Image via WikipediaReporting from Washington —
Though propelled to fame by its recent disclosures about the U.S. military, WikiLeaks has homed in on targets as wide-ranging as corruption in the family of a former Kenyan ruler, alleged illegal activities by a Swiss bank and Sarah Palin's private e-mail account.And in just 3 1/2 years, the secretive organization founded by a convicted Australian hacker has helped pioneer a new model for using the Internet to unearth classified government documents and private corporate memos.
Operating from undisclosed locations around the world and using sophisticated Internet technology, WikiLeaks has managed to largely skirt legal challenges and technical intervention.
Its sources are mysterious. It appears to operate with few professional staff, supported mainly through donations of time and money from leftist activists and others from Iceland to China.
Yet its controversial scoops and releases of thousands of pages of documents have helped fuel major news stories and public debates about U.S. foreign policy and other global issues.
"You really see the potential for a more informed public," said Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense analyst who nearly 40 years ago leaked a classified history of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers.
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