John Pilger: 50 People Who Matter 2010 | 23. Julian Assange

[kgnu_fan]

http://www.newstatesman.com/digital/2010/09/pilger-wikileaks-assange

50 People Who Matter 2010 | 23. Julian Assange

John Pilger


The arrival of WikiLeaks is one of the most exciting developments in the enduring struggle of ordinary people for the right to call secret power to account. This is what journalism should do.

<snip>

I have got to know Julian Assange, and what strikes me most about him is the unabashed morality he invests in WikiLeaks. It is unusual to hear the words: "The goal is justice, the method is transparency." He reminds me of one of our compatriots, Wilfred Burchett, the courageous reporter who incurred the wrath of the powerful by exposing the "atomic plague" of the Hiroshima bomb. Like Burchett, Assange has made some serious enemies for blowing such a loud whistle; the Pentagon has already threatened to "terminally marginalise" WikiLeaks. And this is his great risk and his honour.

I asked him what he had learned most from his glimpses of rampant power. "In one way or another I've been reading generals' emails since I was 17," he said (he is 39), "and what I see now is a vast, sprawling estate that is becoming more and more secretive and uncontrolled. "This is not a sophisticated conspiracy; it is a movement of self-interest to produce an end result that is Iraq and Afghanistan, which are used to wash money out of the US tax base and back to companies like Northrop Grumman and Raytheon." Another release of leaked documents is due soon.

I salute such principled audacity.

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. K and R. If Ellsberg... as that snake Kissinger said...

... was "the most dangerous man in America", Assange is the most dangerous man in the world.

I find that variety of "danger"...... enormously reassuring.

[kgnu_fan]

2. He is a brave man.

[kgnu_fan]

3. kick for the night, ....good night!!!

[EFerrari]

4. K&R

[ConsAreLiars]

5. K&R

[Dystopian]

6. KandR

peace~