiasco.
“First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing thishighly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months?
“He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?”
She went on: “What if any diplomatic pressure was brought to bear on NATO, EU, and other allies to disruptWikileaks’ technical infrastructure? Did we use all the cyber tools at our disposal to permanently dismantle Wikileaks? Were individuals working for Wikileaks on these document leaks investigated?Shouldn’t they at least have had their financial assets frozen just as we do to individuals who provide material support for terrorist organizations?”
Mrs Palin, who is tipped to run for President in 2012, also said that “serious questions” had to be asked about how the “highly sensitive” memos from diplomats and intelligence officers could have been uploaded onto a computer memory stick and given to WikiLeaks from a supposedly secure US defence department network known as Siprnet. The prime suspect is Bradley Manning, a young private in the US Army who is now being held ahead of a court-martial.
Mrs Palin asked why the White House had not issued orders to tighten security back in July, when WikiLeaksreleased thousands of classified military documents on Afghanistan.
“What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part?”
Mrs Palin concluded: “We are at War. American soldiers are in Afghanistan fighting to protect our freedoms. They are serious about keeping America safe. It would be great if they could count on their government being equally serious about that vital task.”
Rick Santorum, another prominent conservative, agreed with her, saying: “We haven't gone after this guy, we haven't tried to prosecute him, we haven't gotten our allies to go out and lock this guy up and bring him up on terrorism charges.”
The Obama administration has said that it “deeply regrets” the leaking of the embarrassing cables that have disclosed exactly what American diplomats think of foreign leaders and promised to take “aggressive steps” against those who “stole” them. "
Source of Article in Post
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8171269/Sarah-Palin-hunt-WikiLeaks-founder-like-al-Qaeda-and-Taliban-leaders.html
You have a Right to All the Facts...
Crystal L. Cox
Industry Whistleblower
Investigative Blogger
Crystal@CrystalCox.com
The former sheriff's sergeant will also spend 15 days in jail.
Ravalli County District Judge James Haynes told Fowler he had broken the trust handed to him by the public and was nothing more than an embezzler.
Fowler told the judge that he didn't actually steal anything.
Near the end of the three-hour sentencing hearing, Fowler insisted he'd simply taken possession of the stolen ammunition and sold it to different businesses and individuals over a nine-month period of time.
Fowler told the judge that he had an accomplice who actually stole the ammo.
But a state investigator testified he was convinced that wasn't true.
Montana Department of Criminal Investigation agent Shane Shaw said he spent hundreds of hours interviewing more than 50 people while putting together the case against Fowler.
Shaw said he was convinced that Fowler had acted alone in stealing and reselling thousands of rounds of ammunition from the county between October 2008 and June 2009.
"I don't believe anyone else was involved," Shaw said.
The investigator tracked ammunition taken from several different locations, including a vault in the courthouse, and sold it to businesses and individuals through lot numbers.
Fowler sold some of the ammunition while dressed in his uniform and driving his patrol car, Shaw said.
Fowler's attorney, Milt Datsopoulos, said his client was addicted to pain medication as a result of several surgeries over the course of a number of years.
Fowler's wife, Brenda, said she had seen her husband change significantly over the past two years because of his addiction.
"He started taking pills more often, and more often became more often," she said. "It was a tough road for him to get off the pain medication, but he did it on his own."
In the meantime, she said her family's life was turned upside down.
"All four of us have paid a price," she said. "We've lost our home. We've lost our family. ... Life has not been easy going through this."
Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said the sheriff's department has paid its own price.
"We live and die by people's confidence," Hoffman testified. "When that is compromised, then we have lost one of the biggest tools that we have to be effective in the community."
Lawyers are already challenging earlier court cases that involved Fowler.
The case against convicted arsonist Donnie Mack Sellers was appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. At issue is Fowler's involvement in the initial arrest of Sellers and the possibility his testimony was tainted.
"When we sit in this box and address a jury ... they need to know that what comes out of our mouth is the truth," Hoffman said. "They need to know that they can trust us."
After the hearing, Hoffman said he was "very satisfied" with the investigation completed by the state in the case.
"As to why Mr. Fowler would want to try and implicate others in this office, I don't have that answer," he said. "He had a number of opportunities to come forward with information and he never did."
Reporter Perry Backus can be reached at 363-3300 or at pbackus@ravallirepublic.com. "