The mass media have suddenly discovered Jeffrey Sterling — after his conviction Monday afternoon as a CIA whistleblower.
Sterling’s indictment four years ago received fleeting news coverage that recited the government’s charges. From the outset, the Justice Department portrayed him as bitter and vengeful — with the classic trash-the-whistleblower word “disgruntled” thrown in — all of which the mainline media dutifully recounted without any other perspective.
År efter år blev Sterlings sag trukket gennem appeldomstolene, viklet sammen med journalisten James Risens ærefulde afvisning af på nogen måde at identificere kilder til hans bog fra 2006 Krigstilstand. While news stories or pundits occasionally turned their lens on Risen, they scarcely mentioned Sterling, whose life had been turned upside down — fired by the CIA early in the Bush administration after filing a racial discrimination lawsuit, and much later by the 10-count indictment that included seven counts under the Espionage Act.
Sterling var en af de meget få afroamerikanske sagsbehandlere i CIA. Han blev whistleblower i kraft af at gå gennem kanaler til Senatets Efterretningskomité i 2003 for at informere personalet om CIA's dårligt gennemtænkte, dårligt udførte og farlige Operation Merlin, som havde givet et mangelfuldt design for en atomvåbenkomponent til Iran tilbage i 2000 .
Lang historie kort sagt, i starten af 2011 var Sterling oppe mod den juridiske mur. Mens pressefrihedsgrupper og nogle andre gradvist samledes om Risens ret til kildefortrolighed, forblev Sterling den usynlige mand.
Som næsten alle andre vidste jeg i lang tid næsten ingenting om Sterling eller hans juridiske kamp. Men da jeg begyndte at indse, hvor meget der var på spil i regeringens fortsatte trussel om at fængsle Risen for at nægte at forråde nogen kilde, begyndte Sterling at komme ind i min perifere vision.
Sidste forår arbejdede jeg sammen med kolleger på RootsAction.org for at lancere et andragende med titlen Vi støtter James Risen, fordi vi støtter en fri presse. Som andragender går, var det en stor succes, af grunde langt ud over det faktum, at det fik mere end 100,000 underskrivere med masser af hjælp fra andre initierende grupper (The Nation, FAIR, Pressefrihedsfonden, Den Progressive og Center for Medier og Demokrati).
Justitsministeriet, som aggressivt havde forfulgt Risen i en halv snes år på det tidspunkt, blev sat tilbage i hælene af den store positive omtale, der kom ud af vores midt i august. præsentation af Risen andragendet sammen med en nyheder konference i den nationale presseklub.
Hurtige mediers ringvirkninger inkluderede en stærk klumme af Maureen Dowd til støtte for andre New York Times journalist Risen (selvom hun ikke nævnte andragendet eller pressemødet, som hun deltog i). I efteråret slog jeg mig sammen med en kollega på ExposeFacts.org, den skarpsindige undersøgende journalist Marcy Wheeler, for at skrive, hvad der viste sig at være en forsidehistorie i The Nation, Regeringens krig mod reporter James Risen, providing the first in-depth account of the intertwined cases of Risen and Sterling.
But throughout the fall, for the mass media as well as all but a few progressive media outlets, Jeffrey Sterling remained the Invisible Man.
The principle of supporting whistleblowers as strongly as journalists is crucial. Yet support for the principle is hit-and-miss among individuals and organizations that should be clear and forthright. This need is especially great when the government is invoking “national security” claims.
As the whistleblower advocate Jesselyn Radack of the Government Accountability Project has said: “When journalists become targets, they have a community and a lobby of powerful advocates to go to for support. Whistleblowers are in the wilderness. … They’re indicted under the most serious charge you can level against an American: being an enemy of the state.”
We encountered this terrain when the same initiating groups launched a new petition — this one in support of Jeffrey Sterling — At fløjte om regeringens hensynsløshed er en offentlig tjeneste, ikke en forbrydelse.
Some groups that had been wonderfully supportive of the Risen petition — notably the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Committee to Protect Journalists — opted not to have anything to do with the Sterling petition. In sharp contrast, quick endorsement of the Sterling petition came from Reporters Without Borders and the Government Accountability Project.
Two weeks ago, Jeffrey Sterling went to trial at last. He was at the defense table during seven days of proceedings that included very dubious testimony from 23 present and former CIA employees as well as the likes of Condoleezza Rice.
When a court clerk read out the terrible verdict Monday afternoon, Sterling continued to stand with the dignity that he had maintained throughout the trial.
At age 47, Jeffrey Sterling is facing a very long prison sentence. As a whistleblower, he has done a lot for us. He should be invisible no more.
Norman Solomon er administrerende direktør for Institute for Public Accuracy og forfatter til Krig gjort let: Hvordan præsidenter og pundits holder spinning os til døden. Han er medstifter af RootsAction.org.
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