Wikileaks and Julian Assange - Hero or Villain?
Posted: Thursday, December 02, 2010
by Jennifer Stewart
Stepping out of History
A little while ago I watched a Youtube video of Julian Assange of Wikileaks being interviewed by a CNN reporter. She couldn't get off the subject of his private life. He got quietly irritated that, in the face of such important matters to discuss, she was poking about in something totally irrelevant to the world. He told her a couple of times that if she wouldn't stop he'd leave. She didn't stop. He got up and left. Good for him, is what I thought.
There was something about him that was a bit unsettling; I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I realized later, it was that he doesn't play to the camera, he doesn't do anything for show, and he keeps himself very, very private. I'm not used to seeing that on TV. Most celebrities can't get enough overt attention. Not Assange, though. He didn't try to entertain, he just waited to be asked the right questions.
With his latest publication of 291 US diplomatic cables, many leaders and politicians are having their dirty laundry hung out to dry, and from the leaks we're seeing evidence of the pettiness, double-dealing and hypocrisy which characterizes international relations. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing.
We live in a world of rampant paranoia, exaggerated suspicion, double standards; and general hoodwinking of the common man, in the name of public interest. That can't be good.
Well some of that hoodwinking is out in the open now. Politicians are having to explain themselves. That can't be bad. And now we know China doesn't view North Korea in a very favorable light, which I think is downright reassuring. We also know that Arab Leaders want the US to attack Iran and force it to give up its nuclear weapons program. That's very interesting.
Then there's the widespread use of computer hacking by the Chinese Government – but we all know that China doesn't care about human rights, so it's not news. Alleged Russian Government links to organized crime isn't news either. There's fear that Pakistan won't be able to protect its nuclear stuff from terrorists. Well, don't we all worry about that anyway.
Is any of this going to turn the world upside down? I don't think so. I wonder if the enigmatic Assange does this because he believes truth is important, or because he enjoys the role he's playing. His fans see him as a hero campaigning valiantly for the truth, but his critics say he's irresponsible, and quite a few hot-headed Americans have said they believe he should die. For what? There's no real harm done, and possibly quite a bit of good.
Assange could be a man on a mission for the truth, or he could be an anarchist. Whatever he is, he has a lot of supporters, most of them online. CNN did a kind of mini-survey from a sector of Twitter. Only 9% were opposed to Assange. 23% supported him and the rest were neutral.
He was born in 1971 in Townsville, northern Australia, to a couple who had a travelling theatre. He was arrested for hacking in his early 20's, and was good enough to be able to track the investigators tracking him! He was let off prison provided he didn't re-offend. He had a penchant for intrigue even back then, and co-wrote a book on the emerging subversive element of the internet with Suelette Dreyfus, then studied math and physics at university. He excelled at the former.
In 2006 he started Wikileaks with a group of like-minded people from around the web. Right from the start it was a cloak and dagger affair. To keep their sources safe, they had to encrypt everything, spread assets, and move people and telecommunications around the world to hide behind the protection of various laws in different countries. I should imagine it was inspiring in those days, probably pretty exciting.
But things have got a whole lot darker now. The world is more paranoid than it was then. Whatever Assange's motives, whether he's a hero or a narcissistic anarchist, he's playing with fire and he's not going to be the only one getting burned. The repercussions have already started for him. He was denied residency in Sweden in October, despite that Sweden is a refuge for whistle-blowers. In fact, Sweden has a red alert out for him – they want him hauled in for questioning regarding rape and molestation charges. He has denied the charges, and they could easily have been trumped up. Australia is allegedly investigating him to see if he's broken the law there.
The thing is, he can probably always find a place to escape, but that isn't always going to be so for the people who send him the leaked information. For example the 23 year old American, Bradley Manning, accused of stealing the diplomatic cables, is facing 52 years in jail and some are calling for the death sentence. His story breaks my heart. I'll tell it in my next article.
With his latest publication of 291 US diplomatic cables, many leaders and politicians are having their dirty laundry hung out to dry, and from the leaks we're seeing evidence of the pettiness, double-dealing and hypocrisy which characterizes international relations. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing.
We live in a world of rampant paranoia, exaggerated suspicion, double standards; and general hoodwinking of the common man, in the name of public interest. That can't be good.
Well some of that hoodwinking is out in the open now. Politicians are having to explain themselves. That can't be bad. And now we know China doesn't view North Korea in a very favorable light, which I think is downright reassuring. We also know that Arab Leaders want the US to attack Iran and force it to give up its nuclear weapons program. That's very interesting.
Then there's the widespread use of computer hacking by the Chinese Government – but we all know that China doesn't care about human rights, so it's not news. Alleged Russian Government links to organized crime isn't news either. There's fear that Pakistan won't be able to protect its nuclear stuff from terrorists. Well, don't we all worry about that anyway.
Is any of this going to turn the world upside down? I don't think so. I wonder if the enigmatic Assange does this because he believes truth is important, or because he enjoys the role he's playing. His fans see him as a hero campaigning valiantly for the truth, but his critics say he's irresponsible, and quite a few hot-headed Americans have said they believe he should die. For what? There's no real harm done, and possibly quite a bit of good.
Assange could be a man on a mission for the truth, or he could be an anarchist. Whatever he is, he has a lot of supporters, most of them online. CNN did a kind of mini-survey from a sector of Twitter. Only 9% were opposed to Assange. 23% supported him and the rest were neutral.
He was born in 1971 in Townsville, northern Australia, to a couple who had a travelling theatre. He was arrested for hacking in his early 20's, and was good enough to be able to track the investigators tracking him! He was let off prison provided he didn't re-offend. He had a penchant for intrigue even back then, and co-wrote a book on the emerging subversive element of the internet with Suelette Dreyfus, then studied math and physics at university. He excelled at the former.
In 2006 he started Wikileaks with a group of like-minded people from around the web. Right from the start it was a cloak and dagger affair. To keep their sources safe, they had to encrypt everything, spread assets, and move people and telecommunications around the world to hide behind the protection of various laws in different countries. I should imagine it was inspiring in those days, probably pretty exciting.
But things have got a whole lot darker now. The world is more paranoid than it was then. Whatever Assange's motives, whether he's a hero or a narcissistic anarchist, he's playing with fire and he's not going to be the only one getting burned. The repercussions have already started for him. He was denied residency in Sweden in October, despite that Sweden is a refuge for whistle-blowers. In fact, Sweden has a red alert out for him – they want him hauled in for questioning regarding rape and molestation charges. He has denied the charges, and they could easily have been trumped up. Australia is allegedly investigating him to see if he's broken the law there.
The thing is, he can probably always find a place to escape, but that isn't always going to be so for the people who send him the leaked information. For example the 23 year old American, Bradley Manning, accused of stealing the diplomatic cables, is facing 52 years in jail and some are calling for the death sentence. His story breaks my heart. I'll tell it in my next article.
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More commentsI don't view Assange as a narcissistic anarchist. When considering the personal risk involved, I'm sure the man has a great respect for truth. The government seems to think that lying and hiding info is the norm and that we should all accept that as a rule, but when we do it to them (Taxes, assets, etc.) it is forbidden. It's like the parent who says, "Do as I say, not as I do."Nicely said, Kenny! Double standards rule.
The man is a hero, honestly. It is sad that the whistle blowers are getting flak, but I hope he escapes for the moment. It does not hurt to have little truth in the world if it exposes the lies of the Obama staffers.Ok Julian, where you hiding?:-)
Assange said that Wikileaks published documents classified higher than the rest of the world's press gathered. How is it that a team of five people managed to make the details public truth informatin ..... The media like CNN is irritating with Julian Assange. He does not want to enter the truth, but cares more about money matters interst. So CNN interview with Julian Assange of Wikileaks has failed ......
Those who point opponet rights violations, are heroes of the United States as China's human rights activist Hu Jia jailed for three and a half years is the hero of the west media.It is natural, great activist Julian Assange human rights has become hero around the world for people of world . India media says, he is already having offer for support from many countries ,where America has been providing assistance to their people in name of the right to freedom of expression. I think Assange has already reached a safe destination and will live the good life fully protected against America jails ........
Who is Julian Assange? Until recently, Julian Assange was a good man, now all of a sudden, all records of his disease is being developed in the United States and its alley country .... Julian Assange is the winner of the 2009 Amnesty International Media Award for having denounced the extrajudicial killings in Kenya during the investigation .. He also won the 2008 Index on Censorship economist ......
Julian Assange is great protector of the rights to information for the people of the United States and around the world and its intention is not a bad leak information, but to support the human rights of the people of America and of all parties concerned to Information Law of American democracy. He needs all the supprt for exposing double spaeaking politicians. India media says Clinton has contacted seven country on the Wikileaks exposture to say sorry........The U.S. citizen must file a complaint in court against his politician for give misleading information through press releases under the Freedom of Information Act U.S..I agree that those trying to crucify him for alleged personal crimes have failed. Alas that he has been arrested after all, now, Gaurav, but he has a great lawyer, and it seems pretty clear that the charges are trumped up. I saw such a great interview on BBC, where he spoke about his motives. He was very straight and clear, it was wonderful to watch him speak.
Does the press really enjoy freedom of expression? This is a very big question now. This is not the first time somebody is being tried in court for revealing secrets of politicians. There was the famous Tehelka reports way back in 1999 when they conducted a sting operation on the Defense Minister of India accepting bribe from an Army personnel. The editor was arrested for exposing him instead of the Minister. According to as little as what I know about Assange, he has done a terrific job by exposing the truth to the world, although Hillary's remarks don't surprise me at all.
Associated Press says WikiLeaks-website- shut down worldwide The American provider says in a statement that the attacks have threatened the stability of its infrastructure.A Wikileaks post on Twitter said on Friday that the domain had been "killed by US everydns.net after claimed mass attacks." Earlier this week, Wikileaks began to publish over a quarter million documents containing confidential communications between 274 embassies in countries throughout the world and the State Department in Washington DC.The US has cried foul and said the leak compromises security. WikiLeaks accessed at: http://213.251.145.96/cablegate.htmlEven if the press does enjoy freedom of expression (and I'm also not sure it does!), it doesn't have freedom of access to information that should be in the public domain. That story about the editor is horrifying. Business as usual amongst politicians, the world over.
Whatever arrows pierce the shield of secrecy and oppression is good for the human soul. Good going girl.I hereby dub you the poet comment laureate. You leave the most fabulous comments wherever you go, David!
I think the politicians are mad because like Bruce said they got caught with their pants down. Most of the stuff that has been revealed is like gossip and is distorted. Keep your pants and your hat lined up and something new should come across the wires soon. There is also a lot of damage being done by the release of the tapes but Hillary Clinton is doing a great job. She is the one that is having to do a lot of damage control.I wonder, with Bradley's case, whether people will still risk their lives and future to leak information to Assange.I'm sure it'll make people more wary of telling anybody about info they've leaked.
I believe he tells it like it is.So do I, David.
Informative but not sure what will come out next. Very interesting report Jennifer.Thanks, Hilda. I need to check up on the news on this. I heard Assange has been arrested. I hope not.Yes, he was arrested. So soon and don't know what's next behind all this ? You may have to rewrite one more article ............
Julian Assange would appear to be the victim of a smear campaign - I wonder why and by who?Doesn't take a genius to work that out.I must admit that I find the utter contempt that the US seems to have for the rest of the world pretty nauseating. Little wonder it is extremely short of friends politically.Thanks for your comment, Bill. I don't think all Americans have that contempt, but I agree that some do. I believe there are quite a fewAmericans who are as nauseated as you.
The world is better place thanks to Mr. Assange, thank you for having integrity to report the truth.
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