The US government can do no wrong…because it is the US government! But if it goes wrong, it cannot be questioned…because the boss is always right! So, if the global boss (as the US government perceives itself) goes wrong, who is WikiLeaks to leak like a child who hasn’t peed for ages?
Diplomatic cables are not overhead lines. They are dip-low-mat-ic lines. They are supposed to be underground cables. And that is the way they are supposed to stay. Nobody has any right to dig them up and bring them overground. They are not supposed to surface. The world is not supposed to know that they exist.
So, who is WikiLeaks to do that? Since WikiLeaks was born, it has been leaking like a child without warning. And, most of the time, its leaks have been untimely and embarrassing.
The US spends stacks of dollars on its propaganda machinery. It certainly cannot afford free publicity. The US is a celebrity nation and a celebrity has no private life. It is open to scrutiny by one and all – especially the paparazzi – even if the paparazzi come in the form of WikiLeaks. The damage has already been done – to the nations finding mention in the US diplomatic cables. And the entire US government is in damage control mode – not for other nations but for itself.
Right from the Secretary of State to petty officers, everybody is cautioning US government officials: “WikiLeaks has revealed what it should not have…so it is a sexual offence! Don’t look at it…don’t read anything…it is pure pornography!”
The US is an icon of democracy. In democracy, there is no room for transparency. Everything has to be a closely guarded secret. That is why secrets are stored away in the dark recesses of safe cable storage systems. The very institution of democracy depends on secrecy.
Besides, what the US government does is nobody’s business. After all, who is paying for all that? The US citizens, is it not? And, they are always with the US government – no matter what it does. So, no other nation needs to bother about all this because nobody is paying for it. This is the greatest charity project by the American people.
It is not the leak that the US government is concerned about. Today, all nations know their own weaknesses and the US can no longer use those weaknesses to push its subversive policies.
Whatever anyone says, one thing is for sure: WikiLeaks has changed the shape and colour of journalism forever.
Nobody knows where World War III will originate or when. But World War I of cyberspace is on. The US government may get friendly nations to charge the founder of WikiLeaks with whatever it likes and get American companies to withdraw their support to WikiLeaks. The US empire may strike back at WikiLeaks but the breed of “hactivists” this entire episode has generated is bound to strike again on behalf of WikiLeaks. At the receiving end could be anybody – from credit card companies to attorneys who represent US government interests to politicians and government sites.
In all this, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is red-faced. It is still wondering how WikiLeaks sneaked into cable territory.
Do we need WikiLeaks? Yes! Hundreds of them. Transparency is the touchstone of good governance. There is no place for secrecy in democracy. And it is only agencies like WikiLeaks that can ensure no government keeps its dark secrets to itself. Only transparency can offer a firm foundation for democracy. Hail to thee, blithe spirit of WikiLeaks!
And thank you, WikiLeaks, for the free service done to so many nations of the world.
