"The editorial independence of Stars and Stripes and its readers' right to news free of censorship are being threatened by an overly broad and misdirected response to the Wikileaks debacle," the daily wrote.

"Amazingly, the government wants to bar this newspaper's journalists -- along with most federal workers -- from reading information already plastered all over the public square."

In the article, the daily's ombudsman Mark Prendergast revealed that the Pentagon communications department had advised that "access to any classified information hosted on non-DoD systems from any government-owned system is expressly prohibited" even if it was now in the public arena.

Although Stars and Stripes is officially authorized by the Pentagon it is editorially independent and its journalists are guaranteed the right of freedom of expression contained in the US Constitution.

Established in World War II, the magazine has some 420,000 readers and is widely read by serving members of the armed forces deployed abroad. There are four daily editions in Europe, the Middle East, Japan and South Korea.

"I am no lawyer, but even if secrets in wide circulation remain 'classified' by legal definition, it simply cannot be held that information disseminated on a global scale a la Wikileaks is somehow not in the 'public domain.' That defies reality," Prendergast wrote in his opinion piece.

Stars and Stripes journalists may however continue to consult the websites of those dailies which have published the US diplomatic cables, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.

This week, the Air Force blocked all connections from its computers to the Internet sites of 25 media organizations that have published the leaked cables.

The move meant computers used by Air Force employees could not access newsites, including the New York Times, The Guardian and Der Speigel, that have posted the cables online, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told AFP.

The Air Force took the action because classified information was posted on those websites, he said.

earlier related report
US military defends treatment of WikiLeaks suspect
Washington (AFP) Dec 17, 2010 - The US military on Friday said the army private suspected of passing secret documents to WikiLeaks is being treated humanely in prison, despite accusations of harsh conditions.

Held at a military brig at the Quantico Marine base, Bradley Manning has been placed under a maximum security regimen because authorities see him as posing a risk to national security, said prison spokesman First Lieutenant Brian Villiard.

"Maximum custody detainees" include "those whose escape would cause concern of a threat to life, property or national security," Villiard told AFP.

"What I will tell you is that he is not treated any differently than any other maximum confinement detainee," he said.

Under the stricter security rules, Manning is allowed out of his cell for only one hour a day for exercise outside or at an indoor gym, prompting allegations from some commentators that he is enduring abuse.

The solitary confinement "constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture," Glenn Greenwald, a lawyer and author, wrote on Salon.com.

The "accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries," even though Manning has not been convicted of any crime, said Greenwald, who appeared on the MSNBC television network on Friday.

The accusations came the same day that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was freed on bail in Britain, as he fights extradition to Sweden on charges of sexual assault.

But the military defended the detention conditions for Manning, saying other inmates placed in the highest security category were subject to the same rules. The inmates at the brig "are treated with firmness, fairness, dignity and compassion," Villiard said.

But he added: "It's no Shangri-la."

Manning has access to newspapers, is within speaking range of other inmates in his wing, is permitted visitors and chooses from the same food menu as his fellow prisoners.

But under the maximum security rules, Manning is barred from the mess hall and must take his meals in his solitary cell, while prison authorities have decided not to issue him cotton sheets, he said.

Instead, the brig officers have provided two blankets and a pillow made of material that cannot be torn into pieces -- as a "precaution," according to Villiard.

Manning, however, was not on a suicide watch and there had been no major problems with his behavior so far, he said.

The young soldier was arrested in May and has been held in solitary confinement at the Quantico brig, Virginia, since July. US authorities have yet to say when he will be put on trial on eight charges of violating federal criminal law, including transmitting classified information to a third party, and two counts under military law.

If found guilty, Manning faces up to 52 years in prison.

The WikiLeaks website has yet to disclose its source for a massive trove of classified US military and diplomatic documents published in recent months, but suspicion has focused on Manning, who worked as a low-ranking army intelligence analyst in Iraq.

Assange said Friday that WikiLeaks had pledged 50,000 dollars (38,000 euros) towards Manning's legal fund.

But he told ABC television in the US that: "I had never heard of the name Bradley Manning before it was published in the press.

"WikiLeaks technology (was) designed from the very beginning to make sure that we never know the identities or names of people submitting us material."

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