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A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick Permanent WRAP URL: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/136497 Copyright and reuse: This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications UNAUTHORISED DISCLOSURES: US National Security Whistleblowers and Leakers, 1970-2017 Melina Joy Dobson LLB Law with German Law, University of Surrey MA International Security, University of Warwick A thesis submitted in Partial fulfilment of the reQuirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics and International Studies Politics and International Studies DePartment University of Warwick January 2019 - 2 - Dobson Table of Contents Table of Contents ..................................................................................... 2 Tables ......................................................................................... 6 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................ 7 Acknowledgements ............................................................................... 10 Declaration ....................................................................................... 11 Abstract ....................................................................................... 13 Introduction ....................................................................................... 14 The Central Research Puzzle ....................................................................... 23 Central Research Question: Agency with Agencies? ................................... 24 Contributions to Knowledge ....................................................................... 30 Analytical Framework ................................................................................. 31 Table 1: Gill and Phythian’s ‘Map for Theorizing and Researching Intelligence’ ................................................................................................ 34 Conceptual Model ....................................................................................... 36 Unpacking the Whistleblower Issue ........................................................... 39 Whistleblowers: A Part of the Accountability Landscape? ......................... 50 Research Methods ...................................................................................... 54 Thesis Outline and Case Studies ................................................................. 59 Chapter 1 The Literature Review .............................................. 63 A Power Paradigm: Secrecy vs. Transparency ............................................ 68 Landscapes of Public Accountability and Oversight .................................... 79 Morality, Ethics and the Human Condition ................................................. 83 The Whistleblower’s Dilemma ............................................................ 85 The Nature of Whistleblowing ............................................................ 87 The Organisation ................................................................................. 90 - 3 - Dobson The Story of the Insider: ‘Publish and be Damned’ .................................... 90 Autobiographies .................................................................................. 91 Biographers, Historians and Journalists .............................................. 94 How-to Guides .................................................................................... 96 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 98 PART I: 1970s ................................................................................................ 101 Chapter 2 Cold War Dissidents .............................................. 102 Dan Ellsberg (1971) ................................................................................... 113 Stage One: The Insider ...................................................................... 118 Stage Two: Sleepless Nights .............................................................. 120 Stage Three: Outrage ........................................................................ 121 Philip Agee (1975) ..................................................................................... 123 Stage One: Inside the Company ........................................................ 125 Stage Two: A Security Risk ................................................................ 127 Stage Three: Judas ............................................................................ 132 Frank Snepp (1976) ................................................................................... 133 Stage One: Poster Boy ...................................................................... 135 Stage Two: A ‘Decent Interval’ .......................................................... 138 Stage Three: The Whipping Boy ........................................................ 140 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 143 PART II: 1990s ....................................................................................... 145 Chapter 3 A Game of Politics ................................................. 146 DCI Robert Gates and the CIA ................................................................... 149 Melvin Goodman (1991) ........................................................................... 155 Stage One: Going Against the Grain .................................................. 157 Stage Two: The ‘Revolution’ ............................................................. 159 Stage Three: Moving On ................................................................... 162 Glaudemans (1991) ................................................................................... 163 Stage One: Summoned ..................................................................... 164 - 4 - Dobson Stage Two: No Way Out .................................................................... 166 Stage Three: No Comment! .............................................................. 167 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 168 PART III: 2000s .............................................................................................. 171 Chapter 4 WikiLeaks and Chelsea Manning: ‘The Fog of War’ . 172 WikiLeaks (2006): Is it a journalist? Is it a lawyer? No, it’s WikiLeaks ...... 178 WikiLeaks and Secrecy .............................................................................. 182 WikiLeaks and Insider: A Legal Examination ............................................. 185 Chelsea Manning (2010): A Soldier ........................................................... 190 WikiLeaks and Manning: Stories Intertwined ........................................... 192 Stage One: Born this Way ................................................................. 192 Stage Two: Perfect Illusion ................................................................ 196 The Iraq and Afghan War Logs ...................................................... 197 The ‘10REYKJAVIK13’ Disclosures ................................................. 198 The ‘12 July 2007 – Air Weapons Team (AWT) video’ aka ‘Collateral Murder’ ......................................................................................... 199 Stage Three: Applause ...................................................................... 201 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 204 Chapter 5 ‘The Program’: The War Inside the Agency ............. 207 The Story of SARC at NSA: Bill Binney, Kirk Wiebe, Ed Loomis and Diane Roark ......................................................................................................... 214 Stage One: The Overpriced Competition .......................................... 218 Stage Two: A Team Effort ................................................................. 221 Stage Three: Falsely Accused ............................................................ 223 Thomas Drake (2011) ................................................................................ 229 Stage One: The Patriot ...................................................................... 230 Stage Two: The End of a Tether ........................................................ 232 Stage Three: Marked ......................................................................... 233 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 235 - 5 - Dobson PART IV: A SPECIAL CASE .............................................................................. 237 Chapter 6 A Catch-22: How do you solve a problem like Edward Snowden? ..................................................................................... 238 Stage One: Potential Whistleblower ................................................. 244 Stage Two: The Leak ......................................................................... 254 Stage Three: The Aftermath .............................................................. 271 Conclusion