If you haven’t heard of wikileaks yet, you will–soon. Or maybe you will see Wikileaks on the front page of the paper. Either way, there is no avoiding the revolution that has spawned by Jullian Assange and his brainchild organization. The computer hacker turned activist is slowly embarassing every potty-mouthed diplomat by a very simple means: exposing what the US says about their ‘friends’ behind closed doors, and putting it on the internet for everyone to see. Where Hilary Clinton first said there will be no harm to US International relations… the US has now admitted there has been ‘substantial damage’.
Enjoy this post, I doubt there will be another such a monumental event for a long time, that is, unless (of course) the world ends in 2012 (haha). Let’s begin, shall we?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks
There are great documentaries (which I will link) and much more informative sites (Wikipedia comes to mind) so I will minimize the basic questions: what and when, and move more into my personal views on the topic. An interested reader will continue to research and truly unravel how amazing this website is, but I will just give some basics to make the read make more sense.
Wikileaks is a volunteer organization that receives anonymously submitted material that people don’t want out in the open. And then they take that material and put it out in the open. You could imagine leaking this information would have a substantial effects on shady operations: Corrupt governments, corrupt businesses, etc. It is said that a certain Wikileaks release about corruption in the Kenyan government swayed the upcoming federal election by 10%, ultimately changing the leader of the country. But who is in the crosshairs this time? The United States Government
((The video that initially launched Wikileaks into stardom
It shows the US military gunning down civilians, and 2 Reuters journalists))
Now I have nothing against our greatest ally, and our neighbor to the South. I don’t follow in the usual Canadian trend of trying to bash Americans and the ‘evil’ US. However, I’m 100% for watching politicians squirm in their seat under (for once, finally) the scrutiny of the public eye. This most recent release was hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables (messages between embassies and the US). And boy, does it make for a great read. (It has been cleverly dubbed ‘Cablegate’
At this point I’m going to get into why this leak is so important and move away background information that is circling around the internet for anyone adept with Google.
The world needs this leak. Why? Because media isn’t doing the trick. The internet remains the single-handed greatest information tool at the world’s disposal but still too many people base their opinion around ‘Bill O Reiley’ and other poor sources of information. What happens when people watch T.V. and everyone is fed the same news stories? A collective consciousness rises out of it, one that is ultimately controlled by journalists whose main concern is not going out of business (print media is dying at an alarming rate). So how do you keep the people interested? You keep them entertained.
When people watch the news about Sarah Palin’s daughter being on Dancing With The Stars…. and it gets a segment that’s several minutes long… Well, it makes me scratch my head. Juxtapose that, if you will, with reading legit, straight off the press diplomatic cables from politicians all over the world. Compare American Idol contestants with reading for yourself the very words of the politicians who act ‘in the interest of the people’. How can someone speak for the people without letting the people know what they are saying?
And that’s why we need Wikileaks.
Diplomatic cables about the Iraq War, Afghan War, and now tales of international relations: the public finally gets the truth. But it isn’t going to stop there. In this age of new media, everyone can be held accountable. Julian Assange’s next target: an American bank (he declines to say which in particular). The beautiful thing, and the scary thing, is that everyone can now be held accountable. The secret to Wikileaks success lies in the model of their operation.
Wikileaks is run by volunteers. Wikileaks accepts no corporate donations, only donations from the public (which can be made through their website). Everytime Wikileaks gets publicity more people send in leaks. The thing about these ‘whistleblowers’ as they are called, is that they are highly motivated people. They will get around security systems put intact by companies because they want the atrocities of the world to be seen. The demand for the leaks will only increase as the supply increases.
((A great TED Talk ‘Why The World Needs Wikileaks’))
But what about the authorities? It is true that most countries, well to be more specific, the politicians of the countries are not happy about Wikileaks (who would want to be embarassed like that?) and so naturally you would think Julian Assange would be imprisoned by now. Well rest assured, they are trying, especially the US government. I’m sure by the time anyone reads this the circumstances surrounding Julian Assange being in hiding would have completely changed, so my suggestion is just to Google News it. The beauty of it all is that Julian Assange is replaceable.
Wikileaks will continue on without their ‘spokesman’. The real life Jason Bourne is one of a kind, but the fact is, the organization can live on without him. I’m pretty certain he is either going to be assassinated or imprisoned, but the security system he has put in place (he was made famous initially for being a world-class hacker) will live on. The ‘sources’ will not be exposed (hopefully). Which leaves us with one question…. What now?
((An unbelievable 20 minute short on Wikileaks))
If Wikileaks continues like this, what’s going to happen? When I first heard Wikileaks was going to release these diplomatic cables I updated my facebook status to ‘Wikileaks has just flipped the world on it’s head’. Now with the media storm that has followed, I can safely say it did come true. But is it for the better? I think yes, but I am fearful. The repercussions of the leaks and the political fall out is still yet to be determined. And perhaps even the nuclear fallout. To be honest, part of me can see Julian Assange’s face in a history book 40 years in the future as he is explained as the person who was the catalyst for wars in the Middle East.
Only time will tell what happens and the effects it will have on the world. But one thing is for sure: the cat is out of the bag and we are living through one of the most interesting and exciting stories of all time.
Here are some links for your viewing experience:
http://news.google.ca/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn
<--- This is a link to the latest Google News... as of writing (Dec 2) Wikileaks is on the front page in three separate stories
<--- Wikileaks.org, where the magic happens **Main site is now down, read the update below for fresh urls**
Wikileaks Twitter
UPDATE 10.02 P.M, Dec 2.:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/11/29/f-vp-stewart.html#ixzz16t4BCo4M
((The real question: Who will trust Washington ever again?))
Wikileaks has rocked the world. That is an interesting header for a news story
UPDATE: 12.32 P.M, Dec 3:
Wikileaks main url is now down. You can access wikileaks through the following domains:
http://wikileaks.de
http://wikileaks.fi
http://wikileaks.nl