“I absolutely condemn the placement of this information on the WikiLeaks website – it’s a grossly irresponsible thing to do and an illegal thing to do.”

14 Responses to “I absolutely condemn the placement of this information on the WikiLeaks website – it’s a grossly irresponsible thing to do and an illegal thing to do.”

1. Entdinglichung says:

   December 7, 2010 at 11:23 pm

   have you read this piece: http://contested-terrain.net/wikileaks-and-the-conspiracy-theory-of-history/ ?
2. Piltdown says:

   December 7, 2010 at 11:30 pm

   Only condoms will save you from the full force of American Power. Just ask Mr Hoover.
3. inglourious_basterd says:

   December 7, 2010 at 11:36 pm

   Sorry to dare argue with a lawyer but someone tell Julia, it isn’t illegal. The word she is looking for may be “illicit” but government info like that belongs in the public domain anyway.
4. @ndy says:

   December 7, 2010 at 11:46 pm

   @Entdinglichung:

   Hmmm… as one of the commentators on Doug Henwood’s blog writes:

   Geez, Doug. I knew you were naïve but this is too much even for you! Obviously WikiLeaks is an elaborate false flag operation run by the Illjewminati. Diplomats don’t even really file cables anyway; they send telepathic telegrams c/o their local Masonic lodge.

   Or: conspiracist theories are highly resistant to rational discussion, so I dunno if it makes much difference; I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to suggest the leaks constitute ‘proof’ in any case, rather another available source of evidence for anyone capable of accessing it.

   @Piltdown:

   Huh. I thought that was an Untouchables original. This song makes me happy:

   @inglourious_basterd:

   I think Joolya was wearing her Prime Ministerial hat rather than her law-talking gal wig at the time she uttered these immortal lines. Besides… I’m sure the US could find a law to hit Assange over the head with. Also: Free Bradley!
5. Big (A)//Little (a) says:

   December 8, 2010 at 12:13 am

   WikiLeaks as well as reeking of COINTELPRO-style counter-intelligence doesn’t really have too many revelatory leaks. The war atrocities committed by Coalition troops has been well covered by the Middle Eastern and independent media outlets but we only think they are worth their salt when WikiLeaks shows them to us.

   I am no conspiracy nutbag but I would like to know why the fuck Assange seems to not publish any material that shows Israel up for being a run-amok terrorist state which has an agenda of supporting and participating in the destabilisation of governments of neighbouring nations to ensure their own safety.
6. @ndy says:

   December 8, 2010 at 2:57 am

   Joolya retreats:

   “…But in Australia yesterday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard backed away from her comment of late last week that the actions of Mr Assange and WikiLeaks were ”illegal”.

   When asked what, under Australian law, was illegal about his actions, she was unable to nominate anything. ”The foundation stone of it is an illegal act,” Ms Gillard said. The ”foundation stone” was the initial theft of the cables – allegedly committed by a US army private – and not the publication by WikiLeaks.

   ”It would not happen, information would not be on WikiLeaks, if there had not been an illegal act undertaken,” Ms Gillard said.

   The opposition’s legal affairs spokesman, George Brandis, later called Ms Gillard’s use of language clumsy. ”As far as I can see, he [Mr Assange] hasn’t broken any Australian law, nor does it appear he has broken any American laws,” he told Sky News.”
7. @ndy says:

   December 8, 2010 at 3:22 am

   @Big (A)//Little (a):

   COINTELPRO? I don’t think so: a different kettle of fish to leaked US Embassy cables. Of which, it’s worth remembering, there are 250,000+… which is a lot, and a lot to process. That aside, the cables aren’t primarily of interest for the stunning revelations they contain, I think, as they are for confirming what was already widely known but officially denied. Regarding US war atrocities… I’m not sure I agree. To me it appears that there was already widespread disgust: I dunno of many whose reaction was only triggered by WikiLeaks.

   Two more things: Assange is the public face of WikiLeaks, but not the only person responsible for its operation. Further, I’m not convinced he has any particular commitment to protecting Israel’s (already-tattered) reputation as a Good state. In other words, what material is published, and when, is not necessarily a straightforward question. Otherwise, The Guardian has blah on the cables on Israel; Loewenstein and Fisk are always useful sauces for further disco.
8. modernity says:

   December 8, 2010 at 11:18 am

   @ndy,

   I hope you’ll be doing more coverage on these issues, it would be nice to get a perspective from down under

   Julian Assange is currently stuck in Wandsworth nick, and could be there for sometime, might be an idea to send him some reading material!
9. @ndy says:

   December 8, 2010 at 11:34 am

   Loads of locals have signed the following, and there’s rallies being organised in support of Assange. In Melbourne the first takes place this Friday arvo:

   Time 10 December · 16:30 – 19:30
   Location State Library Lawns

   Julian Assange has just been arrested in London. JOIN THE PROTEST to Defend Assange and WikiLeaks on Human Rights Day in Melbourne, this Friday December 10, 4.30pm at the State Library.

   Spread the word…

   The demonstration will go till about 6 or so – so people should come after work.

   The letter has generated a ridiculous number of comments (4,000+) and there’s intense interest in Assange’s case, for all sortsa reasons. The HoWARd Government’s abandonment of Aussies to the tender mercies of the Bu$h regime I think forms part of the background story, and Joolya’s previous remarks–which she has now contradicted–are certainly fully in accord with US prerogatives, as expressed by both officialdom and/in corporate media. In which context, there are domestic political concerns as well as national and international legal issues.

   It’s a v tricky situation all-round LOL.

   Dear Prime Minister,

   We note with concern the increasingly violent rhetoric directed towards Julian Assange of WikiLeaks.

   “We should treat Mr Assange the same way as other high-value terrorist targets: Kill him,” writes conservative columnist Jeffrey T Kuhner in the Washington Times.

   William Kristol, former chief of staff to vice president Dan Quayle, asks, “Why can’t we use our various assets to harass, snatch or neutralize Julian Assange and his collaborators, wherever they are?”

   “Why isn’t Julian Assange dead?” writes the prominent US pundit Jonah Goldberg.

   “The CIA should have already killed Julian Assange,” says John Hawkins on the Right Wing News site.

   Sarah Palin, a likely presidential candidate, compares Assange to an Al Qaeda leader; Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania senator and potential presidential contender, accuses Assange of “terrorism”.

   And so on and so forth.

   Such calls cannot be dismissed as bluster. Over the last decade, we have seen the normalisation of extrajudicial measures once unthinkable, from ‘extraordinary rendition’ (kidnapping) to ‘enhanced interrogation’ (torture).

   In that context, we now have grave concerns for Mr Assange’s wellbeing.

   Irrespective of the political controversies surrounding WikiLeaks, Mr Assange remains entitled to conduct his affairs in safety, and to receive procedural fairness in any legal proceedings against him.

   As is well known, Mr Assange is an Australian citizen.

   We therefore call upon you to condemn, on behalf of the Australian Government, calls for physical harm to be inflicted upon Mr Assange, and to state publicly that you will ensure Mr Assange receives the rights and protections to which he is entitled, irrespective of whether the unlawful threats against him come from individuals or states.

   We urge you to confirm publicly Australia’s commitment to freedom of political communication; to refrain from cancelling Mr Assange’s passport, in the absence of clear proof that such a step is warranted; to provide assistance and advocacy to Mr Assange; and do everything in your power to ensure that any legal proceedings taken against him comply fully with the principles of law and procedural fairness.

   A statement by you to this effect should not be controversial – it is a simple commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law.

   We believe this case represents something of a watershed, with implications that extend beyond Mr Assange and WikiLeaks. In many parts of the globe, death threats routinely silence those who would publish or disseminate controversial material. If these incitements to violence against Mr Assange, a recipient of Amnesty International’s Media Award, are allowed to stand, a disturbing new precedent will have been established in the English-speaking world.

   In this crucial time, a strong statement by you and your Government can make an important difference.

   We look forward to your response.
10. @ndy says:

    December 8, 2010 at 11:59 am

    In another spotterly, nutzi note, Unkle Fred (Töben) weighed in last month on the Zoggy nature of WikiLeaks, drawing attention to the fact that the site’s publication of hacked B&H material lead to the outing of a local nutzi called Nicole Hanley, who subsequently lost her job with French arms dealer Thales:

    “When last year Wikileaks exposed a so-called extreme right-wing ‘Nazi’ working for an Australian Defence Force contractor, I smelled a rat. The woman involved, of course, lost her job.”

    mycatbirdseat.com/2010/11/wikileaks-is-zionist-poison/comment-page-1/#comment-7240

    Hanley posts on Stormfront as BlueEyedBlonde, where most recently she’s been promoting the tour Down Under of Canadian Holocaust denialist Paul Fromm, scheduled to yadda yadda yadda in Melbourne this Saturday. She’s also been involved in promoting the Australia First Party’s annual Sydney Forum (which Fromm was originally invited to address) and Volksfront Australia (her unflattering comments about B&H as they appeared in the leaked material making her an unwelcome presence among them and the Hammerskins).
11. @ndy says:

    December 8, 2010 at 12:56 pm

    What Has Really Been Disclosed?
    James O’Neill
    newmatilda.com
    December 8, 2010

    …Arising from the latest Wikileaks documents however are three other topics, among many other[s], that are worthy of comment and reflection but which are barely present in mainstream coverage. They should have been scrutinized more closely and their implications discussed more fully. Two of those three are disturbingly similar.

    In 2003 a German citizen by the name of Khalid El-Masri was kidnapped while on holiday in Macedonia. He was taken to Morocco by CIA agents where he was tortured on behalf of the US government. He was then flown via Baghdad to Afghanistan on a so-called “rendition flight” that had originated in Spain. There, El-Masri was held incommunicado, tortured, subjected to experimental drugs, and subjected to prolonged stress amounting to inhuman treatment.

    The Americans eventually realised that he was who he had always said he was, an innocent victim of mistaken identity. They were reluctant to release him, despite instructions to do so from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice because “he knew too much”. At Rice’s apparent insistence he was eventually released, but instead of being returned to Germany was dumped on a roadside in Albania…

    The Wikileaks cables record an extraordinary, large scale and co-ordinated effort by the US State Department, senior politicians, and the US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to obstruct the criminal investigation. The Spanish authorities were warned by the Americans that the investigations would “be misunderstood” and would harm bilateral relations. US diplomats sought out and communicated directly with Spanish judges and prosecutors in an attempt to steer the investigation into “friendlier hands.”

    4chan-based group ‘Anonymous’ targets PayPal to support WikiLeaks
    Ryan Fleming
    Digital Trends
    December 7, 2010

    The hacker website has begun to organize its members, known collectively as Anonymous, in an effort to prevent “the oppressive future which looms ahead.” The “Operation Avenge Assange” will consist of a series of Internet attacks that have begun with PayPal.

    Julian Assange is a man who has made enemies. The editor-in-chief and creator of WikiLeaks is fighting battles on all fronts: legally, financial, personally and professionally, and even now sits in a jail in England following his arrest earlier today, after Sweden issued an arrest warrant for four charges of sexual offences, including one of rape. But Assange is not without his allies, either. One of the potentially more powerful groups to throw in its support is the website 4chan, and its collect members that are known as Anonymous, who have begun what they call “Operation Avenge Assange”.

    Operation Avenge Assange is a systematic attack that will target groups that Anonymous has deemed to have essentially treated Assange unfairly. The first target on the list is PayPal, and the site reports that the cyber attacks have already begun…

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13. @ndy says:

    December 8, 2010 at 1:57 pm

    O’Neill is a Troofer too! 3:45+…

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