The WikiLeaks Task Force, known at the agency as WTF, seeks to assess the impact of Cablegate on intel operations. Image: Wikimedia Commons
The CIA announced the formation of the WikiLeaks Task Force (WTF) Wednesday. The WTF was formed by the CIA to figure out how Cablegate and other WikiLeaks releases will impact its ability to function. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks continued to dribble out leaks from more than 251,000 diplomatic cables stolen from the State Department.
WikiLeaks Task Force damage control
The WikiLeaks Task Force, referred to at the agency by its acronym WTF, was launched by the CIA to assess the inventory of classified information in diplomatic State Department cables being released by WikiLeaks. Objectives of WTF include determining how the exposure of classified information will affect relationships between the CIA and foreign governments. The CIA also wants to get a handle on the impact of the disclosures on its spooks operating in the field. More than two dozen intelligence officials from various CIA departments are serving on WTF, which is run by the CIA’s Counterintelligence Center.
The CIA and WikiLeaks
The CIA is covering all its bases with WTF. The agency has escaped with minimal exposure to WikiLeaks and Cablegate so far. The agency’s immunity is credited to its refusal to participate in a federal government intranet designed to share information with other agencies called SIPRNet. It has been reported that WikiLeaks conspirator Army private Bradley Manning used SIPRNet to copy hundreds of thousands of classified documents, including the State Department cables, on a CD hidden in a Lada Gaga case. But the CIA hasn’t needed WikiLeaks to leak. Recently President Obama complained to director of national intelligence Jim Clapper about senior intelligence officials “blabbing to the media.”
Cablegate update
As the CIA launches WTF, WikiLeaks continues to drip Cablegate documents. Since Monday, WTF has 38 more newly-released cables to analyze. Diplomatic cables released on Dec. 22 include content exposing the Vatican for reneging on an agreement to join an international Holocaust memorial group and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police backing off on drug investigations to focus on the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. To date WikiLeaks has released 1,862 of the 251,287 files it claims to have in its possession.
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