The Biggest Mistake of Julian Assange
A few days after the publication of over 250,000 classified cables of the U.S. State Department on Wikileaks, the storm of controversy that struck the figure of its founder, Julian Assange, has not yet subsided. Many people rail against the irresponsibility of Assange while many others, at the same time, defend him. But there is something wrong in his quest for transparency and truth. Assange has translated the contents of the cables uniquely as an ambiguity underlying the behavior of the U.S. government in its relations with the rest of the world.
At a casual glance, this assumption may seem correct and acceptable, but only if you completely ignore that the very essence of diplomacy is to safeguard the interests of a country, while maintaining a certain balance of political and economic terms in international relations with other countries. It’s not a proof of ethics or morals. It is a game of mediation, compromises, concessions and demands made of negotiations that are based on anything but transparent information for those sitting across the negotiating table.
Being surprised by the American government representatives located in various embassies around the world, sending confidential information to Washington that’s filled with strong criticism for other countries, is pure childishness. The same thing happens to all the foreign delegations of any other state against countries hosting them. It is a consolidated monitoring and reporting activity well-known among the intelligence services.
Believing that this prerogative is ethically reprehensible and exclusively confined to American foreign policy is a gross mistake, based on blatant prejudice that’s made of anti-Americanism dressed up as love for transparency and truth. This is Assange’s biggest mistake. His one-sided accusation against the United States itself undermines the credibility and defensibility of his mission.
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American foreign policy? I bet you mean Corporate American foreign policy? Do you dare to believe their spin doctors?
really this is man really
Where has it been suggested that America is the only one who does it?
the credibility and defensibility of his mission lies on the fact that all the leaked documents are true. How is that “underminable”?
True? Or simply classified? They are not necessarily synonymous.
It’s hard to maintain the mission to “show everything transparently” and not publish everything at the same time…
The article is highly explicit and apt vocabulary is used to describe the answer. Nice read :)
Regards
It could be seen as a mistake from a more conventional angle. But Assange is an anarchist, and anarchists take Thomas Jefferson’s famous statement “That government governs best that governs least” to its logical extreme; his goal is to undermine the entire government system for libertarian ends. He’s trying to show the people what their rulers and the robber barons who own them are doing to them behind their backs.
What you see as Assange’s mistake is in fact the entire strategy he’s been determined to follow from the beginning. It’s not just the US State Department, far from it; if Big Government and Big Business are doing it in secret, it’s in his gunsights.
Besides, what were the revelations? Nothing that nobody suspected already. And many of the cables is actually just boring stuff, diplomats that do their jobs, people that believe in what they are doing. In the ‘free’ countries people knew most of this stuff already, no big deal.
It will be interesting to know how things develop in ‘less free’ countries where information will eventually filter through the man in the street : “This guy is been lying in your face and literally robbing from your family all your life”
The scary thing, in the west is the reaction by the people in power. The talk about assassination, the intimidation of independent businesses, the bullying at a level I have never seen before from people in power in certain countries.
The internet does not like bullies. This is going to be a fun show.
I say that you have articulated a very important point in a very clear manner, Antonio. Great job.
Thanks Joshua. I think this is a “delicate” topic…
Most of the cables aren’t reviewed yet. and some really interesting stuff will not be published by the company- and government-controlled media – even here in old Europe…
This isn’t boring at all, for example: http://bit.ly/fuu5Qm
I agree. Wikileaks does not just bring out things that are wrong. It just published everything that was secret in the belief that there is bound to be something wrong. If we follow that through then we should just go to our neighbors house and just search through all their stuff in the belief that we are bound to find something, since everyone has dirty laundry to hide.
The good part of what Wikileasks is doing in my view is that it is forcing the government to admit that the “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear” argument is wrong. Serioulsy wrong. And that requires investigation to understand why. See my lengthier piece
http://www.google.com/buzz/henry.story/4fVxWXSqcZP/While-world-passengers-are-made-to-strip-at-US
Assange offers a chance to keep the multiplicity of humankind, which is so very precious as we all are in a big assimilation of globalization. We all care about immediate interests while we thought we’re not.
Stupid write up. Whole article contains no facts and all assumptions.
He hasn’t translated anything. Only redacted some names for safety reasons. Nothing to do with ethics or morals or dealings with other countries. He’s targeting government(s) versus the people. not government versus government. He is tired of being lied to by the government. He falls into the group some call Libertarianism.
Likewise he said china and Russia is on his radar and has info on them. It is not a American only thing. Just the evidence happens to being American evidence. Which really isn’t surprising since they are the worlds super power and hence therefore would statistically get the most attention being the biggest there is in the political regime.
Are you saying it’s ok for Wikileaks to publish anything except material that you deem to be “anti-american”? This seems like an article written by someone who doesn’t really know Wikileaks, maybe you don’t visit that site and only read about these big things in the newspaper.
I would suggest that helping America in the right direction is, in fact, pro-american. But that’s an entirely different topic. What Wikileaks does is in no way targetted at America. The reason the focus is at the US, is… and this is important: they are the US. Documents published about or from the US get’s a bigger impact than let’s say documents from Iceland or Latvia.
This is not the point. I think “helping America” (or more in general another Country) doesn’t mean potentially putting into dangerous position people which work in delicate positions for that country. And more, when Assange recently said “Obama should resign…” he admits his mission is nothing else than a political mission.
It is hilarious to watch this drama of US & their allies literally wetting their pants when they hear wikileaks disclosures that are no doubt ably harmed their ‘mighty’ worlds policeman image, but loves to preach to small countries like ours in Sri Lanka who have been brave enough to fight terrorism that has bled this country for almost 30 years to a final end by destroying them militarily in spite of all the war machinery, clandestine air wing & even a terrorists naval units the tiger terrorists commanded with all the monies they collected clandestinely in the western world which is a safe heaven for tamil economic refugees who have stealthily entered their host country politicians laps for comfort.
I would not call it “an inconvenient truth” but “the ugly truth”.
Anyone in favour of the Nobel prize for peace for Julian?
Didn’t Assange just say that wikileaks wants to reveal about 5 gb of information about russia in the next weeks and months. My geographic skills are not the best but I think russia is not a part of the US yet.
He is an irresponsible person. I hate him.
Come on Rajib. Don’t give anyone your precious hate. You don’t know him and I bet you’ve no clue about responsibility either. thank you for your comment.
“It’s not a proof of ethics or morals. It is a game of mediation, compromises, concessions and demands made of negotiations that are based on anything but transparent information for those sitting across the negotiating table.”
There are no negotiations in foreign policy … there is only a brute force.
Concessions are reserved only for the ones you cannot defeat whether economically, politically or militarily. Demands are imposed on the rest.
And this approach is not reserved for US, it is a universal principle… The only difference is that US got caught and others have not, at least not in public domain.
Yours is a naive and unsophisticated view of foreign policy. Have you actually talked to anyone involved in foreign policy? You’d be surprised at what you learn.
There is another big mistake of wikileaks …
If it’s good to tell the world truth on (fake, illegal, invalid, … your choose) wars, it’s not good to put agent names and missions details as they done.
You can tell CountryX Govern is doing hidden illegal operations against CountryZ, it’s ok, it’s information right. But you can’t tell agent John Doe is doing hidden operations on order of CountryX Govern against CountryZ … this is out of information right, this is putting John Doe into dangerous position, even if he is only a professionist and paid to do it without thinking.
Whew, seems like an USA vs World fight here :|
Assage is just an old style hacker. Even if he’s not getting into secured systems today, his idea is to get in some confidential information that could be of public interest. He just wants to “spill oil” from hidden oil fields, kept secret by some people. That’s not that bad in my vision of things.
His mistake is that if that information is not publicly useful, he has to publish it anyway :D
I don’t care if he’s anti-american, anti-russian, anti-iranian, etc. He just gives information away.
And freedom is based on public information.
People care if they know what’s going on, so, even if Assage is not saying important stuff, even if some think he’s pro or cons-america, he’s trying to do his little piece of work for freedom.
Zeitgeist
Totally agree, there should be more “Leaks” also from other parts of the world shouldnt it…? Wikileaks is in someways good of course BUT as it is now is just a big ANTI-US site, and not the transparency and truth seeking mission at least i thought from the begining.
Maybe release some leaks from the middle eastern governments, and asian and so forth? Then we can talk about transparency and truth, for just nu there is just another war against US wich is just plain stupid.
Wikileaks don’t perform judgments on their leaked information, they publish it and leave the reporting to others. The important thing to note is **they can only publish what other people leak to them**.
The current leaks are mainly consigned to the American government because thats where the biggest leaks have come from, not because Wikileaks chose to target the US. If you look at Wikileaks brief history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks#Leaks) you’ll see what I mean.
“Wikileaks don’t perform judgments on their leaked information”. I think this is not correct. How I said in a comment above, when Assange recently said “Obama should resign…” he performed a clear political judgment.
For historians as, Julian Assange and the wikileaks had only confirmed, but not exposed anything.
International relation is globally based on practical hypocracy verhicled by ambiguous theoritical principles.
The U S, China, Russia, The Arab World and others including Africa, Latin America have all had some confirmations regard some issues that had previously been treated as hypotheses.
If there should be global exposition on international scale, on international conspiracy, the US should, as self aclaimed or appointed leaders of the world, be ready to bear the major bruises.
Antonio Lupetti you don’t think Obama should resign? You believe that spying Un officials is something that should be tolerated??
love it or leave it – it’s the same old line.
You are so right, Antonio. People enjoy the cables as gossip but the publication has nothing to do with a fight for transperancy or investigative journalism…
Well, well, US Government isn’t that innocent, like at all!.
I’m not pro-assange, i’m not pro-wikileaks, but i’m certainly pro-freedom of speech. And, think for a minute, if the cables aren’t so important, why even bother? why launch a retaliation against Assange or make bigger corporations like PayPal and Amazon close Julian’s accounts?
Americans are so blind, i hope they could see above their nose and stop worrying about other countries.
This article just make me yown, comments were more interesting.
Antonio, better luck in the future.
america is huge octopus that blinds to universalize by black liquid named economy ..
So, in essence, I can call you a pervert, an alcoholic, and a women beater. I just better do it in secret so that only me and my family know you are a pervert, an alcoholic, and a women beater. Would this become public knowledge, why, they would have you arrested….
Off course, you are not.
Defending one’s intrests ENDS where it violates others.
This is what you conveniently forget.
I don’t think anyone is surprised by the content of these leaks, just eager to see what’s in them.
Recent publicity about Assange aside (sounds like a frame up to me, tho’), Assange couldn’t be accused of making a mistake here, these releases are nothing short of a resounding success for an organisation with the aims that Wikileaks has.
As for those accusations, it should be ignored by commentators as irrelevant, as Assange’s behaviour is much less worthy of international debate as the conduct of the nation of The United States.
The FBI and the CIA would be down on Assange once he gets to Swiss soil. The cheap trick of picking up old petty cases registered against a target is the first chapter in every police book. The US has orchestrated this and the world knows it. Would somebody like Assange miss out on these moves before he did something like WikiLeaks highly classified cables? I dont think so. I am sure Assange has some good brains already working on the strategy for the next season of legal battle. Assange has little to loose, while the mightly nations around the globe would have quite a lot to loose…….this new infacutation of the world media brought into my mind a line from the Holy Bible…..What is whispered in your ear, shout from the rooftops!!!! Assange might be just the beginning…..there are surely many more who would be doing the same….if not in a huge manner.
The Australian crocodile of Assange – the hero or the criminal?
As the person, he has thrown down a challenge to hypocrisy of all governments, the state structures, certainly he is a Hero. As the leader among the network resources which have given the compromising evidence on the state organizations – the outstanding showman
It is the conflict of interests of the state, the rights of the person and a small group of old vegetables which have forgotten that they a microscopic part of this mad world.
The full text of article – the hero or the criminal?
http://newshe.msk.ru/?p=430
Quote
“Wikileaks don’t perform judgments on their leaked information”. I think this is not correct. How I said in a comment above, when Assange recently said “Obama should resign…” he performed a clear political judgment.
End Quote.
No he said obama and clinton and everyone else in power should resign relating to if evidence is found that they ordered espionage on other countries. The document he was referencing has Hiliary Clintons signature of approval for spying that could be illegal. If this is is turns out to be true then Assange said they should resign. This is a law abiding investigative factual reasoning. Likewise is was said after Hilary Clinton said what Assange was doing is illegal. Which while is embarrassing it is not illegal. Hence the statement was said in defense against a accuser.
Why should wikileaks perform judgements on leaked information. If they did then the information would be as fake as the vietnam and iraq wars.
It’s usually a good practice to check your facts before writing an article, especially one like this. There’s been a lot of crappy journalism going around lately on this story but it’s still not an excuse to mindlessly repeat the same falsehoods repeated on most of the regular media.
You could start by actually looking at the WikiLeaks site and see that they have released only about 1 260 of the entire 250 000 documents they have. This because they go through every document line by line to make sure it’s relevant and vise to release and that it doesn’t put anyone in a harms way. And that’s just from your first paragraph.
Please don’t just mindlessly dish out nonsense articles like this just because you’ve read few headlines and couple poorly written fact-free articles somewhere. You’re doing a great disservice to your readers by spreading this nonsense.
Isko , this is your opinion and I respect it. But it’s not, and it can’t be, the only opinion about this fact.
Believing this is a no sense article, just because you are supposedly filo-Assange, it is not a reason foryour conclusions.
This is not a disservice. It’s MY opinion.
Antonio Lupetti is such a gentleman :)
Yes, you are right, part of my comment was my opinions but the facts that I stated aren’t “opinions”, they are facts. And very easily proofed and checked, what you clearly didn’t do when writing this article. We can both have our opinions on this, and unlike you wrote I don’t particulary like Mr Assagne, but when discussing the matter we still need to make sure that when we dish out our opinions publicly that we base our opinions on the real facts, not some falsehoods.
You can say that you don’t like what Mr Assange or his organization is doing and that’s fine. But when you back up that opinion with misinformation, well then your opinion isn’t actually based on anything.
The reason why I stated that this is nonsense article wasn’t because I felt differently or had differentiating opinions on the matter, it’s because the “facts” that you use in the article to backup your opinion are nonsense. Starting from the first paragraph. And this is not my opinion, it’s a fact. Go see for yourself. How many of the 250 000 documents you claim WikiLeaks to have leaked you can actually find from their website?
what the author claims her is all based on a definition of and look upon diplomacy that is main street and supposedly firmly groundedl I would equally quote Thomas Jefferson, as the other gentleman did before me
Governments, with that of the USA as an exponent, have become autonomous bodies claiming to act on behalf of the people, An increasing number amongst ‘the people’ feel uncomfortable with their orwellian tendencies, to say the least.
The author doesn’t, or so it seems.
It is purely a criminal act by an incompetent criminal. The information was stolen by another party. Once a common criminal is caught with stolen goods they throw it out the car window and deny every knowing of it. This person most likely even knew it was stolen when he received it and continues to use it even after he knows its stolen.
If he had recveived it legally such as through an FOIA request that would be another situation all together and more power to him most likely.
Assange’s biggest mistake is that he was found. Period.
Had he remained an anonymous person, nobody would know who to blame for all of this.
John: yes You are very much correct. Stolen and criminal I would agree. It wasn’t his information to give out. There is a catch. It was done in the name of Journalism. The laws are slightly different when it comes to the media. It is a very slippery slope that can go both ways. Right now Assange is balancing on the top of a fence on the ball of his foot with his other leg and arms up in the air. it could both ways.
The real sad thing is. While I do believe Assange is wrong for what he is doing. The USA has stooped to his level with with the false sex charges just to get their hands on him.
The end result will sadly probably be with Assange in a USA prison in a few months time from now and possibly for the rest of his life.
Once he is back to Sweden if the UK judge lets it happen, they will hold him on a extradition warrant back to the USA. At which point he is likely screwed. The Americans don’t care about his 256bit encrypted security package. They don’t even care that the world knows that 30,000 innocent Iraqi civilians are dead from a fake war. What makes him think that threats of harm to the USA will keep him safe. If anything he releases the password it may very well make the Americans look good. It’s in the USA interest to prosecute Assange. Then if someone is harmed from his wikileaks. USA comes out as the hero in the end.
Until someone steals the CIA intel in 30 years from now like what happen with Vietnam!
A few facts:
Wikileaks is not Assange and Assange is not Wikileaks. It is a group of people who offer an electronic publishing platform for “whistleblowers”.
No one knows what the USA will do – it is all speculation.
Assange did not translate anything.
Extradition from an EU member state for a political crime such as espionage is illegal. As is extradition to any country where the death penalty is used.
Neither Assange nor Wikileaks have been charged with anything appertaining to the leak of the diplomatic cables.
Assange, the man, is wanted for questioning by the Swedish judiciary for alleged sex crimes.
Opinions do not count in a court of law, evidence does.
If you believe in the rule of law then wait for it to take its course. By all means voice your opinions but don’t for one minute believe that they anything more than that – opinions.
The more transparency the better. Tax payers and citizens to know what the governments are doing and maybe there is more information about governments behind terrorism, I read somewhere Dubai finances pakistani terrorist attacks on India. Hence I say the more the transparency the better.
Very poor argument – nobody have suggested that it is Black and White…but the Fact that the US intervene with almost every country and system on this planet makes exposed to such wrongdoings… in the past decade the US have raged more than 3 devastating wars and its still shows apetite for more….
I stand somewhere between the left who want to erect a statue to Assange and the Right who want him rubbed out. (There is a lot of space here. Come join me.) The left, of which I consider myself a part, is not acknowledging that there are times some things that are genuinely in the national interest to not be thrown around the national media. The problem is that government has a history of classifying things as in the national security that aren’t – things that are just plain embarrassing but not necessarily harmful to the country or its troops or whatever. This fact makes people on the left highly suspicious whenever “national security” or “classified” comes up. But there are sometimes when it is vital that some things be kept secret.
I agree some things have to be secret, but certain governments involved in activities to bring down other nations to avoid ‘competition’ has to be made public and as someone mentioned above wikileaks goes through the files and takes into account what should be published and not.
So I guess all you American anti Assange people are happy with how things are in the US at the moment.
No problem with the way you were led into wars that are bankrupting your country and killing your people ( not to mention the thousands dead in those counties)?
No problem with lots of people loseing their homes, whilst most of the Banks and Financiers involved in the GFC walk away with Government handouts, payed by you the taxpayer?
No problem with the way various governments,businesses and judiciaries, have had his funds frozen, websites hacked and disabled, been slandered, threatened with assasination and imprisoned without charge, For publishing the truth to inform YOU about what your, and other counties governments and business are up to ?
I see alot of ostritch butt.
Entirely agree with your last paragraph. Adding to it, Assange’s one-sidedness may also be contributed from the fact that this one and only leak is all he got to start his accusation. He’s too eager to accomplish his belief for truth and transparency, plus the idea to start something better than nothing, he is compelled to jump into it. Good marketing. Perhaps he hopes, when facebook gains new users, he gains new leak sources.
I do not agree with the last statements of this article, he also accused many other governments and countries involved in dirty diplomacy and corruption behind the scenes. I do not believe in the theory of him being pushing this business forward just to mess with the US. It is ridiculous to think so and the real issue here is that the US won’t leave him alone until they can satisfy their appetite for revenge and clean their own name instead of keeping silence for the mistakes done.