THE LEAKING OF SECRET GOVERNMENT INFORMATION and plastering it all over the internet for the delectation of political nerds, as well as a country’s enemies (both of whom may benefit by the intelligence it gives them), may be seen by those who release such salacious material as an act representing the public good.
The cry of ‘the public interest’ has acted as an adrenalin rush for journalists throughout the ages. In a democracy such a war cry is almost without challenge; for where democracy exists there can be only one interest and that is that of the public: and if the politicians put forward another interest – that of the nation - those like the WikiLeakers pour scorn on such a notion by brandishing the 400,000 documents that, they say, renders the national interest an excuse for torture, dissembling and outright contempt for democracy.
In the by now, well matured age of 15 minutes of fame, the man from WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, is enjoying his moment. Having assembled around him a cornucopian array of the very best from liberal journalism, from the New York Times, the Guardian and the Independent (the natural allies of anything or anyone that attacks free market capitalism), Mr Assange has managed to ferment debate, and even invite on board those sections of conservative opinion that have an aversion to America, such as some of those writing for the Daily Mail.
WIKILEAKS LATEST disclosures will, I suggest, change very little the opinion of Great Britain. Whatever the West got up to in Iraq, the public, that great mass that so easily overpowers liberal sentiment in terms of their numbers, rightly concludes that in order to beat a ruthless enemy that lives so comfortably outside of the Geneva Convention, we must also depart from the convention’s ideals in order to defeat the greatest threat to Western democracy since Hitler: and in order to defeat this particular tyrant we need do what it is necessary to do; but was rightly needed to be done in secret, until, that is, WikiLeak credulously believed itself to be working in the public interest
During the Second World War we bombed German cities and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, and in so doing , at a loss of over 70,000 of our own pilots, we adopted the military strategy that our enemy at the time used against country after country in Europe. In so doing, did this turn us into fascists? Of course not. When a democracy is confronted by such a ruthless enemy then ruthlessness is a democracy’s only defence if it is to survive and overcome an enemy.
The Geneva Convention was signed up to by the Western democracies. Saddam Hussein however saw such a restriction as a challenge to his authority in Iraq; it was an insult. He ignored completely the Geneva convention regarding his own nation. He poured scorn upon the West through their embargos, until it was left with no other choice but to act militarily. For it mattered very little to Saddam how many of his people suffered, either under his own rule, or under the West’s attempts to liberate his people - his only concern was his own and his family’s survival.
WikiLeaks will do much damage to the Western democratic cause before they are finished. These ardent devotees of ‘the public interest’ will turn out to be the grave diggers of the very democratic structures (including the public interest) they seek to stand up for.
How far WikiLeaks has managed to undermine the West’s ability to overcome the Taliban by their release of such documents remains to be seen.
JULIAN ASSANGE is a 24 carat gold conspiracy theorist who has struck a rich seam of his favourite minerals of plots, schemes, connivance and torture. This son of a pair of 1960’s hippy radicals has brought in the mother lode. The self-regarding tribe of liberal opinion choreographed by the New York Times, the Guardian and Independent, as well as Channel4, have all been given priority access to the latest mother lode of some 400,000 documents, detailing the West’s crimes and failings.
Mr Assange seems to think that public opinion will turn against their leaders in whatever Western country his documents are released. If so Mr Assange lives in his own fantasy world of idealistic endeavour predicated upon a distrust and loathing of the materialism of the West – a mistrust no doubt shared by his parents and inculcated into the young and receptive mind of Julian Assange.
Unless the next batch out of the oven cooked up by Mr Assange finds evidence of the West’s involvement in genocide; knitting the same pattern of extinction as Hitler exemplified, then I believe, rightly, that the West must show a ruthlessness that our enemies respect when we engage with them.
If we try to live by example as our leaders (and it appears WikiLeaks insist we do), then our enemies will only take advantage of such an insipid approach and use it against us.
The Taliban live by their own rules and will not countenance any restriction by international bodies such as the United Nations or the Geneva Convention. Saddam Hussein also followed the same procedure when he was confronted by the international community without any comment from the likes of Mr Assange.
The best response to Mr Assange from our leaders, as well as 70 per cent of our press, is to ignore or congratulate the methods uncovered in the 400,000 documents released. For they show that we have Islamism, if not on the run, then at least using their methods to attain victory.
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