Obama Loses His War on Whistleblowers 86


Obama has waged a vicious War on Whistleblowers, the details of which are insufficiently known to the public. High level security officials, true American patriots like Thomas Drake and John Kiriakou have been handcuffed, dragged through the courts and jailed. William Binney had guns pointed at himself and his wife in their home. Chelsea Manning endures constant persecution and humiliation which meets the bar of cruel and degrading punishment. Edward Snowden pines in exile. These are just the highest profile examples. Hillary Clinton was the driving force behind Obama’s hard line attacks on whistleblowers.

Under Obama, whistleblowers face a total of 751 months behind bars — compared to 24 months for all other whistleblowers combined since the American Revolution. The protection of free speech and truth-telling has been wrenched away under Obama.

I am proud to be a whistleblower myself, and like Drake, Kiriakou, Binney, Manning and Snowden a recipient of the annual Sam Adams award. We have another recipient – Julian Assange – who is a most useful ally indeed.

Whistleblowers seemed a soft target. Indeed seven years into his Presidency Obama seemed to be winning the War on Whistleblowers hands down, leaving them serving time or marginalised and cast out from society.

But Obama/Clinton miscalculated massively. If you set up the super surveillance state, hoovering up all the internet traffic of pretty well everybody, that is not just going to affect the ordinary people whom the elite despise. There is also going to be an awful lot of traffic intercepted from sleazy members of the elite connected to even the most senior politicians, revealing all their corruption and idiosyncracies. From people like John Podesta, to take an entirely random example. And once the super surveillance state has intercepted and stored all that highly incriminating material, you never know if some decent human being, some genuine patriot, from within the security services is going to feel compelled to turn whistleblower.

Then they might turn for help to, to take another entirely random example, Julian Assange.

Obama/Clinton have perished politically as an example of the ultimate in political hubris. Downed by their own surveillance super state. Obama/Clinton’s War on Whistleblowers resulted in the most humiliating of defeats, and now they are political history. This is karma for their persecution of some of the best people in their nation. Good riddance.

All nothing to do with any Russians.

Disclaimer – though I reference fellow holders of the Sam Adams award, this does not indicate a joint effort or that individual award holders or the Sam Adamas Associates necessarily agree with actions taken.

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86 thoughts on “Obama Loses His War on Whistleblowers

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  • Brianfujisan

    Well Said Craig – Follow the Logic.. as it were

    ” Obama/Clinton have perished politically as an example of the ultimate in political hubris. Downed by their own surveillance super state. Obama/Clinton’s War on Whistleblowers resulted in the most humiliating of defeats, and now they are political history. This is karma for their persecution of some of the best people in their nation. Good riddance.

    All nothing to do with any Russians.”

    music to one’s ears.. Strength To you all.

  • Macky

    Obama & Co lost the war on whistleblowers the moment when despite the initial inhuman torture of the then Bradley Manning, which was meant as a deterrent to other other whistleblowers, Edward Snowden still came forward; there will always be principled people prepared to lose everything, even their lives for what their conscience tells them is the right thing to do.

    The war against whistleblowers is not only morally indefensible, but it’s also a war that can never be won.

  • Aba Kristilolu

    The repercussion of the shameful attack on whistle-blowers is not fully played out yet. Obama/Clinton may have paid some price for their indefensible attack on transparency and accountable governance, but the monster they leave in their wake may cause countless innocent people unimaginable horrors in the coming months and years. Should that happen, I hope we get to see the authors of these disasters pay more for their transgression against decency.

    Perhaps a conference to collate, document and publish these attacks on all via the persecution of whistle-blowers maybe in order.

    • Paul Barbara

      @ Aba Kristilolu December 12, 2016 at 22:41
      Aba, by all means bring it forward, but this world is ‘controlled’ by Satan (or as it’s slaves generally call it, ‘Lucifer’, courtesy of God.
      Why that has occurred, I won’t try to explain (though those who know me can email me for further info, and I make myself available to all, if Craig passes on my email address, at his discretion).
      The proof of the pudding will come at the ‘Last Trump’ (no pun intended!).
      (And that’s in my cups!).

  • Alex

    If you’re actually saying a whistleblower from the security services (which security services?) became a whistleblower and sent the DNC and Podesta emails to WikiLeaks, then actually say that. This smile and nudge thing you’re doing is frankly BS. Because right now it’s possible to decry and distrust the surveillance state, admire whistleblowers, and still think you’re peddling nonsense.

    • craig Post author

      Yes Alex, why don’t I give out all the details so they can arrest them, put them naked in solitary and throw away the key?

      Piss off.

      • Alex

        First it’s an insider leak (which implies someone inside the campaign, party, etc…), now you adopt a hypothetical tone to claim it was a whistleblowing spy (which would not be an insider unless the term insider means only “person who isn’t directly affiliated with the Russian government”). If security dictates that you can’t say anything, which is more than prudent given the need to protect your sources, then don’t say anything. Since you are saying things, it’s reasonable to ask that you say them clearly and that they be logically consistent in the hope that we may understand what you’re saying.

      • oQ

        i wrote something like this on an other forum, would you comment:
        I follow Craig Murray, i respect his work but feeling a bit concerned that he claims he has met the whistleblower(s). As we all know Wikileaks says they do not reveal their source, i guess they don’t reveal it to strangers but they do to friends? It is written, “Craig Murray, a well known supporter associate and friend of Julian Assange”, makes me wonder is he a business associate?
        It would also be interesting to know if Craig Murray has travelled to the US in these last many months? We were left believing that perhaps Seth Rich was possibly the whistleblower, has he travelled to the UK in the last many months?
        I must say it would make a lot of sense that a whistleblower, not Russia, leaked the emails. But what are we to know? Snowden is under the impression according to an interview that it is possible that the Russia did the leak?
        Thoughts?

      • Ba'al Zevul

        Given that all your contacts since you left Uzbekistan have probably been noted, I’m not sure that the identity of your informant is wholly unknown. Another cause for uncertainty lies in the thought that if dissenters were required to believe a story, it would be best presented to a prominent dissenter by a bogus ‘source’ within the system: the essence of this being that said dissenter doesn’t suspect the insincerity of his informant. I believe the clandestine community is adept at this sort of thing…

        On the evidence thus far presented, then, there is still no clear route to a true account. No, hysterics, I’m not damning Russia. I’ve said before, words to the effect that Russia would have done a far better job of it.

        .

  • RobG

    This is relevant.

    John Podesta has been totally absent on social media for much more than a month now, ever since the heavy duty Wikileaks stuff started coming out. You’d think, given the level of accusations against him, that Podesta would have made some kind of statement; but no.

    John Podesta has now tweeted this today…

    https://twitter.com/johnpodesta/status/808398457140609024

    Aside from the usual bullshit about ‘Russian interference’, look at the replies to this tweet (many of which will no doubt be deleted by the time I make this post).

  • philw

    Either the CIA do not know the identity of the leaker of the Podesta emails, in which case they would probably like to talk to you,
    Or they do know, in which case they seem to want to keep it quiet, and might want to do more than talk to you.

    Why are you posting this?

    • giyane

      philw

      I cannot remotely speak for Craig, but I have learned from him on this blog that the one thing bullies cannot bear is exposure – even the Saudi bullies who chop off their political opponent’s heads and rape them with state security guards. Complete honesty is something which undercuts the thickest thicket of deceit.

      If you are afraid of satan’s manipulative lies, confront him, he is accursed, and you may have made a little mistake. But Craig hasn’t made a mistake. He has consistently and defiantly confronted deceit with truth and there is absolutely nothing the deceivers can do with this courage and transparency. Whatever they try to do will only compound people’s realisation that they are being told bo****ks.
      The strategy of truth-telling has just destroyed the neo-con malarial mosquito swamp. They can take their little MSM proboscis and stick them in the air like dust on the mantle-piece.

    • Alex

      Exactly. It either makes sense for Murray to say absolutely nothing in the aim of protecting the source, which I can admire and appreciate, or to provide useful information in the hope of influencing a public debate over Russian involvement because he believes the information being published is horribly wrong. Posting this achieves neither objective.

  • Clark

    NSA and GCHQ employees; you’re reading this. You know you have to do something, but what should it be? If you erase the disks there will still be backups.

    “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God”.

    Nah. Go back further…

    “Let there be light”.

  • giyane

    My rule with liars is always to reverse the statements they make. If John McCain says it’s the Russians, and now they’re saying it originated with the Russians who leaked it to an ‘insider’ who leaked it to WikiLeaks, in order to accommodate Craig’s statement that it was an insider => then it was NOT the Russians. Savvy Trump makes that calculation in his head. I have to work extremely hard to process lies because I have never been able to see the point of making them in the first place.

    The BBC are exceedingly upset that CIA lies don’t work on the president elect of the United States.
    BBC says it’s dangerous for Trump not to believe CIA lies => It is very safe that Trump doesn’t believe them. And so on through the lie torrent, one by one cancelling the lies by reversing them.

    Ordinary minds find it much easier, instead of cancelling the lies one by one, to reject any individual who ever lies. People like Obama have had their personalities split so that they can be programmed to lie or not lie at the programmers’ choice. Obama is not free to choose truth and he has been very harsh on those who are still able to make that choice.

    Maybe Donald is a ‘rig’, a horse that has not been properly castrated.

    • Shatnersrug

      I still don’t understand what the CIA are playing at, come Jan 20th trumps going to tear their heads off. They clearly don’t have much on him otherwise they’d have framed him by now.

      So what then? If they managed to even get close to overthrowing him now they’d have 50% of the American population marching on Washington.

      I have a deep distrust of Trump’s competency, however any incoming president that was treated in this way by government departments would have to respond swiftly and callously to bring them back in line.

      • Herbie

        Could do what Carter did and sack a few thousand of the “planning” guys, put in a trusted senior military figure as CIA boss, and they just go and set up The Safari Club.

        Continuing their games.

        There’s no easy way of closing these guys down from the bottom up.

        They’re running every major intel agency on the planet.

        You have to go for those for whom they’re working.

        Wall St.

        Unlikely.

        • Shatnersrug

          Ah yeah, the safari club – that important bit of the story the BBC left out and no one bothered to tell Bob Geldof.

      • Robert

        This is delusional. If Obama doesn’t resolve Snowden’s situation before he leaves office, I’m sure Putin will make a present of Snowden to Trump, and Snowden will spend the rest of his life in Federal Prison. Snowden himself is aware of this danger, and he has almost said as much.

        I do hope Snowden gets a pardon, or a symbolic year in the pen. Assange is a different case, and he deserves nothing more than a fair trial – both on the rape charge in Sweden and for his other crimes. I read through his “defence” and, I have to say, a good barrister would tear it into pieces in court.

  • Anon

    Is there any way you can get this out to the mainstream media?

    Because people are getting pretty sick of hearing that Russia BS over and over again.

  • Kief

    You and Assange are apparently the only participants in the election of Trump who know the id or state player who hacked the emails. Everyone else can only speculate; Russia? Breitbart/Bannon? The Blue Fairy?

    Cyber warfare on the march has many consequences for all of us. You can’t pick and choose allies without accepting their untoward odor.

  • Blunt

    Alex is frightfully slick with his “Prove it, prove it, tell us who” gambit for idiots. But even if detective mastermind Alex were to outfox Craig and nab the malefactors of great balls, the game is up for spy brat Obama and CIA nomenklatura Hillary. The issue is not who denounced their crimes, but who might denounce them: everybody and his brother and dog. The CIA regime’s problem is keeping their secrets behind that profoundly shambolic hook-and-eye screen door.

    When the USSR collapsed, treason became the national sport, state secrets a running joke. Everybody was shoveling ОВ at you for shits and grins. Now it’s the USA’s turn. The black world is discredited, and elites are going to dismantle it as they dismantled the Warsaw Pact.

    • Kief

      ‘Now it’s the USA’s turn..’

      Heh. You have heard of circle jerks and Around the World, right?

      Just how do you think Trump trumps your demented conclusions in the UK?

      OMG! Ya think?

    • Herbie

      Yeah.

      The CIA doesn’t much like them.

      CIA doesn’t have quite the capacity NSA has when it comes to mass surveillance.

      Far from it.

      Been a problem since the whole internets thingy became the means of communication, and much else.

      I’ve often thought that much of what we’re seeing is in fact a fight between CIA and NSA.

      With the proviso, that according to Sibel Edmonds, another Sam Adams Award winner, with Craig and the others, the CIA has infiltrated FBI, DEA and other federal agencies.

      The supposed foreign intel agency trying to control the domestic intel agencies.

      Again, global versus domestic.

  • Trowbridge H. Ford

    Too limited in time and scope to be at all sure.

    What about all the whistleblowers who are rotting away in other countries, like David Hemler in Sweden, who we don’t even know about or those who have been assassinated?

    I, a naive whistleblower, only escaped joining Bill Clinton’s body count most narrowly.

    And Snowden is no Russian, though he is trapped there, apparently for the rest of his life.

    You are just taking yourself a bit too seriously.

    • giyane

      Forgive me Old Timer for offering a word of advice. Ethnicity is no indicator of moral philosophy. There are Iraqis I know whose philosophy is Pakistani, and Chinese I know whose philosophy is Arab. My own philosophy is similar to China’s present industrial revolution. It may be that Snowden is philosophically more Russian than you think.

  • giyane

    http://expressnewzpk.com/former-us-president-george-w-bush-and-his-daughter-convert-to-islam/

    Muslims would do well to remember that Jews and Christians are people of the book. They are following a parallel instruction to Islam, with 90% commonality of religion. The puritanical traditions of the US make them particularly responsive to the Tawheed/ Oneness of God of Judaism and the clarifications made by Jesus in the Gospels , such as are extant.

    The virus of deception seems to me to have originated from countries who don’t have a Jewish or Christian tradition like India where the Christians are seen as polytheists. Afghanistan was reputedly a refuge for some of the lost tribes of Israel, which in my mind explains their tradition of honesty and honour. Kurdistan has had over 4000 years of constant Islamic worship, from the time of Habbabkuk to the present.

    I’m not sure how Saudi Arabia got from being the birthplace of the religion of truth to being the markas/epicentre for political deceit. But its corrosive effect has destroyed Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Iraq. The democracy which absolute monarchies detest has been a better tool for the religion of truth than despotism. An even more bitter pill for the despots to swallow than the neo-con spivs of New York and Washington.

  • Paul Barbara

    Before I go through the ‘Comments’, I will say that sounds mighty good, Craig.
    Right on!

  • bevin

    “Before I go through the ‘Comments’, I will say that sounds mighty good, Craig…`

    Quite so. I wish that I had had your foresight, Paul. But sour and idiotic responses are part of the price we pay for free speech.

    You have said what needs to be said, Craig.
    And when America`s liberals wake up from their self induced nightmare they will owe you much gratitude. The alternative media sites are full of your contributions-the clinching argument, really, refuting the `Putin did it`nonsense-which is rather the sort of stuff you would expect from the curious cabal around Podesta, mystics, weirdos and power worshippers. I posted on an earlier thread a link to Mike Whitney at counterpunch which is also very good.
    http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/12/12/the-democrats-russia-hacking-campaign-is-political-suicide/
    Mr Murray is not the only diplomat of his generation who has retired with an expertise in Central Asian affairs and an interest in telling the truth eloquently in the media. BK Bhadrakumar, the former ambassador of India to Turkey, writes about this same matter in Asia Times on line
    http://www.atimes.com/whipping-russophobia-wont-america-good/

    It is worth reading, too. Honest men are making a difference, perhaps the difference between the horrors of war and the wonders of life.

  • eldudeabides

    The great nemesis of neoliberalists/globalists is the truth.

    They can’t handle the truth. It ruins their false narrative.

    This evil, worldwide network of people, refuse to back down. They don’t embarrass. They don’t have self-awareness.

    They simply bulldoze on, thinking they can ridicule, smear, bully, persecute and jail all those who get in their way.

    Clearly a functioning EU was in their plans. Cleary TTIP, and the other clandestine agreements, was their plan for the future. Clearly Hillary Clinton was their candidate for President. Clearly warmongering against Russia was their plan, for the years ahead.

    Perhaps, just perhaps, we are watching the death-throes of the US and UK elite’s dominance of this planet.

    Thirty years on since the fall of communism, we are certainly witnessing corrupt capitalism on the rocks.

  • CanSpeccy

    It is certainly pleasing to see that a whistle-blower or two managed, during the election, to strike a punishing blow against those who have been so assiduous in punishing whistle-blowers. However, Hillary’s political demise can surely be attributed chiefly to her extraordinary contempt for what was formerly the Democratic Party base; namely, the blue collar working class, who she declared to be both deplorable and irredeemable. Added to that, she was idiotic enough bypass Wisconsin, which she lost by a mere 10,000 votes, and some other rust-belt states, throughout the campaign. The election result was a striking case of hubris receiving its due comeuppance.

  • Sharp Ears

    Post January 2017, we await the paeans of praise for Obomber, the far seeing man of peace etc, the establishment of the Obama Foundation and the Obama Library and the announcement of some plummy placements within large corporations. As for Michele, 2020 awaits!

    I forgot about the speech making.

    ‘But Obama, 55, has little to worry about it when it comes to securing income. He is likely to circle the country on lucrative speaking tours, much like Clinton and Bush. Since leaving office in 2009, Bush gave a minimum of 200 paid speeches over six years and earned $100,000 to $175,000 for each, according to Politico last year.

    Clinton, along with his wife and current Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, also racked up millions on the speaking circuit. It’s estimated that the Clintons earned more than $153 million from speeches between 2001 and when Hillary declared her latest presidential bid last year, CNN reported in February. The report said they gave 729 total speeches combined for an average of more than $210,000 for each, and that $7.7 million was earned by addressing some of the world’s largest banks like Goldman Sachs and UBS.’

    http://www.ibtimes.com/barack-obama-net-worth-how-much-us-president-can-earn-after-leaving-white-house-2441414

  • ron

    Obama’s legacy will be of the most oppressive of presidents in the long line of borish individuals who have held that position. A man with no dignity or saving grace. His inauguration speech means nothing at all, his acceptance of the Nobel prize after only a week ‘in the job’ is ludicrous and highlights the problem of ‘expectations’. He has failed america, has failed black people everywhere, failed those who want peace and justice. Obama is a deceitful, lying, warmongering bastard with the blood of millions on his hands. It is he who should be in gaol.

  • Deepgreenpuddock

    You’ll have to excuse me for being a little hesitant here, since the karma has delivered us Trump. What is THAT disaster the karma for?

    • michael norton

      The Scottish Donald has claimed he is expecting to get on fine with the Russian Putin.
      He intends to shaft China and Japan and the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.
      But mainly he wants to get away from Muslim oil dependency ( same as OBOMBA)
      he also wants to get away from the rapacious China and get things actually made in America, for example the
      Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada, which will be the largest factory in the world.
      It will be producing the power packs for 1.5 million electric cars /annum.
      He was to help the coal; and steel industries in America.
      He wants to re-vitalize the railways in America.
      He has jobs for wall builders, too.

  • Sharp Ears

    From Craig’s Twitter

    Intelligence Officer Who Personally Met the Democratic Email Leaker Confirms Leaker Is with AMERICAN Intelligence Service … Not Russia
    December 12, 2016

    An American Leaker – Not Russian Hacker – Gave the Democratic Party Emails to Wikileaks

    The former intelligence analyst, British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, and chancellor of the University of Dundee, Craig Murray, wrote yesterday…..

    http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/12/exclusive-intelligence-officer-met-dnc-email-leaker-confirms-nsa.html

  • KC

    I am thankful that such people are suceptable to their own EGOs and look downn on the little people. It allowed the true patriots to come forward and expose them. Hoping this will be remember for many many years…how close we are to losing our freedoms.

  • Nacho B

    What I care about is the authenticity of, and the content of the leaked information. Who leaked it and/or their motivation for doing so is immaterial to me as long as the material leaked is accurate and unadulterated.

  • Robert

    You’re a fool defending Julian Assange.

    He has played his willing part in the election of Donald Trump – a catastrophe for which we shall all pay very dearly.

    You may think you’re being his friend. But look at how he treats his friends – he stiffs them. He’s a sleazy, egocentric, unprincipled individual.

    • lysias

      Considering that the alternative was a President Hillary who would have caused war with Russia, I would say that a catastrophe has just been avoided.

      • Robert

        Hardly. Hillary would have just defended the status quo – not good, but not disastrous, either.

        Trump is far far far more likely to start a war. Though it might be with China, not Russia.

  • lysias

    Out of the gates, in the first minutes of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial average is up almost another 100 points. Approaching 19,900. 20,000 is very near.

    The Trump Rally continues.

  • Kirk Wolak

    I wish that President Trump Pardons Snowden, and then HIRES him to create a new office of Top Secret and higher “Office of Integrity” so the whistle blowers who have Top Secret and higher issue, have a place to go. Let Snowden setup the secure communication system, and the process they have to follow. And allow him and a few people he selects to help arbitrate the situation.
    As I agree with him. We are crossing so many lines as a country, and leaving no way for anyone to expose anything, all they have to do is classify it, and now you cannot be a whistle blower.

    • lysias

      Excellent idea. Except that it might be better just to drop the charges against Snowden, since a pardon carries the implication that a crime was committed. And he should pardon Manning, and drop the charges against Assange.

    • Robert

      This is delusional. If Obama doesn’t resolve Snowden’s situation before he leaves office, I’m sure Putin will make a present of Snowden to Trump, and Snowden will spend the rest of his life in Federal Prison. Snowden himself is aware of this danger, and he has almost said as much.

      I do hope Snowden gets a pardon, or a symbolic year in the pen. Assange is a different case, and he deserves nothing more than a fair trial – both on the rape charge in Sweden and for his other crimes. I read through his “defence” and, I have to say, a good barrister would tear it into pieces in court.

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