Fwd: MyHeritage.org: Another Dangerous Leak

FEATURED VIDEO Heritage's Rory Cooper discusses the economics of the response to the oil spill on Fox News. More videos » July 28, 2010 | By Amanda J. Reinecker Another Dangerous Leak There's another leak in our midst, but this time it's not oil. Over the weekend, roughly 92,000 secret military reports about the war in Afghanistan, dating from January 2004 to December 2009, were leaked by Julian Assange, founder of the website Wikileaks.org and a vocal opponent of the coalition-led war. A leak of classified information -- especially of this magnitude -- could potentially pose a grave threat to American national security interests. But as Heritage Foundation expert Lisa Curtis explains, "the Wikileaks exposé should not be used to argue that the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is doomed to failure. The U.S. strategy in Afghanistan has been refined over the last year and new U.S. troops and civilian resources are pouring into the country. The new counterinsurgency strategy is sound and should be given time to succeed." She also noted that much of the information contained in the exposed documents has long been public and many of the challenges highlighted have already been addressed by the new war strategy. President Obama echoed these sentiments in a press conference on Tuesday when he insisted that "these documents don't reveal any issues that haven't already informed our public debate on Afghanistan." Whether new information is unveiled or not, the release of any classified military information raises important questions and concerns about national security and the rule of law. Heritage legal scholar Hans von Spakovsky explains why this matters: Besides being dangerous to the lives, safety, and national security of Americans, this type of disclosure of classified military information is a federal crime…18 U.S.C. § 798 which prohibits the disclosure of classified information. Earlier this month, an Army private, Bradley Manning, was charged with passing classified information to Wikileaks. According to the law, von Spakovsky argues, "he should be prosecuted and if convicted, sentenced to a long term in prison, not just to punish him for violating this law and putting his own personal interests ahead of the safety and national security concerns of his country, but as a deterrent to others within the military and the government who are tempted to do the same." There are serious lessons to be drawn from the Wikileaks case, especially as U.S. efforts in Afghanistan enters a critical phase. First, it underscores how, in the age of the Internet, it is easy to disseminate sensitive classified information to the wrong people. On National Review Online, Heritage's James Carafano outlines how the government should think about combating this challenge. Second, the leaked documents reveal a level of American frustration with Pakistan's dual policy of combating some terrorists while at the same time harboring others. The Obama administration should reassure the public of its intent to obtain full Pakistani cooperation in the Afghan war. Lastly, America's leaders should seize this opportunity to refocus the debate on victory in Afghanistan. When Heritage Ideas Go Mainstream In a long article last week, The Economist magazine discusses how America's criminal laws are out of control. The Economist explains one case this way: In 2000 four Americans were charged with importing lobster tails in plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes, in violation of a Honduran regulation that Honduras no longer enforces. They had fallen foul of the Lacey Act, which bars Americans from breaking foreign rules when hunting or fishing. The original intent was to prevent Americans from, say, poaching elephants in Kenya. But it has been interpreted to mean that they must abide by every footling wildlife regulation on Earth. The lobstermen had no idea they were breaking the law. Yet three of them got eight years apiece. Two are still in jail. This is just one of the many cases highlighted in Heritage Foundation legal expert Brian Walsh's new book, One Nation Under Arrest: How Crazy Laws, Rogue Prosecutors, and Activist Judges Threaten Your Liberty. The bottom line: there are far too many criminal laws for any one American to keep up with. As Heritage's Conn Carroll writes on The Foundry, The Heritage Foundation does not agree with everything in The Economist's reporting, but this conclusion definitely rings true: America needs fewer and clearer laws, so that citizens do not need a law degree to stay out of jail. Acts that can be regulated should not be criminalised. Prosecutors' powers should be clipped: most white-collar suspects are not Al Capone, and should not be treated as if they were. When a widely read and well-respected publication such as The Economist starts carrying our message, we know our ideas are taking hold. And we want our members to know about it. We're engaged day and night in the war of ideas to ensure that conservative ideas are considered in important policy debates. Thanks to the support of our members, we're able to do just that. Thank you! > Other Heritage Work of Note "If New START is ratified, we will be saddled with a bad treaty that locks in all the wrong things. There is a better path to arms control, one that is fundamentally defensive," argues Heritage Vice President Kim Holmes. The latest nuclear threats don't come from Russia, but North Korea and Iran, both of which are left out of the New START treaty. Holmes offers an alternative to the treaty, citing a "protect and defend" treaty that, according to Homes, would "enable both the U.S. and Russia to reduce their operationally deployed strategic nuclear warheads below Moscow Treaty levels, yet leave missile defenses unconstrained." A program that limits nuclear arms and supports nuclear defense is the best strategic option for both the U.S. and Russia. The federal government already controls banking, the automobile industry, and health care. Next on the agenda is the National Education Standards, and the federal government is now aiming to boost its influence in the area of education. Heritage's Rachel Sheffield writes, "There is nothing conservative about national standards, which will further tie schools to the demands of Washington bureaucrats but do little to improve student achievement." She argues that while it's important to keep schools accountable, this is better achieved on a statewide level. If parents were given the opportunity to send their child to a school of their own choosing, schools would have further incentive to maintain a curriculum that parents are comfortable with and uphold higher standards in order to retain students.  "The death tax is a drag on the economy that destroys jobs and lowers wages," writes Heritage's tax policy analyst Curtis Dubay. Unless something is done to repeal it, the death tax will be reinstated January 1st, 2011 at a rate of 55%. In his latest paper, Dubay argues against the death tax, and and is instead in favor of Sen. Jim DeMint's (R - S.C.) plan to repeal before it's too late. While some Senators are working for full repeal, others are working on a compromise plan to lessen the blow. Dubay reports, "Full repeal of the death tax would be the best stimulus for the economy to date. Allowing it to come back to life next year would be a huge blow to the still-staggering economy." What must Congress do to "restore the will of the people"? Heritage President Ed Feulner suggests three steps: Congress needs to repeal Obamacare, control long-term spending, and roll back the massive tax hikes that are going to take effect on January 1st, 2011. The 2010 midterms will give Americans a chance to express their will. Our leaders should promise to enact conservative policies, and "'we, the people' should hold them accountable." Join Heritage at the Family Research Council Action's Values Voter Summit 2010 in Washington, D.C., from September 17-19. The event will feature prominent conservatives including Phyllis Schlafly, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Bill Bennett, Star Parker, and many more. Heritage will hold a screening of Let Me Rise, our powerful documentary on education reform, and host a panel discussion about the connections between social and economic conservatism. Register at ValuesVoterSummit.org. » Watch the new video about the event > In Other News During an interview aired on a state-run television station, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that he suspects the United States will launch a military strike against "at least two countries" in the Middle East within the next few months. "The United States believes Russia is not fully complying with international pacts involving chemical and biological weapons," reports the Washington Post. This news could hinder passage of the New START treaty. According to a recent study, $8.7 billion of the $9.1 billion designated for reconstruction in Iraq are unaccounted for by the Defense Department. Most DOD organizations did not establish the required accounts for managing the funds, rendering them vulnerable to waste. New accounting and reporting procedures have been proposed. BP's newly hired chief executive, Robert Dudley, announced the company is setting aside $32.2 billion to manage the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill. As a result, the company will incur a record second-quarter loss of $17 billion. In response to a liberal critic of his new book on the welfare state, Never Enough, author William Voegeli writes on National Review Online about the dangers of liberalism. He argues that "liberalism promotes 'policy without law' by having Congress delegate real governance, and vast discretion, to administrative agencies that go on to regulate with 'a vigor that is matched only by its unpredictability.' The consent of the governed, expressed through elections that let the people turn unsatisfactory officials out of office, is trivialized." Amanda Reinecker is a writer for MyHeritage.org, a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Bethany Murphy, Nathaniel Ward and Stephen Congdon, a Heritage intern, contributed to this report.  Donate    |   Heritage on Facebook View as HTML  |   Update Your Profile   |   Unsubscribe