It should not come as a surprise to anyone who has been been keeping up with the U.S. government's crimes that U.S. leaders feel threatened by the recent WikiLeaks PR coup. The reaction by members of the Obama administration, and other U.S. public officials to the leak of 92,000 Afghan war diaries shows them to be not the civilized, freedom-lovers that they claim to be, but petty tyrants who put their own political careers above the reputation, and safety of their country, and who don't mind the deaths of a million people. Clearly, America is not led by statesmen, but by government gangsters, and political fraudsters.
"Evil," said Colombian philosopher Nicolás Gómez Dávila, "like the eyes, does not see itself." That is why a public mirror called the free press is needed in society; it not only gives the victims the knowledge they need to prosecute their vicious abusers, but also reminds those who wield political power for criminal ends that they have never been in the right. Also, a free-press that investigates government illegality is a gift to the few good politicians, it gives them the courage to speak up about controversial issues, because if all government information is public knowledge, then little danger exists to their careers, and lives if they give voice to it in Congress or Parliament.
John F. Kennedy gave one of the greatest speech any U.S. president has given in American history when he addressed the American Newspaper Publishers Association on April 27, 1961. Here are two excerpts from that speech that deserve to be brought up in the discussion about WikiLeaks, state secrecy, and national security:
"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know."Sadly, the press in America has failed members of Congress, it is not the other way around. And both have failed the American people by not challenging the dictatorial powers of the President, and the corrupt control of the National Secrecy State.
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"Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed--and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment-- the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution- -not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants"--but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion."
Robert Gates, Mainstream Media, and State Morality
One of the main criticisms of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange by US government officials is that he is not leaking secret government information because he is motivated by humanitarian reasons, but that he is strictly concerned about making the US government look bad. It is a childish criticism, but it's also very serious, because it looks like US authorities are rationalizing future internet censorship. A lot of people in the government actually believe in the mantra of "national security" and they view outsiders, i.e. concerned citizens, as a threat to the government.
People should not take stock in the US government's view of WikiLeaks because it is a government that is controlled by murderers and liars. Everything it says is false, and twisted. If George Washington was alive today, Dick Cheney and Barack Obama would both call him a terrorist, and eventually kill him.
President Obama has been tight lip on the WikiLeaks story, but the administration's defense officials have not. On ABC's This Week, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates accused WikiLeaks of moral corruption for leaking the 92,000 military documents to the world:
AMANPOUR: You know, you talk about putting your sources at risk, a Taliban spokesman has told a British news organization that they are, indeed, going to go after any of those names that they find in this treasure trove of documents and they will, as they say, they know how to deal with people. Are you worried? I mean Admiral Mullen said that this leak basically has blood on its hands?Gates, who presides over the longest illegal war in American history, is saying that Assange is irresponsible, and guilty? I still can't believe it. Gates is desperately trying to justify US actions because he fears personal consequences once the full criminality of the War on Terrorism is known by the American public. He is both criminally insane, and politically savvy. A deadly combo. And his contempt for the Afghan, Iraqi, and American people is absolutely appalling.
GATES: Well, I mean given the Taliban's statement, I think it -- it basically proves the point. And my attitude on this is that there are two -- two areas of culpability. One is legal culpability. And that's up to the Justice Department and others. That's not my arena. But there's also a moral culpability. And that's where I think the verdict is guilty on WikiLeaks. They have put this out without any regard whatsoever for the consequences.
Charles Waterstreet of The Sydney Morning Herald made one of the best points about the leaked documents: "The tragedy is captured in the notion that if the WikiLeaks published the War Diary of the Taliban, it would be criminally prosecuted for facilitating terrorist acts."
Julian Assange: Rebel, CEO, Hero
Julian Assange is fast emerging as the white knight in the global information war. In an interview with The Guardian's Stephen Moss, he said that WikiLeaks is not aligned on any side of the political spectrum, and what it is singularly interested in is the facts. Assange told Moss:
"We have values. I am an information activist. You get the information out to the people. We believe a richer intellectual and historical record that is fuller and more accurate is in itself intrinsically good, and gives people the tools to make intelligent decisions."WikiLeaks is the most important pillar in the new global free press. It is to the first amendment what a shotgun is to the second amendment. And the dying corporate media is getting left behind. It has long regulated itself to spreading war propaganda, engaging in character assassinations, and reporting about celebrity gossip, and now, after decades of media disinformation, readers and viewers are moving on to a new era of journalism.
