United States v WikiLeaks

In poker it is impossible to bluff with all your cards showing. In law it is difficult, but not impossible. Alan Dershowitz, high profile American civil liberties lawyer and Professor of Law at Harvard.

Noam Chomsky is not the kind of man I read or admire. On nearly every political and economic topic he raises, I find his vitriolic far-left, anti-American rants objectionable and his ability to distort the truth renowned . But, I must say that in the matter of the 250,000 cables dumped online by WikiLeaks, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor emeritus is right on the money:

Perhaps the most dramatic revelation, or mention, is the bitter hatred of democracy that is revealed both by the US Government - Hillary Clinton, others - and also by the diplomatic service.

It’s a given that one of the major reasons for government secrecy is to protect the government. From its own electorate that is. Chomsky rails against many of the foreign policy objectives of Hillary Clinton in particular, and of the US Government in general, as projects that require collusion with Arab tyrants, achieved best by the United States turning a blind eye and offering a tin ear to their autocracy, human rights abuses and corruption. And who pays the price for this orchestrated denial of wholesale electoral representation? Why the so-called “Arab street”, that’s who.

Politicians in the United States on both sides of the aisle are apoplectic with rage against WikiLeaks. Not only have they forced Wikileaks to move the hosting of its web site from the United States, but on Sunday they managed to tighten the noose further by cutting off the pipe that carries multiple small donations from its legions of supporters, when they leaned on online auction house multinational eBay’s subsidiary Pay Pal to suspend serving WikiLeaks.

While the anger of some lawmakers is genuine, if misplaced, most, such as former presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) are undoubtedly duplicitous. The Senator from Massachusetts claimed that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is guilty of "a reckless action that jeopardizes lives". Funny that. Confronted with an earlier WikiLeaks publication, that principally embarrassed the former Bush administration, the senator was, shall we say, more tempered: "However illegally these documents came to light," he intoned in July, "they raise serious questions about the reality of America's policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan".

WikiLeaks pummelled Kerry’s reputation by revealing his deceit when simultaneously glad handling American Jewish voters while sucking up to the cashed up Qataris, promising them to do his best to cleanse both the Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem of Jews.

Other politicians, such as the former Republican Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, a Fox News Channel talk show host, is clear headed and more honest. While he too seeks legal action, it’s against the source of the leaks he wants to charge, rather than the leaker.

Thankfully, there are other politicians whose motivations are solely concerned with in the public interest. Like a rock in a raging sea stands Rep. Ron Paul.

A free thinking Republican from the 14th Congressional District of Texas Paul is taking a stand as one of Julian Assange’s few defenders in Washington, arguing that the WikiLeaks founder should get the same protections as the media.

Paul said the idea of prosecuting Assange “crosses the line”.

“In a free society we're supposed to know the truth,” Paul said. “In a society where truth becomes treason, then we're in big trouble. And now, people who are revealing the truth are getting into trouble for it.”