Wikileaks: truth is not treason

“There is no such crime, no such cunning, no such deception, no such fraud or vice that would not exist due to secrecy.”

Joseph Pulitzer [1].

At approximately 6 o'clock on Wednesday, Amazon disconnected wikileaks.org from its servers after the US Homeland Security Committee subjected it to massive and aggressive pressure. This was preceded by three intense days of “cablegate” [2], the largest information leak in history. In the coming months, 251,287 messages from more than 250 US embassies and consulates will slowly but inevitably be published. Among these materials are allegations of corruption, concealment of secret agreements between US and British officials; Dirty secrets are exposed for all to see. Politicians, diplomats and corporations around the world now tremble: will they be next?

International reaction suggests that the consequences of Cablegate will be significant. Wikileaks is changing the world without waiting for an invitation, and the political establishment does not approve of this. All over the world, a witch hunt is in full swing in the person of Julian Assange, one of the founders of the Wikileaks resource and its main representative. Prominent American politicians say Assange needs to be “ hunted ” and “ punished ”; they want him to be extradited and tried under the American espionage law passed in 1917, during the “Red Scare”, when there was a fight against socialists and pacifists . “Obama needs to order <Assange's removal>; it might require a pilotless aircraft or something,” said Professor Tom Flanagan , a former adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. And in France, the birthplace of the Enlightenment, Wikileaks was called a “ threat to democracy .”

Even David Cameron, a devout supporter of the “new politics,” sharply condemned Wikileaks and its participation in Cablegate. “We condemn the unauthorized publication of classified information,” his spokesman said Monday. “Governments need the ability to act in confidence when it comes to this type of information.” But just 10 months ago, in February, Cameron publicly declared his commitment to the idea of ​​open government and transparency. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” he said at the time.

True, in February Cameron was not yet prime minister. He then portrayed a fresh candidate with progressive views - an alternative to an ugly political past. He could afford to rant about such unheard-of things as “open government” and “transparency”, because it was still impossible to check what he would be like in this field. He could tell the audience what it wanted to hear, and then, upon taking office, abandon these ideas - the oldest technique in world practice. His position in relation to “cablegate” indicates that he did exactly that with the principle of “transparency,” and quite openly.

Cameron's Cablegate strategy so far has been one of avoidance and denial. "We will not go into detail regarding these documents," his spokesman said. Instead, the Prime Minister traveled to Zurich with David Beckham and Prince William to submit a bid to host the 2018 World Cup. But he will not be able to avoid the obsessive reality for long and ignore this revelation. According to the correspondence published so far, British officials not only promised to protect US interests during the “Iraq investigation”, but also struck a deal with the US under which America would be able to store cluster bombs in Britain, despite the fact that Gordon Brown signed a ban on cluster bombs. ammunition. It says that the issue of cluster bombs was deliberately hidden from Parliament and that Foreign Secretary David Miliband approved it.

Naturally, all this raises serious questions about the decaying culture of behind-the-scenes democracy that is widespread throughout the Western world and in which Britain plays a vital part. Those who criticize Wikileaks argue that diplomatic secrecy is fully justified and necessary in some cases - but not when it serves as a breeding ground for the spread of “government corruption,” as Assange called it.

The main problem is that this "government corruption" extends so far. It has been ingrained in the political class at the genetic level for generations; This is the reason why top-level politicians everywhere resist the idea of ​​full transparency that Wikileaks advocates.

At the same time, politicians and other powers that be, eager for reprisals against Assange, hastily forgot that he was just a representative of the organization. He is the human face of Wikileaks, a strong, courageous and highly principled individual. He resolutely and uncompromisingly seeks truth and justice, and this is very commendable. Even if they hang and quarter Assange, Wikileaks will still live and even thrive. “You can kill a person, but you cannot kill an idea,” human rights activist Medgar Evers once said.

And the idea is exactly what Wikileaks has become. This is no longer just a website - it is a pure expression of democratic ideals; it is a worldview realized through the power of technology. The authorities may condemn Wikileaks and try to suppress it; the situation has long been out of their control. Thanks to the Internet, a new space for struggle has emerged. All traditions are now in doubt. The bets are in.

[1] "There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not atrick, there is not a swindle, there is not a vice which does not live bysecrecy".

Joseph Pulitzer (1847 – 1911) – American journalist and publisher. He led an energetic fight against corruption. He is considered the founder of the yellow press.

[2] The word “cablegate” passed into the Russian-language media from the English-language ones (“Cablegate” from the English “cable” - telegram); This is how they began to call the scandal that erupted due to the fact that Wikileaks published secret correspondence.