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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow Russia Often Benefits When Julian Assange Reveals the West’s Secrets
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/world/europe/wikileaks-julian-assange-russia.htmlJulian Assange was in classic didactic form, holding forth on the topic that consumes him the perfidy of big government and especially of the United States.
Mr. Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks, rose to global fame in 2010 for releasing huge caches of highly classified American government communications that exposed the underbelly of its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and its sometimes cynical diplomatic maneuvering around the world. But in a televised interview last September, it was clear that he still had plenty to say about The World According to US Empire, the subtitle of his latest book, The WikiLeaks Files.
From the cramped confines of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he was granted asylum four years ago amid a legal imbroglio, Mr. Assange proffered a vision of America as superbully: a nation that has achieved imperial power by proclaiming allegiance to principles of human rights while deploying its military-intelligence apparatus in pincer formation to push countries into doing its bidding, and punishing people like him who dare to speak the truth.
Notably absent from Mr. Assanges analysis, however, was criticism of another world power, Russia, or its president, Vladimir V. Putin, who has hardly lived up to WikiLeaks ideal of transparency. Mr. Putins government has cracked down hard on dissent spying on, jailing, and, critics charge, sometimes assassinating opponents while consolidating control over the news media and internet. If Mr. Assange appreciated the irony of the moment denouncing censorship in an interview on Russia Today, the Kremlin-controlled English-language propaganda channel it was not readily apparent.
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Mr. Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks, rose to global fame in 2010 for releasing huge caches of highly classified American government communications that exposed the underbelly of its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and its sometimes cynical diplomatic maneuvering around the world. But in a televised interview last September, it was clear that he still had plenty to say about The World According to US Empire, the subtitle of his latest book, The WikiLeaks Files.
From the cramped confines of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he was granted asylum four years ago amid a legal imbroglio, Mr. Assange proffered a vision of America as superbully: a nation that has achieved imperial power by proclaiming allegiance to principles of human rights while deploying its military-intelligence apparatus in pincer formation to push countries into doing its bidding, and punishing people like him who dare to speak the truth.
Notably absent from Mr. Assanges analysis, however, was criticism of another world power, Russia, or its president, Vladimir V. Putin, who has hardly lived up to WikiLeaks ideal of transparency. Mr. Putins government has cracked down hard on dissent spying on, jailing, and, critics charge, sometimes assassinating opponents while consolidating control over the news media and internet. If Mr. Assange appreciated the irony of the moment denouncing censorship in an interview on Russia Today, the Kremlin-controlled English-language propaganda channel it was not readily apparent.
...
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How Russia Often Benefits When Julian Assange Reveals the West’s Secrets (Original Post)
DanTex
Aug 2016
OP
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)1. The secrets wikileaks has revealed were almost entirely secret
only to us peasants. The other big powers have their own intelligence agencies and are well aware of what we are doing.
The synopsis of our role in geopolitics is accurate.
Why would wikileaks focus on lesser powers like Russia?
DanTex
(20,709 posts)2. You claim to be a peasant, and also claim to know what other intelligence agencies are
aware of. Hmm. Something doesn't add up.
As to the question of why Assange doesn't take on Russia, there are two possibilities. Maybe he has an affinity towards Russia. Or maybe he's a coward, and knows just how bad Russia is, but also knows that going after Russia could put his life at risk, so he decides to ignore their crimes.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)3. Not all peasants are unable to understand the world we
live in.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)4. Is that an Alex Jones quote?
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)5. Enjoy your nationalist delusions.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)6. Nationalist? Where did that come from?