For anyone who has been following recent events involving Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange, it should be crystal clear that all the rhetoric in support of internet freedom by western democratic governments has been largely empty opportunistic propaganda.
Wikileaks has been systematically releasing documents that expose secret, highly embarrassing, and almost certainly illegal activities on the part of various U.S. government agencies, most recently the U.S. State Department.
Secretary of State Clinton spoke movingly about the critical need for internet freedom back in January:
Some countries have erected electronic barriers that prevent their people from accessing portions of the world’s networks. They’ve expunged words, names, and phrases from search engine results. They have violated the privacy of citizens who engage in non-violent political speech. These actions contravene the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which tells us that all people have the right “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” With the spread of these restrictive practices, a new information curtain is descending across much of the world. And beyond this partition, viral videos and blog posts are becoming the samizdat of our day.
Of course, when you look beyond the words, the U.S. government views personal privacy as nothing more than a nuisance, but more importantly, all the lofty talk about internet freedom flies out the window if the U.S. is the target of unflattering information. Here is what Ms Clinton had to say about the recent Wikileaks document dump:
Addressing a press conference after holding a tripartite Foreign Minster-level meeting with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Washington on Monday, she said “the illegal publication of classified information poses real concerns and even potential damage to our friends and partners around the world.”
Suddenly, instead of free speech, she refers to it as illegal publication.
The shallow, self-serving rhetoric of politicians is one thing, but the current crusade has clearly gone beyond talk. Wikileaks is now reporting daily onslaught of challenges posed by everyone from foreign governments to commercial enterprises trying to distance themselves from Wikileaks so as to not be caught in the blast radius of governmental retaliation. The U.S. government has not admitted to being a part of the war against Wikileaks and Assange, but does anyone really expect them to? If anything is clear from the leaked documents (and history in general), the U.S. government does not feel any obligation to explain itself nor does it feel bound by law. In other words, while Mr Assange is forced to play by the rules, there are no rules for the government that is out to get him.
Speculation, based on past events, is that the U.S. government has pressured other governments as well as various financial and network service providers to stop doing business with Wikileaks. And commercial enterprises in the U.S. routinely cave in to governmental intimidation regardless of the legality of the requests. Furthermore, the sex charges against Mr Assange originating in Sweden don’t seem to pass the smell test.
Attorney Ron Kuby, appearing on FBN’s Freedom Watch, essentially gives Assange zero chances of avoiding extradition, first to Sweden, and then to the U.S. I think he’s right, although I hope he’s wrong. As NKVD head Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria told Stalin:
“Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.”
Although the U.S. has yet to identify any U.S. laws that have been violated, the information made public by Assange and Wikileaks is so embarrassing to the U.S., that there is virtually no way they can permit it to go on. In a mood of panic, a number of U.S. political leaders have called for the prosecution of Assange under the 1917 espionage act while others have advocated his summary execution. He will be taken down regardless of legality and we will never know the behind-the-scenes details unless they are divulged by some future whistle-blower.
Obama promised to bring transparency to government, but broke that promise. Julian Assange made that promise and kept it. Real democracy cannot exist in a nation where the government is so secretive and arrogant that it doesn’t even feel obliged to inform its citizens of military attacks on other countries, but instead orchestrates an intentional campaign of deceit.
Deception and secrecy are the enemies of democracy and the free flow of information is its friend. When it comes to the matter of Wikileaks versus the U.S. government, Wikileaks holds the moral high ground and Mr Assange wears the white hat. And yet, if you’re a U.S. citizen, your government is about to crush him in your name.
On a final ironic note, The U.S. will play host to the UN’s World Press Freedom Day in 2011. Of course, it really doesn’t matter. It’s just all for show anyway. Free speech and a free press is government’s worst enemy and no one knows that more than government.
Bronx school teacher, Melissa Petro gave an interview to 
