Hackers Disable Web Links to Bush Documents
NOVEMBER 5 2000 - On Friday, Nov 3, two hours after an early morning news release distribution to national news editors with links to photocopied Freedom of Information documents about discrepancies in Bush military record, hackers disrupted and shut down Talion.com, the site that provided access to the documents.
The shutdown was traced to Qwest, supplier of T-1 lines that supports the host for Talion.com (Bookzone.com). Talion.com and approximately 125 other Internet sites on the Bookzone host were disabled. After the deadline for breaking news stories for Election Day passed, access was restored.
Bookzone employees told Talion co-owner Bev Harris that an outage of this duration had never occurred before during four years of operation, and that they had never before been called ahead of time by their service provider (Qwest) to tell them their site would be going down. Qwest called Bookzone Friday morning to tell them service would be interrupted. No explanation was given by Qwest as to how the outage occurred. Hit counts provided by two separate programs indicate that the shutdown was not due to a surge in web traffic.
Talion.com, an Internet-based publicity company, disseminated news releases early Friday morning on behalf of two veterans groups, The Viet Nam Vets for the Real Truth and the Alabama Viet Nam Veterans. The news release contained links to photocopies of documents obtained in the Freedom of Information Act.
In a close race with only four days to go, TV pundits predicted that another punch would soon be delivered following news of arrest for driving while intoxicated. Unlike the DUI story, which "surfaced" just a few days before the election, the investigation on Bush military discrepancies began seven months ago, and has unfolded in increasing detail. The Boston Globe reported that there were significant problems with the Bush military record in May, 2000.
A key record was redacted, despite the Freedom of Information Act, information omitted "for administrative reasons." Another document, put forth by the Bush handlers to prove that he completed his military service, was revealed to be incomplete. According to the Washington Post, "the name, except for the "W" has been torn off.."
Washington Post, Nov. 3, 2000:
"The Bush campaign points to a torn piece of paper in his Guard records, a statement of points Bush apparently earned in 1972-73, although most of the dates and Bush's name except for the "W" have been torn off..." The article goes on to say that the torn sheet of paper is shown as evidence by the Bush people that he satisfied his requirements, but that is contradicted by a written report signed by two superiors."
A growing cadre of reporters, citizens groups, veterans and congressmen have called for full release of the records. According to reporters and veterans groups, for four months Governor Bush has declined to answer questions or release his records.
The documents posted Friday at Talion.com were available in previous months, but on an obscure site The press did not know where to find them. Previous emails pointing the press to the documents were distributed by highly partisan groups, and news releases were peppered with rhetoric and invective that caused TV reporters to avoid the story.
The validity of the story grew over the past three months, as reputable publications (the Chicago Tribune, George magazine, the AP wire service, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe) investigated and publish their findings, but print media does not generate public awareness like TV. Television networks did not pick up the story until Friday morning, tying it with the DUI story, and only one network (Fox National TV News) got to the military documents before access to the web site was blocked. Fox TV News aired the story Friday morning about 11: a.m. Eastern.
The military story is more serious than the DUI story, since it relates to the recent mobilization of National Guard and reserve units during the Gulf War. Many citizens ordered to report for duty during the Gulf War take issue with George Bush's refusal to report for duty during the Viet Nam War. Unlike Clinton, who dodged the draft, Bush signed up for a six year stint but, four years in, after the government invested $200,00 teaching him to fly, refused to obey an order to take a physical, resulting in suspension from flying. Instead of being arrested for failure to appear when ordered, Bush disappeared from duty until the Viet Nam war ended, apparently using political influence to duck into civilian duties. At that time, documents show that he reappeared and was assigned to punishment duty in Denver. Clinton also seems to have used political pull to avoid military duty, but he ducked out of the draft, whereas Bush ducked out in the middle of his enlistment, even more abhorrent to veterans.
Unrestrained discussion by TV pundits tying military document nondisclosure to DUI nondisclosure would likely have continued through the weekend. However, by the time the web site was reactivated, investigative crews had left for the weekend, leaving only weekend news staff, so the story was successfully stalled until after the election.
News writers do not break national TV stories that could damage a candidate on the day before an election, because there is no time for the candidate to defuse a damaging story. Blocking the web site from TV reporters on Friday provided a critical delay, preventing TV pundits from tying two "failure to disclose" stories together.
Hacking a web site to shut it down is a felony, but is achievable with plausible deniability absent an aggressive investigation.
"During my service, if I missed training for two years, at the least, I would have been court-martialed." Senator Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) said Nov. 2, demanding that Bush account for his missing two years of National Guard Service.
Political affiliation of the owners of Talion.com: Neither owner is a Democrat. We have accepted assignments for both parties. Co-owner Bev Harris is an independent who made final decision to vote for Gore following hacker attack on web site. Co-owner Sonny D (Dudley) voted for a third party candidate.
Hacking a web site to block free speech is unacceptable, and a felony. If hacking to block access to bona fide documents is traced to anyone holding political office, an appropriate consequence is impeachment.
Document photocopies:
Document about George W. Bush, redacted for "administrative reasons"
Document Agreement signed by George W. Bush to accept military flying assignments after training (reneged on after disobeying orders)
Document Order to suspend George Bush from flying for failing to obey an order
Document Evidence that George W. Bush was allowed to substitute civilian duties for flying duties (Viet Nam era) following his refusal to take physical and drug test
Document Statement specifying disciplinary measures, signed by George W. Bush
Document Assignment of George W. Bush to disciplinary unit in Denver
Other hacking activity to disrupt public access to sensitive information: Several other web sites have been hacked and disabled when they posted documents damaging to the Bush Administration, among them: FromTheWilderness.com when it posted an interview by a former intelligence officer who defected to Canada after providing documentation of foreknowledge about the September 11 attack. This site has been targeted by hackers on several occasions, as it published several articles naming names and pointing to evidence that officials had been warned in advance about 9-11. Its firewall was breached, and a sophisticated hacking attempt that programmed at least 17 separate servers to disable fromthewilderness.com was uncovered. See article. |
