Fact-checking SMH's "enemy of the state"
There's a lot of talk in the news sphere right now about Julian Assange being labeled a "enemy of the state".
Nowhere can I find a source for that quote, or a reason why it's in quotes. Yet it's in every headline about this story.
The originating article for this quote appears to be this Sydney Morning Herald story about a set of declassified US Air Force documents. SMH doesn't provide the text of the documents, but they do provide this information:
Declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents, released under US freedom-of-information laws, reveal that military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or WikiLeaks supporters may be at risk of being charged with "communicating with the enemy", a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death.
It's not even clear that "communicating with the enemy" is a quote from the documents, which record a probe into a Britain-based analyst that allegedly supported Assange his organization WikiLeaks. SMH says that the documents cited Uniform Code of Military Justice article 104 d, which reads in its entirety:
(d) Lesser included offense. For harboring or protecting the enemy, giving intelligence to the enemy, or communicating with the enemy.
Article 80 — attempts
Nowhere in that article nor in the entire "Manual for Courts-Martial United States (2012 Edition)" can I find the phrase "enemy of the state", with or without quotes.
For a definition of "enemy", UCMJ article 100 c (4) references "Manual" paragraph 23 c (1)(b):
(b) Enemy. "Enemy” includes organized forces of the enemy in time of war, any hostile body that our forces may be opposing, such as a rebellious mob or a band of renegades, and includes civilians as well as members of military organizations. "Enemy” is not restricted to the enemy government or its armed forces. All the citizens of one belligerent are enemies of the government and all the citizens of the other.
Again, no use of "enemy of the state". Why did SMH put quotes when there's no quote?
Does this really matter? No. As I click submit, there are hundreds of tweets saying that Assange has been labeled an "enemy of the state", in quotes.