Tuesday 7 December 2010

Thoughts on #Assange

I've been watching this with the detachment that's come from not actively blogging and I'm quite disturbed by what I've seen.

Assange got his hands on some documents that showed how "the world's policeman" (and what an apt description that is!) is behaving in the name of its citizens. The reaction from corporates and governments has been depressing but unsurprising. Amazon, PayPal and MasterCard have cut off any way for Wikileaks to get money. Even the supposedly incorruptible and impartial Swiss have frozen his assets. Assange has been targeted by ludicrous rape charges by the Swedish government, which were on, then off, then on again. Apparently, the Library of Congress is now blocking Wikileaks. Anybody who ever wrote for Wikileaks has had their journalistic credentials revoked.

Needless to say, the British government and police are eager to do their bit to get this annoying man behind bars.

All this from making publicly available information that was already open to access by 2.5 million people, allegedly. Information that was not even classified as particularly sensitive. All it did was shine a bit of a light on what governments do in our name, in the hypocrisy of publicly telling us wars can be won while privately believing they cannot among other, more trivial things.

Depressingly but equally predictably, statists from all sides of the political spectrum have been casting aspersions on Assange and his motivations. To them, the fact that governments have been lying to us about their beliefs in dragging us into wars, using our money on things even they consider fruitless, isn't as important or worrying as the fact that someone exposed them.

It's very, very clear to me that Assange is being vigorously and thoroughly hung out to dry pour encourager les autres, to make sure that anyone who is thinking about rocking the boat of the state is thoroughly discouraged. It's a very depressing state of affairs that the first man to seriously constructively and effectively challenge the state's ethics via the internet is being so thoroughly slapped down.

The problem for the state is that you can't recan these worms. A small corner has been lifted. Some people have seen what is being done in their name and now have their doubts. I'm sure that the comprehensive attack on Assange will also inspire some people to become martyrs in order to continue the fight. And finally, Wikileaks as it stands, is fighting back with hundreds of mirrors around the globe. I don't think that states are actually going to be able to shut it down completely and this heavy-handed action will eventually raise more questions than the leaks themselves.

The only way for the state to survive at all is going to be to realise that they have to accept the transparency they seem to feel they are entitled to demand of us. With a bit of luck, this whole fiasco will be the start of a rebalancing of the relationship between the state and the individual.

I think it's too much to hope that it will be the start of the end of the state, though.

27 comments:

patently said...

It's very, very clear to me that Assange is being vigorously and thoroughly hung out to dry pour encourager les autres,

In short, all possible forms of dirty tricks are being played, and every available string is being pulled, in order to prevent Assange from publicising the fact that the US plays dirty tricks and pulls strings in order to achieve its ends?

Lexander said...

If only Wiki could get their hands on the details in those Swiss bank accounts and tell all. Yep, Assange is being hung up by his balls for doing us all an immense favour.

Michael Fowke said...

"The only way for the state to survive at all is going to be to realise that they have to accept the transparency they seem to feel they are entitled to demand of us."

Exactly. This is a taste of their own medicine.

S. Weasel said...

I dunno. Not a single thing revealed so far has been the slightest bit surprising. Or, frankly, interesting. (I'd be deeply disappointed if my Secretary of State *wasn't* trying to keep tabs on the UN. Why the hell else do we put up with that pack of larcenous monkeys in New York?) There's nothing in those cables that hasn't been a rumor on the right since forever.


It's a great let down that these stupid, lame and public measures are all we have to stop him, though. Couldn't we have done something clever like pollute his data with untrue cables? Or launch a Stuxnet-type attack on his infrastructure?

Oh, and the very first thing the US should've done is offer asylum to anyone who was in the least endangered by the leaks. Least we could do to atone for the weakness of our security.

OldSlaughter said...

"ludicrous rape charges"

This is supposition.

When they leak videos of US army mistakes, that is one thing. What benefit to your cause is the release of strategic targets?

That is nout but an attack on America, something I would rather remained strong. What is his motivation for that link? It is mendacious and should be enough to get him killed. (that last comment should get me some abuse)

Please tell me how that leak is a favour.

Also, the confidentiality of diplomatic communication is one of the cornerstones of our civilisation.

Fuck him.

Obnoxio The Clown said...

"Also, the confidentiality of diplomatic communication is one of the cornerstones of our civilisation."

So is income tax. Does that make it a good thing?

If you don't think that finding out that despite everything they're saying to us, they don't believe we can win Afghanistan isn't important, then you're a fool.

America's "strength" is based on a lie. Would *you* be happy to die for that lie?

OldSlaughter said...

'So is income tax'.

No it isn't.

Diplomatic relations are sacrosanct. If you think otherwise then fine, but I would consider that view far more stupid than anything I could say. Yes, I consider diplomatic confidentiality a good thing. Surely only the worst sort of ideologue could think otherwise.

I mention nothing about the opinion on Afghanistan, a small detail.

Answer the question. What benefit is releasing a list of potential targets?

"America's "strength" is based on a lie. Would *you* be happy to die for that lie?"

That is no 'lie'. Its publication does not help the poor of this world nor is it a quest for honesty. By your shady logic all nuclear secrets are fair game also? This is madness.

Yes I would.

The Lizard King said...

He`s been remanded in custody!

RantinRab said...

Perhaps the good old U S of Cunt, sorry, A needs to take a gigantic flying fuck to itself.

I fucking HATE American meddling in the world, who the fuck do they think they are?

Cunts.

Old Holborn said...

He had the opportunity to blackmail every government in the world. He didn't. (or maybe he tried, who knows?)

Regardless, the State is about to find out just how powerful the Internetz we haz builded truly is.

And they won't like it at ALL

OldSlaughter said...

"I fucking HATE American meddling in the world, who the fuck do they think they are?"

They are the ones. Wait for the next ones, see how much you hate that.

North Korean nukes are real, your ideology isn't.

Oldrightie said...

Any defence of State and corporate shit is no more than further dumping of the excrement our Bilderbergers regard as theirs alone. Look how they don't like a smattering being hurled back.

S. Weasel said...

Heh. I remember when George Bush first took office. The "international community" (i.e. the industrial world's leftists) were worried that he'd be a typical American conservative: isolationist, insular, disinclined to meddle in world affairs. Surprise!

RantinRab said...

Who says North Korean nukes are real??

OldSlaughter said...

"Who says North Korean nukes are real?"

Er... they tested.

Japan and US confirmed.

Maybe its all a big lie, 12 lizards run the world and Dick Cheney flew planes into the towers.

Children, retards and ideologues.

Anonymous said...

Assange has served his purpose.

I hope you are all ready for the coming clampdown on free speech. The internet will be legislated against and controlled, the punishments severe.

S. Weasel said...

"The Internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it." -- John Gilmore

Perhaps not as true as it used to be, but still true. Reigning in the internet would either take an extraordinary coordination among nations or the total adoption of the Chinese model -- government service providers. I don't see either of those happening.

I'm not sure politicians understand how ungovernable the 'net is, though.

microdave said...

Was it all pre-planned?

http://chinamatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/wikileaks-is-bullsht.html

H/T Nanny Knows Best

Loki said...

I've been trying to get onto Wikileaks all night. Not happening. Cannot for the life of me think why!

microdave said...

"I've been trying to get onto Wikileaks all night."

Try pasting the following into your address bar

http://213.251.145.96/

It's working as I type this.

Peregrine's Bird Blog said...

http://radsoft.net/news/20101001,01.shtml

FYI

sixtypoundsaweekcleaner said...

I want to know how much the 'rape victim' is being paid.

John Demetriou said...

Excellent piece

Anonymous said...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/WikiLeaks-documents-expose-foreign-conspiracies/dp/B004EEOLIU/

I'm using MasterCard to pay for mine.

Avant-Garde Plebian said...

I hope you are all ready for the coming clampdown on free speech. The internet will be legislated against and controlled, the punishments severe.

The more government attempts to control the freedoms and property of individuals the more public opinion will swing to our point of view.

When the full force of government oppression becomes so blatant for all to see we may have enough support to start pushing back.

Anonymous said...

✡ Satanic Hexagram. 911 ✡ ✈ ▌▌
the jews are in the end game stage and getting real desperate the truth could become common knowledge and then all hell will break loose. Think if 9/11 and 7/7 get attributed and exposed as jew/cia fake planned terror attacks people will question WWI and WWII and then maybe the zionist jew banking cartel will fold and the strangle hold on the world will be released

The wikileaks aka cia/israel/mossad psych ops is now trying to take some credit on the climategate email release. What a lying cia agent Julian Assange note his name is an anagram of Jesus! Anal gain, if that's not a sign of jews working their magic I don't know what is
'osama bin laden' anagrams to 'A damn alien S.O.B.'

JULIAN ASSANGE . Anagram is JESUS! ANAL GAIN !!!!!!!!

JULIAN ASSANGE WIKILEAKS anagram is IS A SWAN-LIKE AS AGILE JUNK

Mark Wadsworth said...

Agreed.

Sunlight is a great disinfectant.