The Foreign Service Journal, September 2009

14 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 9 limited and confusing information coming from Iranians evading govern- mental censors, some outlets have dar- ingly established live blog reporters within the nation ( www.huffington post.com/tag/iran-liveblogging ) . Many aspects of the unrest in Iran have been unexpected, but a steady stream of information and analysis give us the tools needed to better un- derstand and engage further shifts there. Static on the Line The tenuous connections governing the order and cohesion of American in- telligence agencies were highlighted on May 19 when Director of National In- telligence Dennis Blair issued a direc- tive claiming the right — “in rare circumstances” — for his office to ap- point the top American intelligence of- ficials at foreign posts. A day later, in what Blair has termed an act of insubordination, Central In- telligence Agency Director Leon Pan- etta responded by ordering his agency to disregard Blair’s memo, reasserting the power of the CIA to manage such appointments ( www.nytimes.com/20 09/06/09/us/politics/09intel.html ). Bloggers at the conservative Inter- net broadcast network, Hot Air , point to what they term “the lack of logic and law” in the 2004 structural overhaul of U.S. intelligence agencies in response to the 9/11 Commission Report ( http:// hotair.com/archives/2009/06/09/ predictable-turf-war-in-intelli gence/ ). But the issue is complicated, as Philip Zelikow, former State Depart- ment counselor, explains in a June 11 blog posting. Although the CIA has traditionally made these appointments, there are good reasons for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to take it over, as Executive Order 13470 of July 2008 mandates ( http://shadow. foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/06/11 /spy_vs_spy_washington_bureau- cratic_knife_fight_edition ). In late July, the Senate Select Com- mittee on Intelligence weighed in. Its report on the Fiscal Year 2010 intelli- gence authorization bill endorses Blair’s directive and “looks forward to the CIA’s prompt adherence to his decision” ( http://intelligence.senate.gov/0907 22/11155.pdf ). The Senate committee concluded that the directive “recognizes the value of turning to the CIA Chief of Station to be the DNI’s representative in for- eign countries, but also recognizes that some locations may give rise to circum- stances where that responsibility is best met by an official from another intelli- gence community element, which in fact is already current practice and is not disputed by anyone.” Meanwhile, FSOs might wonder just whom their station is reporting to back in D.C., if in fact it’s not Langley. This edition of Cybernotes was compiled by Editorial Intern Mark Hay. C Y B E R N O T E S Site of the Month: wikileaks.org In introducing their site, the mysterious cabal behind wikileaks.org asserts that “ Wikileaks is the strongest way we have of generating the true democracy and good governance on which all mankind's dreams depend.” As that claim indicates, the assortment of anonymous dissidents, journalists, mathematicians, technologists, refugees, advocates, lawyers and cryptographers behind the site are a cocky bunch, but they have a right to be so. Since materializing out of thin air in January 2007, wikileaks.org has collected more than 1.2 million secret or suppressed documents from around the world and in its mission to create a truly free press, open global dissent and discussion, and combat corruption has released sensitive information, often provoking powerful foes. As a result, wikileaks.org has faced censorship by the Chinese government and legal action by the Swiss Bank Julius Baer and the Church of Scientology, among others. Fortunately, the site simply uses its extraordinary technological know-how of encrypted connections and its array of thousands of cover domains to evade filters. When taken down, it merely shifts or is mirrored until it re-establishes itself. The precautions of the staff ensure that any contributor will have absolute and almost impenetrable anonymity unless the host should choose to give up his/her identity. As for the authenticity of the leaked documents made available, the staff exam- ines all documents forensically and claims not to have made a mistake thus far. In any case, they maintain that the only way for a document to prove itself is to with- stand global public scrutiny—hence the use of an accessible wiki format and com- ment system allowing anyone the world over to examine the evidence before them. Wikileaks.org is not only a vital tool for the advancement of a free press and for serious investigation. It is also of general interest, allowing everyone to peek into the documents behind breaking headlines, or maybe even to find out if their bosses and banks are really as fishy as they think they are.