Apart from his moral weaknesses, if there are any, one has to commend the bold and committed efforts of Julian Assange to bring hidden records of contemporary history into public view. There is no reason why there should not be transparecy in international diplomatic dealings. The days of the court historians distorting facts and making the rulers and their servants look like saint are gone. The people have a right to know what their so called leaders are doing and saying.
Costant monitoring of the goings on in the corridors of power by honest and sensible intellectuals is a must as we know from the experience of twentieth century wars that any industrialized democratic contry has the potential of turning into Nazi Germany given bad rulers and controlled media.
The sudden appearance of a whole set of criminanal offences by Julian Assange and the swift action of international legal authorities is obviously suspicious. It does not cost much to avail the services of a Desire Washington.
The concerted action of governments to deny the basic huamn right of information is a criminal conspiracy to say the least. It is a pity that the most professed champions of freedom of speech buckle so easily under pressure from a super power.
The reaction to WikiLeaks is far more revealing than the leaks themselves. There is an Urdu saying "iss hammam mein sub nangay" which means that everyone in this bath is naked. It seems to apply quite adroitly to the world's political and diplomatic community. They are all enraged rather than ashamed by the leaks. Perhaps the ill actions will continue until the next elections.
I hope that this controversy will unite the more resolute intellectuals of the world and help to create new traditions of honest information sharing.
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