Watching on television and reading (in print and online) the response of the U.S. Government and some American politicians to Wikileaks' Cablegate and Julian Assange, I get the distinct impression that a large segment of the Home of the Brave and the Land of the Free completely lost the plot in December 2010.
Assange is engaged in terrorism and is an enemy combatant? Now that really is believing the pen is mightier than the average AK-47!
What is fascinating about all this off-the-wall outrage is the fact that it appears that the content of ninety-nine per cent of the diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks so far has been in the mainstream media as supposition, rumour, expert opinion or stated political position for literally years.
To date nothing I've read in those cables has actually come as a surprise - just filled in the background for what I have heard elsewhere before from numerous conventional sources.
Rather ironically some of those conventional sources were 'tell all' books written by former politicians and public servants from those very countries which are screaming loudest about Wikileaks' recent disclosures.
3 comments:
The USA is wasting time by pursuing Mr. Assange. It is futile to close the door after the horse has bolted. There is naught they can do to stop the files from being published. They need now to turn their efforts to managing the fall out and make plans for the future. They need to look at raising the standard of their own, diplomats and public servant reporting, They would be in less trouble now if the cables reporting innuendo and gossip were labelled as such when posted. There is no way any government can protect secret documents if they number in the millions as they do now. It would be better if only documents that really need to be secret are labelled as such. Fear of being embarrass does not warrant the top-secret stamp. Governments need to realise that it is not in their interest to make things secret where no need exists. In my opinion western government need to rebuild trust, so that the public feels they can rely on what they say. Democracy does not and cannot work unless there is total transparency and openness.
It's odd. The documents are mainly confirming what 'sources who spoke on condition of anonymity' have been saying for years. Clearly the thing that worries them is having their thoughts on the record, so they cannot engage in plausible deniability later if the truth would prove inconvenient.
The most worrying aspect of the saga is the number of people from across the political spectrum rushing to defend the profoundly anti-democratic practice of secrecy in government.
"Anonymous said...
The USA is wasting time by pursuing Mr. Assange. It is futile to close the door after the horse has bolted."
Ahh but then what happens when the next horse wants to bolt? This is more about 'making an example' to anyone else and is just another part of the fear campaign against it's own citizens and other citizens of the world.
Instead of this circus of intimidation and fear, they should be focusing on getting their own house in order. Firstly, get a hold of more professional diplomats which a. have to assume anything they write may be read by others, and b. try to report facts rather than colour them with their own slant a-la an editorial in the australian. And secondly, tighten their security processes. Need to know, and all that.
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