Right then
Let's see the USA cry foul over THIS data set, then.
Perhaps they'll get round to that after they've copied & read it through a few times....
Pots, Kettles...
Hacktivist group Anonymous is claiming responsibility for an attack on the computer systems of the Syrian government and its evil overlord Bashar Assad thanks to which over two million emails ended up in the hands of whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks. As of last Thursday, the site began drip-feeding sections of the ‘Syria Files’ …
Of course, that ignores the fact that the CIA and partners have (allegedly) been carefully hacking into Syria's and Iran's comms for years, have probably already read all those emails, extracted information of value and used it to help the democratic groups behind the Syrian rebellion. Which means that the Anonyputzs trampling through it with their hobnailed boots approach to security just killed off the chance of any future intel being gained so easily, effectively kicking the rebels in the nuts. But who cares, right? It's far more important that the Anon skiddies get to scream about what 'leet haxors they are, what does the bigger picture matter?
The assad government is currently engaged in a massacre of its citizens but I'm sure the thing thats REALLY worrying them is international condemnation about a bunch of emails released by some script kiddies showing what naugty boys they've been!
I mean seriously? Don't these basement dwelling teens have ANY grasp of reality?
Do you have any grasp of reality?
There is a huge difference between us believing that atrocities being committed and email evidence that backs it up.
Just surmise a second that there is an email from Al-Assad ordering massacres - if you dont think thats important you are a muppet.
Not that I think there is - but Im sure there will be plenty of circumstancial evidence for when his Hague trial starts in 2020.
@Gordon 10 - If there are "smoking gun" emails, the act of publishing them on the Internet by vigilantes has alerted the Assad regime to the existence of the emails, prompting their destruction. I very much doubt Anonymous and Wikileaks are skilled enough to have preserved chain of evidence required for criminal conviction.
"....when his Hague trial starts in 2020." Unfortunately, I think that is unlikely to happen for five reasons:
1. After Libya, the Russians seem dead set on doing everything they can to stop the West imposing a regime change, and Obamabi won't go it alone, which means any change will have to be by an internal revolution. The only alternative UN plan on the table is the Kofi Annan power-sharing one, which would probably exempt Assad and any officials from prosecution even if Assad was likely to go for it. And the US doesn't currently seem to have a diplomatic carrot to wave at the Russians big enough to make them change their minds.
2. The rebels have not managed to get the army on their side as the revolutionaries did in Egypt, which means the matter will probably go into a full civil war. That means the rebels are massively outgunned. Whilst Turkey is keen to rattle sabres and pose for the rest of the Muslim World, it is a member of NATO and will be kept on a leash. The Assads can offer to help the Turks root out Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq, and if it was kept on the quiet that would be a big carrot for the Turks.
3. Again comparing to Egypt, Mubarak had few international friends willing to go out on a limb for him, whereas Assad has several. As well as the Russians running interference for Assad, he has the backing of Iran, the latter already providing plenty of manpower, material and knowledge on how to repress. Again, the US has no diplomatic carrot to get the Iranians to back off.
4. The Assads are survivors. His father negotiated with the Coallition in the First Gulf War and took sides against Saddam despite Assad and Saddam being from the same pan-Arab political coallition (the Ba'ath Party). Having reaped the rewards of helping the Coallition, over the following decade the Assad regime succesfully switched again to helping Saddam beat the embargoes on oil exports and weapon imports, and helped channel Islamist fighters to Iraq before, during and after the Second Gulf War. Being of Allawite extraction means the Assads have always played the "we're not fundamental Islamists" card when required, and the people funding the arms for the rebels are already being linked with some rather extreme Sunni people in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, so expect some members of the US Senate to start asking questions as to why a "liberal" is probably going to be replaced by another Muslim Brotherhood regime. There are already mutterings that the US "ditched an allie and gained an enemy" in letting the Muslim Brotherhood seize power in Egypt.
5. Hezbollah is highly dependent on Syria and Iran, and won't take kindly to losing a patron. Any sign that the war is going against the Assads will see a rush of "volunteers" going across the border to fight for the Assad regime. Hezbollah is already moving to cut off the Sunni groups in the Lebanon which are acting as the conduit for arms and money to the Sunni rebels in Syria.
Sadly, I think setting a court date for Assad now is a bit premature.
@Boltar - Emails are exactly the sort of thing that are required to show that Assad knew what was going on and ordered it. He can't be tried for genocide or mass murder if it can't be shown that he ordered it. Videos of dead people are just that, evidence of individual crimes carried out by individuals, not the big crime carried out by the man at the top.
Dude, seriously? You want to tell me Assad sits down and writes out his repressive commands in emails? And then you want to pretend that it will stand up in court as evidence after a bunch of skiddies have been involved? BTW, do you want to invest in some prime Florida real estate, each lot with guaranteed water-frontage?