Yang jelas Wikileaks sudah melahirkan Openleaks, Indoleaks, Balkanleaks dan BrusselsLeaks
--- In [email protected], "sunny" <am...@...> wrote: > > http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\13\story_13-12-2010_pg3_4 > Monday, December 13, 2010 > > ANALYSIS: Julian Assange: a hero or a villain? -S P Seth > > Why are the US and its partners so exercised over something they always > claim to favour and espouse all over the world? Which is: transparency and > freedom to disseminate information > > > > WikiLeaks will, most likely, end up as a dreaded word in the annals of > diplomatic history. Nothing like this has happened before on such a scale. > The disclosure of these American diplomatic cables, with comments on > personalities, politics and policies of countries doing business with the US, > provides a rare insight into global politics, albeit with an American bias. > > The Australian founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, is regarded either as a > hero or a monstrous villain (depending on one's viewpoint) for upsetting the > staid diplomatic applecart by blowing the whistle. The Americans - across the > political spectrum - are baying for his blood for baring their diplomatic > cupboard for all and sundry to see. And, believe me, it is not a pretty sight. > > Coincidentally or otherwise, he is up against warrants for his arrest on > charges of raping two Swedish women while in Sweden, where he had set up his > WikiLeaks offices; hoping that he would have a more empathetic establishment > in that country. Even Interpol was alerted to his alleged crime. The British > have now got him and he is in their lock up. He will now face proceedings for > extradition to Sweden. > > Indeed, earlier charges against him on this count had been dropped in Sweden > for want of evidence. The question then is: why has the rape charge been > raked up again? It certainly seems too fortuitous to be taken at face value. > It is true that Assange had sexual encounters with the women in question, and > he has reportedly admitted it. But this was consensual. The only disputed > element is whether or not he used protection under the Swedish law. It is all > a murky area, having become so entangled with the WikiLeaks affair. Assange > contends that he is being framed to shut him up. > > The question then is: are the Swedish authorities doing the US's dirty work? > There are no easy answers to this. But in view of the fortuitous nature of > the two (rape charges and WikiLeaks), the suspicion is likely to persist. At > the same time, the US has been busy pressuring internet servers to deny > WikiLeaks its links. Some of the prominent ones have already done it. The US > is also examining all its legal books to nab him on spying, treason, > terrorism and whatever else they can throw at him. > > Why are the US and its partners so exercised over something they always claim > to favour and espouse all over the world? Which is: transparency and freedom > to disseminate information. When WikiLeaks decided to exercise this right, > all hell broke loose led by the country (the US) in the forefront of > spreading democracy. The US response has been three-fold. First, Secretary of > State Hillary Clinton blasted the disclosure and dissemination of US cables > not only for the damage it is doing to the US but to the world too. She > described it as an "attack on the international community". At the second > level, the US attorney general is examining US laws to throw the book at > Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks organisation to snuff them out for all times > - a Herculean and probably impossible talk in today's internet world, even in > the country of its origin. The third, and the most sober response has come > from the US Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates. He disagreed with those who > described "the impact of these releases on our foreign policy...as a > meltdown, as a game-changer, and so on". In his view, "those descriptions are > fairly significantly overwrought". > > He said that the US's relations with rest of the world were not based on > whether it was good at keeping secrets. Elaborating, he said, "Some > governments deal with us because they fear us, some because they respect us, > most because they need us." And, he maintained, "We are still, > essentially...the indispensable nation." > > Gates did not deny that the dumping of such information was embarrassing and > awkward. But, in his view, its consequences for US foreign policy will be > "fairly modest". Why, then, is the US establishment generally so > "overwrought", to use Gates' words in another context? Or is this a case of > good cop and bad cop routine within the US establishment, with Gates trying > to underplay the damage? Whatever it is, Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks > have exposed the netherworld of diplomatic interaction where politics and > perceived national interests trump everything else. > > In the meantime, all the governments in the world that have featured in the > leaked cables are trying to deal with it by denying their unsavoury contents > or pretending to ignore them. Not surprisingly then, the Pakistani government > too has denied and dismissed the contents of the cables relating to its > nuclear policy and the risks from it as well as the perceived involvement of > the ISI with the Taliban. > > Here in Australia, the former prime minister (now foreign minister), Kevin > Rudd, has come out as a 'control freak', full of self-importance, and hence > lacking in diplomatic skills. Rudd is trying to deal with it by the usual > bravado of not caring for it. At the same time, Australian Prime Minister > Julia Gillard slammed her countryman for the illegal act of dumping all those > cables, without any reference to the law(s) Assange was breaching. Again, > this is not unusual because Australia is prone to follow the United States > unthinkingly. > > Julian Assange might have to pay a heavy personal price for his audacity > (President Barack Obama's famous word), but he has let the proverbial cat > among the pigeons to unfold the high drama of international diplomacy. > > The writer is a senior journalist and academic based in Sydney, Australia. He > can be reached at sushilps...@... > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! 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