A lot has been made of the uncharacteristic actions of the Swedish, British and US governments in relation to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Right now, UK military and police are laying siege to the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where Assange has been granted diplomatic asylum. Both the UK and US have declared that they don't recognize the principle of diplomatic asylum...even though they've offered it to others in the past.
Clearly, they want this guy. A lot. And they're willing to dispense with a considerable amount of well-established international nicety to get him.
I have no idea if the charges against Assange are true. If they are, he should be punished for them. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the siege in London and ongoing effort to bang up Julian Assange don't have anything at all to do with them.
True or false, is is obvious that they are a pretext. Three governments do not go to the lengths of violating international diplomatic protocols and surrounding an embassy with an armed encampment to incarcerate a rape suspect if that suspect is an ordinary person. So something odd and unique is going on here, evidently rooted in who Assange is, the threat WikiLeaks presents to state secrets, and the nature of information Assange may have in his possession.
Opinions on this controversy--at least, as expressed on that paragon of diverse opinion, the Intertubes--seem to fall mostly to extreme ideological poles: either Assange (and Bradley Manning, who allegedly leaked a substantial body of classified military and State Department material to Assange) should be summarily executed as a traitor and a national security threat, respectively, or they are Whistle Blowing Heroes of a Free Information Age Being Oppressed By The Man, and should be set free with the thanks of a grateful world and a showering of marijuana buds.Yesterday, Assange spoke publicly for the first time in more than two months, calling for the US to call off what he described as a "witch hunt" against WikiLeaks, and characterizing Manning, if he did as he is alleged to have done, as a "hero" and an "example to us all".
This is a complex situation, and both sides of the debate have some valid points. It's one of those moments when ideals collide with practicalities, and there are never simple answers at such times. So here goes: my take on the whole WikiLeaks/Assange/Manning mishegas.
The undisputed facts are these: Bradley Manning or someone else provided Assange with 250,000 United States diplomatic cables (of which more than 53% are unclassified, 40% "Confidential" and 6% "Secret"), plus 500,000 army reports that came to be known as the Iraq and Afghan War logs and other classified materials. Much of this has now been released--some of it redacted to try to keep the really incendiary parts out, but let's face it, it's hard to know what is dangerous information when you're not a member of the institution that created it.
I will not discuss Manning's guilt or innocence here, or his treatment while in custody. That is irrelevant to what I am writing about here. Prisoners should be treated humanely, period. But that has nothing to do with the fundamental question of whether or not what Manning is accused of is wrong.
Some of the revelations emerging from WikiLeaks' data dump of the leaked material have seriously embarrassed and hampered American diplomatic relations. Thousands of the military documents contained specifics about Afghans who had cooperated with US troops, giving names, locations, and ideological affiliations. It is certain that this has led at the least to intimidation of these Afghans and their families, and probably to violent reprisals. The Taliban has publicly said as much.
Release of at least some of this material also falls under a legitimate definition of whistle blowing. The so-called "Collateral Murder" helicopter video, for example, documents what is either a war crime or a tragic mistake. There isn't any legitimate basis for classifying something like that; it was done, obviously, because it's just easier to pretend the event didn't happen. That's not a valid rationale for classifying something. The American people have a right to know when those working on their behalf do something wrong.
More beyond the Koseonimbus