Sunday, December 12, 2010
WikiLeaks Justified? Yes
The Rush to Stop Exposure of Secrets and Lies
It would be naive to expect that the leaks would stop malfeasance by government authorities. But perhaps those in power who had been glibly lying for years and taking advantage of ignorance of the general public about what goes on behind the scenes would be somewhat restrained in their plotting. Maybe not. To be in a position to abuse power is heady, addictive; hard to give up. We can only hope.
The world has changed, not simply because governments find they are just as vulnerable to the acquisition, copying and distribution of huge amounts of data as the music, publishing and film businesses were, but because we are unlikely to return to the happy ignorance of the past. Knowing Saudi Arabia has urged the bombing of Iran, that Shell maintains an iron grip on the government of Nigeria, that Pfizer hired investigators to disrupt investigations into drugs trials on children, also in Nigeria, that the Pakistan intelligence service, the ISI, is swinging both ways on the Taliban, that China launched a cyber attack on Google, that North Korean has provided nuclear scientists to Burma, that Russia is a virtual mafia state in which security services and gangsters are joined at the hip – and knowing all this in some detail – means we are far more likely to treat the accounts of events we are given in the future with much greater scepticism.
Now wheels are churning at full speed to punish Julian Assange of WikiLeaks. The rape charge is full of holes. Major powers, led by America, are out to stop WikiLeaks from releasing additional data. Chances are that they will succeed, at least to some degree. That would be a shame.
Senator Diane Feinstein (D), California, and Senator Joseph Lieberman, Independent-Democrat, Connecticut, both took strong positions against WikiLeaks. These two senators' exist to protect interests of Isreal. It would have been surprising if they did not support persecution of Julian Assange.
Senator Diane Feinstein (D), California, and Senator Joseph Lieberman, Independent-Democrat, Connecticut, both took strong positions against WikiLeaks. These two senators' exist to protect interests of Isreal. It would have been surprising if they did not support persecution of Julian Assange.
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