US Air Force blocks media sites posting leaked ‘Wikileaks’ documents

WASHINGTON - The United States’ Air Force has reportedly blocked access on its network to over 25 media websites, which have posted secret U.S. diplomatic cables obtained and released by the whistleblower website ‘WikiLeaks’.

Fox News quoted Major Toni Tones, a spokeswoman for the Air Force Space Command, as saying that the Air Force uses two different systems-a secure site on which classified information can be used and an unclassified site for day-to-day operations. It added that it had started blocking the sites in August to avoid having “classified incidents on our unclassified systems.”

Tones further said that other sites that have been blocked include Germany’s Der Spiegel, France’s Le Monde, Britain’s Guardian and Spain’s El Pais.

However, she assured that the sites would be unblocked once they are convinced that unclassified Air Force networks are no more under threat.

“We work diligently to use our resources in the most effective and efficient manner possible. And blocking access to the WikiLeaks’ material diminishes our need to go through the labor and resource-intensive process of cleaning unclassified machines that have been compromised with classified materials,” she added.

Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesmen Colonel Dave Lapan and Captain Darryn James have said that the Air Force decided to block the access to protect what they called “spillage,” a reference to inappropriate materials that they need to clean often.

Wikileaks had created a ‘hue and cry’ across the world last month after it disclosed hundreds of secret US diplomatic cables. (ANI)