In this era, Americans have been “blessed” by having a number of men who have taken it upon themselves to save the citizens of the United States from their intrusive government. One of them, Bradley Manning, is incarcerated and being tried by the American military. He was a soldier when he transmitted classified information to Wikileaks, disregarding its effect on the nation’s security and the fact that he might be putting American citizens and foreign operatives of the US at risk. Manning did not have the opportunity to escape to a nation with whom America has an adversarial relationship.
Two of the major “transparency messiahs,” Julian Assange and Edward Snowden have made certain that they will not be subject to the law for any of their actions, Assange by entering the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and Snowden by flying to Moscow from Hong Kong and from there most likely to another country that will not extradite him to the US.
If these two men were truly interested in promoting freedom and transparency in government, one might ask why their focus has been primarily on America and Western democracies. While the governments of these nations certainly have not been transparent and completely forthcoming about their activities and the release of information to their citizens, they do not compare with pseudo-democracies like Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and so forth, in terms of suppression of information and restriction of freedom. And autocracies like China and Cuba are even more opaque on the release of information and limiting the freedom of their citizens. Why didn’t Assange and Wikileaks concentrate on these other countries with their hacking, with less attention to America and the Western democracies?
Could it be that they were courting publicity from the media in the US and the West and wanted to be seen as saviors of the democratic system? And if they damaged the security of the US and other countries and put people’s lives at risk, so what? They saw themselves as above the law,
self-appointed messiahs able to make policy decisions over and above the elected officials of these nations.
Assange now has two separate legal issues to deal with. Though not an American citizen, he may have broken US laws in stealing classified information and may be considered “wanted” by the US
justice system. But first he needs to face the courts in Sweden where he has been accused by two women of sexual abuse and possible rape. Again, Assange sees himself as above the law and has been unwilling to return to Sweden to face his accusers and a possible trial. This coward claims he is worried about extradition to the US from Sweden and that is why he refuses to fight the sexual charges there. Interestingly, one of Assange’s supporters put up a considerable sum of money to allow Assange to remain free in Britain while he contested extradition to Sweden. His supporter subsequently forfeited his money when Assange entered the Ecuadorian Embassy and was granted asylum there. This in itself is a statement about Assange’s character. Currently, he remains holed up in the Embassy, issuing commentaries about various subjects but afraid to face the music in Sweden.
Snowden flew from Hong Kong, apparently with the blessing of Beijing, to Moscow, where he now appears to be located. It is believed he wishes to find asylum in either Cuba or Ecuador, if Putin
does not decide to block his flight which seems increasingly unlikely. But look at the countries that Snowden has chosen for protection. Russia, Cuba, Ecuador. Ecuador, under President Correa, has passed laws that restrict press freedom and freedom of speech, and has moved in the direction of becoming an autocratic state.
The actions by Assange and Snowden confirm their willingness to challenge and damage democratic states, but reluctance to vigorously attack autocratic regimes that limit freedoms to a
much greater degree. A bit of hypocrisy here, wouldn’t you say? And those people in the Wikileaks movement who support Assange and Snowden as the messiahs of transparency are naïve to say the least. Assange particularly should be seen as a self-important cad and a coward.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevine
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020