Thursday, December 2, 2010

My thoughts on the past week

It’s been an interesting week in the news, hasn’t it?

First North Korea bombed South Korea and South Korea responded in kind, indicating an escalation of tensions that seemed to foreshadow another major conflict.

And then it sort of...fizzled. Nothing much has been done or said in the past couple days.

And then WikiLeaks dumped onto its web site tons of classified communication between American diplomats all over the world, airing so-called dirty laundry that threatened to break apart years of careful diplomacy. Think about it...would you want your coworker to know all the terrible things you’ve said about her to your cube-mate when her back is turned?

I like to think I’m a nice person who doesn’t do that kind of stuff, but let’s face it. We all do it. And I, for one, would rather maintain that semi-professional, good-natured relationship with ALL my coworkers, regardless of my opinions on their clothes or work ethics.

In this country, many leaders of the Republican persuasion were up in arms as soon as news of the leak came out, blasting the Democrats for letting this happen, claiming treason, etc. It almost felt like they were expecting this to turn into a big Freedom of Speech/Civil Rights debate, during which the Democrats (those devils!!) would stand up for WikiLeaks and all the damage that site has done on the basis of Bill of Rights principles.

And then that...didn’t happen. Turns out, the Democrats are just as upset by WikiLeaks as the Republicans, and with good reason. And here’s why.

In the first place, we need to be clear on one thing. The acts by WikiLeaks (as lead by Julian Assange) are no more treason than was the bombing of South Korea by North Korea because Assange is not a United States citizen, and the site itself is hosted all over the world (mainly in Iceland). Treason is defined as an act committed against one’s own state or country, so treason rules do not apply here.

That said, the airing of all these diplomatic secrets was a heinous act of espionage committed by a self-proclaimed anarchist who has gone on the record stating that he wants to “bring down many administrations that rely on concealing reality - including the US administration.” (New Yorker's Profile of Julian Assange) The man is out to do some damage.

And it seems that, since everyone agrees that this was a terrible thing to do, they seem to be, if not turning a blind eye, at least taking everything they read with a giant grain of salt. After reading descriptions of the French President, Nicolas Sarcozy, that paint him as hyperactive and surrounding himself with yes-men, the French Foreign Minister simply called the posting of the documents “totally irresponsible.”

My guess regarding this downplayed international response is that it's everyone in the highest offices of government knows that, if their countries’ most secret communications were laid out for public consumption, it would come to light that THEY ALL SAY THE SAME THINGS.

Come ON, do you think other country’s top diplomats weren’t mocking GW, and don’t currently have choice comments about President Obama? You know it happens.

Still, this whole debacle has the feel of a spy novel to me. Tuesday, it was announced that Interpol has placed Assange on its Most Wanted list due to...wait for it...sex crimes! What? You can’t convince me that this isn’t trumped up just to get this dude into custody and get him off our streets and computers.

And while I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly, I just hope it’s done legally and reasonably so he doesn’t wind up back out on the streets after a slap on the wrists. I think some major espionage crimes have been committed here...they should not go unpunished.

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