The Chris Moeller Archives

Cyber Monday

Julian Assange knows how to brighten the beginning of a work week. The latest WikiLeaks release of confidential U.S. government documents had me walking on air this morning just in anticipation of the many specifics to come. That's the inherent fun of a man of principle exposing a powerful, but corrupt and hypocritical institution. As the day progressed, first the confirmation arrived, as expected, that the dire warnings from U.S. officials about the supposedly "dangerous" secrets being exposed were just bluster. None of the documents carried a full top-secret classification by the United States government. The nuclear codes remain secure tonight, written on the inside collar of the Obama family dog. Our military men and women are actually safer tonight, of course, because that's what shedding a light on the actions of government actually accomplishes. It makes it harder for the exposed governments to start wars, and hopefully, in our case, to continue them.

One world leader, the Italian foreign minister, called the document release "the September 11th of world diplomacy," and of course, there was no insult to the 9/11 dead there. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs went one better perhaps. He disgracefully said that the leak "put at risk... the cause of human rights," as if greater government transparency is ever capable of that. Sarah Palin called the release "treasonous," though it remains to be seen how it could be when Julian Assange is not an American. (Oh Sarah, you're so silly.) Secretary of State Clinton called it "an attack on the international community"-- and believe you me, the U.S. State Department knows a little something about attacks on the international community.

By late this afternoon, at least one even moderate commentator was calling on the baffoonish-looking Clinton to now resign. It turns out that our government hasn't been content to just dig through the trash of organic gardening peaceniks in Iowa City, it's got its diplomats writing down credit card and frequent flyer numbers at the United Nations.

Besides the discovery that our foreign diplomats are all doubling as spies, my favorite leaks include: That Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and the Saudis all want the U.S. to launch an attack against Iran, or in King Abdullah's words "cut off the head of the snake," and just as importantly, none of them wanted anybody to know they want this. (We already knew Israel wanted this, though. No surprises there.) Also, there's the confirmation that the U.S. has been launching missiles at the citizens of yet another country, Yemen-- although Americans probably don't give a shit about this type of thing anymore, just throw it on the pile-- while the Yemen government has been providing cover by claiming responsibility.

The latest spin tonight from news sources reliably supportive of the establishment government is that the leaks are not that altogether damaging, that they lack in relevance or new information. Of the 250,000-some total documents, this is unarguably true of most, but overall, it's far from true. If it were, we wouldn't be getting pronouncements from the White House and the State Department like the ones above. Imperialists and apartheidists like Alan Dershowitz wouldn't be banging their war drums in response if they didn't see the potential impact. It's no time to fall asleep. The world, as a whole, gets a more fully-drawn picture of U.S. policy. Barack Obama promised more openness in his administration, but the only time we get it is when it's being provided by somebody else. Many world watchers would have expected the Bush State Department to be wiretapping phones at the U.N., but guess what, Obama's is too. It's Hillary Clinton authorizing the latest rounds of recordings. The fundamental distrust of foreigners and the foundation of American isolationism survives despite the vigorous promises from the White House to the contrary.

Just as important in all of this is what's to come next. Intelligence officials wouldn't be trying to fabricate a rape charge against Assange in Sweden if they didn't see him as a threat to uncover more secrets. The hacker tells Forbes Magazine that his next target for exposure will be the corporatists of Wall Street. Oh mama, that's going to be a dollop of gooey, whistleblowing sweetness when that comes out.

America's got itself a kitchen littered with rats, and it always takes some major doing to clean up such an infestation, but the first step of any proposed solution to such a problem is always to turn on the overhead light. Flip.

posted by CM @ 8:44 PM