“Communicating with the enemy, 104-D”, an article in the US Uniform Code of Military Justice that prohibits military personnel from “communicating, corresponding or holding intercourse with the enemy” had been the charge against a cyber systems analyst based in the United Kingdom by the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations who allegedly had expressed support for WikiLeaks and had attended pro-Julian Assange demonstrations in London. That was revealed in declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents released under US freedom-of-information laws. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the analyst’s access to classified information was suspended, but the investigators closed the case without laying charges. The analyst denied leaking information.

So, WikiLeaks and Assange are now officially enemies of the United States, just like al-Qaeda and the Taliban.   Assange’s US attorney, Michael Ratner, claims this designation has very dangerous implications and could be interpreted as a green light to kill or detain Assange without charge or trial. As John Glaser at antiwar.com correctly notes,

“WikiLeaks is nothing more than a publishing platform and Julian Assange is properly understood as a journalist. For the US military to designate him in the same class as al-Qaeda militants is the greatest affront to first amendment press freedoms in a very long time.”