… but, of course, it isn’t.
Julian Assange isn’t an American citizen. Wikileaks isn’t an American organization. Even if we accept the logic of state, neither Assange nor Wikileaks owe any duty of loyalty to the US government. Where no loyalty is due, no betrayal is possible. Whatever else they might be, the Wikileaks “dumps” of information deemed “classified” by the US government aren’t “treason” (as the usual suspects keep calling them) by any reasonable definition of that word.
Nor, contra US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s surreal claim, is the latest Wikileaks release “an attack on the international community.” If such a “community” exists, identifying it with the parasite states sitting atop its regional populations is like designating canine breeds on the basis of the ticks which infest each dog’s fur.
And talk about the pot calling the kettle black! It was Clinton, not Assange, who directed US State Department employees to spy on United Nations officials — including but not limited to permanent members of the UN Security Council and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon himself — in what looks an awful lot like an identity theft scheme right out of the latest crime news headlines. If the UN’s member states do indeed compose the “international community,” Clinton has cast herself in the role of neighborhood burglar.
But, if this be treason, make the most of it.
The penchant of state actors for secrecy stems from the same motives as any other criminal’s desire to keep his deeds out of the public eye. Their threats against those who might reveal their secrets are of precisely the same nature as the warnings of any child rapist to his victims: “Don’t tell, or YOU will get in trouble.”
We’ve been here before, many times. Not many remember, but the most vehement western objections to Russia’s “October Revolution” were concerned not with nature of Bolshevism but with this language in Lenin’s Decree on Peace:
We have to fight against the hypocrisy of the governments, which, while talking about peace and justice, actually carry on wars of conquest and plunder. Not one single government will tell you what it really means. But we are opposed to secret diplomacy and can afford to act openly before all people.
While Russia’s former allies did indeed oppose communism and desire an active Eastern Front (to reduce pressure on the Western Front), they were outright desperate to hide the details of their complicity in the ongoing disaster now known as World War One. Like vampires, politicians will choose gunfire over sunlight every time.
The subsequent actions of the new Russian state constitute an existence proof of the incompatibility of political government and transparency. Forced to choose between truth and power, the Bolsheviks chose power. Their regime and its spinoffs became (pardon the pun) the gold standard for secretive government.
The strength of Wikileaks is that it faces no similar choice. It’s not a state, nor do its principals evince any intention of making it one. Truth is its entire portfolio, and this drives the Hillary Clintons of the world insane. It threatens their aspirations to unquestioned power. It forces them to explain themselves to the rest of us: To the serfs who, as the politicians see things, exist for the sole purpose of footing the bill — in money and in blood — for those aspirations.
Which is exactly how it should be. “Treason” to and “betrayal” of the state is service to humanity. Wikileaks is your friend. Hillary Clinton is your enemy. Never forget that.
Citations to this article:
- Thomas L. Knapp, If This Be Treason …, Roxby Downs, Australia Monitor, p.6, 12/08/10
- Thomas L. Knapp, Wikileaks: If This Be Treason …, Le Quebecois Libre, 12/15/10
- Thomas L. Knapp, If This Be Treason …, Antiwar.com, 12/02/10
They might just be moving to close that "gap" in the law.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/wikileaks-chie…
"This is not saber-rattling," Holder said when pressed by reporters over what action the United States could take against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, 39, a shadowy Australian hacker believed to be based in Europe.
"To the extent that we can find anybody who was involved in the breaking of American law… they will be held responsible," Holder said.
"To the extent there are gaps in our laws, we will move to close those gaps. It is not the case that anybody at this point, because of their citizenship or their residency, is not a target or the subject of an investigation."
Uh, new comment module! Fancy.
Tom, I love the dog analogy and the vampire reference
Very well written. And it shows again ("closing the gap"). If they can't kill your for something, they'll make a reason up.
It's not treason but is espionage and you don't have to be an American to be involved in espionage against America and it makes no difference on who's behalf either. The solution is often seen in espionage movies – a bullet to the right body spot. May it happen to Assange, as a service to humanity that is. I choose my own friends Mr. Knapp.
It is not treason, but it is espionage.
I find it interesting that no one seems to be reminding these hypocrites of their own words: "If you are innocent, you don't have to worry about being constantly watched."
My recent post Abacus Brief Chapter 1- Cyberwar And Peace updated Wed Dec 1 2010 5-22 pm CST
This America-hating radical must be stopped. His actions are causing great harm to the United States.
Unfortunately, he will likely continue his harmful action until January 2013, when he is ousted from the WH and returned to his appropriated job as a two-bit, poverty-pimping Chicago block captain.
International laughingstock, miserable failure Obama.
im not certain how come, but my ex girlfriend reminds me of wikileaks
LOL… anyone who is worth being friends with would reject you for the sociopath that you are!
Excellent ! Impeccable logic.
Lynn A-B
The great masses of the people at the very bottom of their hearts tend to be corrupted rather than consciously evil … they more easily fall a victim to a big lie than to a little one, since they themselves lie in little things, but would be ashamed of lies that were too big."
Adolph Hitler
“Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison…if any think that their influence would be lost there, and their voices no longer afflict the ear of the State, that they would not be as an enemy within its walls, they do not know by how much and effectively he can combat injustice who has experienced a little in prison…A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate to chose.” Thoreau, 1879
Has it not occurred to anyone that it was extremely irresponsible,if not criminal, of those people whose responsibility it was to keep these documents safe and secure.The fact that they are in plain language is suspect alone but to be in the tens of thousands is quite mind boggling. Is the us government really so dysfunctional?. The UK government is bad enough { it took a US journalist to break the UK politicians expenses scandal} but to think it could be so bad in the USA with the billions spent on security is unbelievable. This should not be about Julian Assange but the ATROCIOUS LACK OF SECURITY any rookie security agent would be ashamed of.Methinks HILLARY CLINTON is passing the buck here.
People you may want to have a look at Infowars from a day or two ago. Alex and Wayne Madsen discuss this at length. Yesterday on Infowars Alex interviews Mancow on his show they discuss this again. Mancow points out that he doesn't buy the line that the Govt. is incapable of silencing Wikileaks. We may need to reconsider whether or not Assange is the genuine article.
I wrote to Bill O'Reilly thusly: If Assange is, as you claim, guilty of treason against the USA (ridiculous since he owes no allegiance to the US), or guilty of espionage against the USA (also ridiculous as he hasn't been shown to have acquired secret documents himself while physically in the USA or directly through any actions of his own), and since obviously he has only made these documents public (a journalistic act) rather than having stolen anything himself, I'm sure that you, Bill, should you receive state secret documents out of Iran or North Korea and reveal them on your program, would surrender to those countries as a self-confessed spy or traitor and accept their charge that you are subject to their laws.
No reply, of course.
The lessons to be learned here are twofold, IMO. One, don't conduct yourself in such a manner that, if revealed, would be an embarrassment; and two, it is OUR responsibility to keep our secret things secret.
Lastly, if Assange is guilty of treason and/or espionage, how many foreign nationals will we go after in Russia, China, Israel, etc., who also have obtained or attempted to obtain "state secrets", even though they may not have made them public? Isn't it the actual theft of them the crime rather than revealing their contents? Seems to me the prevailing attitude on this issue by most people, especially politicians and news show talking heads, is highly contradictory, to say the least.
Hitch Hiker; Bud; Edwin R. White/SoCal:
Since apparently you agree that Mr. Assange cannot be guilty of treason, would you repudiate the recent statements of champion ignoramuses S.Palin and M.Huckabee, who state that he is?
Also, since he did not steal any documents, how is possible for him to be a spy?
Nice comment, psychopath. Do you kill everybody you meet or just the one's who happen to get in your way? No wonder we (Americans) are hated everywhere there are decent people.
In addition, and in honor of your frightening comment, I have made a donation to Wikileaks under your moniker.
Instead of complaining about the criminality that is being done in your name and with your tax dollars by this Fascist corporatocracy, you're complaining about their (our) lack of security? Holy smokes. Did you save any Kool-aid for anybody else?
In our gradual decline to tyranny, it's usually hard to point out a milestone and say, "There is where we lost our freedom." But the lack of outrage toward public figures who bray for extralegal murder marks a dropoff so sudden that no free person can look over its edge without a feeling of nausea for what's to come. Palin and Huckabee want to "cut a great path through the forest of the law" to get at Julian Assange; like Robespierre, they bray for "the despotism of liberty against tyranny," and like him, they will usher in a Reign of Terror, a barren desert where no one is safe. Just or unjust, where will anyone hide?
"Everytime we witness an act that we feel to be unjust and do not act we become a party to injustice. Those who are repeatedly passive in the face of injustice soon find their character corroded into servility. Most witnessed acts of injustice are associated with bad governance, since when governance is good, unanswered injustice is rare. By the progressive diminution of a people’s character, the impact of reported, but unanswered injustice is far greater than it may initially seem. Modern communications states through their scale, homogeneity and excesses provide their populace with an unprecidented deluge of witnessed, but seemingly unanswerable injustices." – Julian Assange
LOVED tis post (sorry but tweetd the AntiWar URL for it before I saw the original link). Vampire analogy is one I will steal and use often.
Cheerio
GT
My recent post USRant for Thursday- December 2nd 2010
The reason no govt will do harm to ANY of the folks who participate in the project's Dead Man Switch, is because they know what's in (part of) the insurance file, and they (govt) don't want all their covert operatives, front companies and humint resources decloaked.
If any harm comes to Assange ir others in the project, the keyfiles and passphrases (muliple) will be released. In fact if more than 11 artipcipants fail to fulfil the DMS protocol on any given day it will be seen as prima facie evidence of a roundup and the keys will be disseminated.
Assassination of 'chiefs' is moronic cartoon thinking from B-grade Westerns; in reality it didn't even work when fightin the injuns and its track record has not improved. Did killing Saddam make Iraq easier? Did bin Laden's 2001 death from kidney failure make Afghanistan easier? Would a missile to the Oval Office stop the US government? Hardly.
Cheerio
GT
My recent post
Thank you, I was wondering why no one was pointing out that this is an act of Journalism.
"If such a “[international] community” exists, identifying it with the parasite states sitting atop its regional populations is like designating canine breeds on the basis of the ticks which infest each dog’s fur." Love it!! Great analogy – it had both me and Paul chuckling. And absolutely on the "treason" definition requirement!
"The penchant of state actors for secrecy stems from the same motives as any other criminal’s desire to keep his deeds out of the public eye. Their threats against those who might reveal their secrets are of precisely the same nature as the warnings of any child rapist to his victims: “Don’t tell, or YOU will get in trouble.” " The only disagreement I have with this portion, Tom, is the use of the word "criminal", which is condition defined by the State. Instead I suggest "physical harm-doer" or "physical harm-perpetrator" since it is assigned by the individual, irrespective of what government officials decree. So very often these officials themselves are the doers of physical harm when the laws/regulations under which they operate provide the guise of legality.
And so very true regarding the background of WWI – it's amazing what some reading of history reveals. A very hopeful situation currently is that it is not decades later that an individual can learn about what is taking place in Washington DC & other State capitals of the world, but merely months and sometimes only days. Go WikiLeaks! And similar sites whose owners show the moral fortitude.
"“Treason” to and “betrayal” of the state is service to humanity. Wikileaks is your friend. Hillary Clinton is your enemy. Never forget that." Very true. And while everyone who recognizes this is at it – do not voluntarily associate with the "enemy". Do not attend "book signings", unless to demonstrate protest – and do not buy their books. (It was almost nauseating to see how many people turned out at the bookstore near our Trader Joe's in Tempe in 2008 when Hilary was there during the primary campaign – not protesting her either. We hadn't known about it till we were at TJs shopping…)
Even in the current very unfree societies (of which the US is a very major one), negative Social Preferencing – voluntary withdrawal of association – can be effectively used to influence individual social behavior and the actions of the State. I have written about this practice in general – http://selfsip.org/focus/protestsnotenough.html
"If such a “[international] community” exists, identifying it with the parasite states sitting atop its regional populations is like designating canine breeds on the basis of the ticks which infest each dog’s fur." Love it!! Great analogy – it had both me and Paul chuckling. And absolutely on the "treason" definition requirement!
"The penchant of state actors for secrecy stems from the same motives as any other criminal’s desire to keep his deeds out of the public eye. Their threats against those who might reveal their secrets are of precisely the same nature as the warnings of any child rapist to his victims: “Don’t tell, or YOU will get in trouble.” " The only disagreement I have with this portion, Tom, is the use of the word "criminal", which is condition defined by the State. Instead I suggest "physical harm-doer" or "physical harm-perpetrator" since it is assigned by the individual, irrespective of what government officials decree. So very often these officials themselves are the doers of physical harm when the laws/regulations under which they operate provide the guise of legality.
So very true regarding the background of WWI – it's amazing what some reading of history reveals. A very hopeful situation currently is that it is not decades later that an individual can learn about what is taking place in Washington DC & other State capitals of the world, but merely months and sometimes only days. Go WikiLeaks! And similar sites whose owners show the moral fortitude.
"“Treason” to and “betrayal” of the state is service to humanity. Wikileaks is your friend. Hillary Clinton is your enemy. Never forget that." Very true. And while everyone who recognizes this is at it – do not voluntarily associate with the "enemy". Do not attend "book signings", unless to demonstrate protest – and do not buy their books. (It was almost nauseating to see how many people turned out at the bookstore near our Trader Joe's in Tempe in 2008 when Hilary was there during the primary campaign – not protesting her either. We hadn't known about it till we were at TJs shopping…)
Even in the current very unfree societies (of which the US is a very major one), negative Social Preferencing – voluntary withdrawal of association – can be effectively used to influence individual social behavior and the actions of the State. I have written about this practice in general – http://selfsip.org/focus/protestsnotenough.html
u hit it. i dont hear anything in the lib or conserv media about the message and how easy it was to obtain and distribute. just kill the messenger. i think passing the buck is putting it mildly however the clintons are some of the best at it and even the best conservative talkers are caught hook line and fishing pole.
to all who say this can't be treason, look at the wording in the constitution. it never says a citizen. the closest it comes is saying person which to our dismay the founders left up to the lawmakers to define. not saying it's not a sham, i think that it's a joke how easy it was to obtain from the so-called most powerful gov that spends 100s of millions on security and distribute, then get the media to concentrate on the messenger instead of the message. i have yet to hear of any accountability for who was in charge of keeping the messages secret
Bang-on Ozboy :=)) .. and WikiLeaks continues to embarrass people like Hillary Clinton .. despite her worst efforts to make our Julian look like the villain! America's intelligence and security outfit tried desperately to close WikiLeaks down and cease its funding .. Visa's website crashed and was down for a while because of the millions of simultaneous log-in requests hehehe – PayPal and the Swedish prosecutor's office were also offline for a fair while .. even the Australian Government threatened to cancel his passport – why doesn't that surprise me ಠ_ಠ WikiLeaks has 250,000 leaked documents in its possession – good luck to them and Julian Assange – power to the people!
"There's class warfare, all right, Mr. (Warren) Buffett said, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."
In my worthless but expressed anyway opinion only a fool would hold, possess or confer ANY loyalty to ANY government or nation-state for a multitude of reasons.
However, so deeply embedded is the brainwashing/indoctrination of the MASSES (especially within the USA that has the best propaganda system ever devised) that reality is beyond the typical human.