By CHRIS JOHNSON, Washington Blade
Apr 17 2008, 3:37 PM |
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The Army is stating that it cannot identify the source of Wikipedia article edits eliminating any mention that a soldier recently killed in Iraq was gay, even though the changes apparently came from an Army computer user at the Pentagon.
Army spokesman Maj. Nathan Banks said Army checks “do not necessarily indicate” that the IP address associated with the changes “necessarily
belongs to any one specific office.”
On March 31, someone at the Pentagon apparently redacted details on Wikipedia about Maj. Alan Rogers, a 40-year-old gay soldier who died Jan. 27 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee.
Information that was deleted included Rogers’ sexual orientation; the soldier’s participation in American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group that works to change military policy toward gays; and the fact that Rogers’ death helped bring the U.S. military’s casualty toll in Iraq to 4,000.
The anonymous poster also provided the following comment in the “discussion” section about the article:
“Alan’s life was not about his sexual orientation but rather about the body of work he performed ministering to others and helping the defense of the country,” the poster wrote. “Quit trying to press an agenda that Alan wouldn’t have wanted made public just to suit your own ends.”
Banks said the Army is “unaware” of whether the computer user made these changes under Army guidance or if the person made the changes on his or her own accord.
When asked whether the computer user would face disciplinary action for making the changes, Banks said the Army cannot “speculate on any potential actions” until the service develops “a more specific understanding of what may or may not have been done.”
The IP address attached to the deletion of the details and the posted comments is 141.116.168.135. Evidence indicates that the address belongs to a computer from the office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G-2) at the Pentagon. The office is headed by Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, who was present at Rogers’ funeral and presented the flag from Rogers’ coffin to his cousin, Cathy Long.
Rob Pilaud, a patent agent and a friend of Rogers who attended the soldier’s funeral, restored the deleted information to the Wikipedia article April 1. Pilaud was one of Rogers’ friends who developed the article.
Rogers’ death caused controversy because media sources such as the Washington Post and National Public Radio did not initially mention that Rogers was gay.
Pilaud said the Army response is “laughable — but it’s not surprising.”
“If the Army intelligence can’t figure out where ... Internet access is from, you wonder who could,” he said.
Pilaud said it’s possible for tech-savvy Wikipedia users to make edits or post comments to an article with a fake IP address. But he added that it would be an “incredible coincidence” for someone to use a decoy IP address that could be traced to the Pentagon.
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