14 DAY TRIAL // There are a lot more whistleblowers like Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden in the US Army. An active-duty captain has revealed that there are many members of the Anonymous movement in the Army.
The captain, whose identity has not been revealed, has told BuzzFeed that there are a lot of Anonymous activists at Fort Huachuca, “where all the intel people are.”
“A lot of them wanted to get the job [there] because they want to learn secret stuff and have a better personal understanding of how the world actually works,” he said.
Campaigns such as Operation Cartel, Operation Dark Net and Operation Payback were apparently highly popular among soldiers. The captain himself was also involved in Anonymous operations.
“I was involved in the Arab Spring opening up internet communications. I was a facilitator for a lot of people who have more skills than me in the cyber world,” he noted.
In the past, the US military wasn’t too concerned with the presence of activists within its ranks. However, after Manning provided WikiLeaks with sensitive information, and after the recent Snowden incident, the military started assuming that anyone is a potential threat.
Now, Army members are encouraged to identify individuals that might leak information.
Despite the measures taken by the US government to prevent information leaks, the captain is confident the Edward Snowden case isn’t the last we’ll see.
“A lot [of Anonymous members] are mid- to high-rank NCOs. They are well-respected, have connections, and overly large security clearances,” he explained.
“A lot of people who are part of the [Anonymous] culture are just dying at this point for something to come across their table that isn’t already out there. It is so easy to leak information that if you want to, you can do it.”