In defense of Wikileaks

This Wikileaks story is a good one. It illustrates several key points, and it separates the men from the boys, so to speak. That is, do you really believe in free speech or do you not? I posted about Wikileaks before, about a week ago (Thoughts on WikiLeaks and Amazon, and Censorship and Walls, December 9, 2010) but this is such an important topic I want to revisit it.

First up, and deservedly so, is Ron Paul. From FromTheOld:
"Ron Paul defends Wikileaks on House Floor"
http://fromtheold.com/news/politics/ron-paul-defends-wikileaks-house-floor-20934

Watch the video and consider these questions from Paul.  I find questions #6 and #9 to be particularly powerful.

• Number 1: Do the America People deserve know the truth regarding the ongoing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen?
• Number 2: Could a larger question be how can an army private access so much secret information?
• Number 3: Why is the hostility directed at Assange, the publisher, and not at our governments failure to protect classified information?
• Number 4: Are we getting our moneys worth of the 80 Billion dollars per year spent on intelligence gathering?
• Number 5: Which has resulted in the greatest number of deaths: lying us into war or Wikileaks revelations or the release of the Pentagon Papers?
• Number 6: If Assange can be convicted of a crime for publishing information that he did not steal, what does this say about the future of the first amendment and the independence of the internet?
• Number 7: Could it be that the real reason for the near universal attacks on Wikileaks is more about secretly maintaining a seriously flawed foreign policy of empire than it is about national security?
• Number 8: Is there not a huge difference between releasing secret information to help the enemy in a time of declared war, which is treason, and the releasing of information to expose our government lies that promote secret wars, death and corruption?
• Number 9: Was it not once considered patriotic to stand up to our government when it is wrong?
• Thomas Jefferson had it right when he advised 'Let the eyes of vigilance never be closed'

Next up is a quote from Glenn Greenwald, as posted by Andrew Sullivan:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/12/qu-1.html

"Whatever you think of WikiLeaks, they have not been charged with a crime, let alone indicted or convicted. Yet look what has happened to them. They have been removed from Internet … their funds have been frozen … media figures and politicians have called for their assassination and to be labeled a terrorist organization. What is really going on here is a war over control of the Internet, and whether or not the Internet can actually serve its ultimate purpose—which is to allow citizens to band together and democratize the checks on the world’s most powerful factions," – Glenn Greenwald.

Scary stuff.


This last link is scary. Do I agree with Putin? Okay, maybe I do on this one, but in my defense there is no way that Putin is doing this out of principle. He is merely doing this out of political expediency. Can you imagine he would feel the same way if someone shared Russian secrets? Of course not. From ABC News:
"Putin Blasts West Over Wikileaks Arrest" by Alexander Marquardt
http://abcnews.go.com/m/screen?id=12364345