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| WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (left), Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad |
"Help WikiLeaks keep governments open"
This is a clear, bold appeal which appears on the WikiLeaks website next to an image of the man behind it all, Julian Assange. The 40-year-old Australian former hacker and activist has won may awards because he unveiled various country government secrets since 2006, embarrassing the governments and delighting the public 'who demand the truth'. The awards he won include Le Monde Person of the Year and Amnesty International UK Media Award.
Earlier this year, he was at the centre of controversy by being accused of sexual assault and is living under house arrest at a mansion in Britain. He is currently fighting his worth suggesting he mustn't be extradited to Sweden, the place where he did the alleged assaults. It may sound complex but it's no thanks to his whistle-blowing website and his involvement with leaking government files. Perhaps the British government have "secretly" volunteered to keep him in their grounds so that he won't be able to reveal too much more which would give world leaders a headache?
It can be argued that he has caused some damage in world leading governments, meaning the public trust politicians less and less. He released over 250,000 US secret documents for Internet users to see - a lot of these documents mentioned Iraq during the wake of the 2003 war and the revelations surrounding the invasion. It's certainly life changing for millions and highly controversial but is it really in the public interest? It's hard not to forget the fact he was a hacker surely hacking is against the law? He can't have accessed this information easily. Regardless, he's making people happy which is all that matters.
Whatever happens, Assange and his WikiLeaks will never satisfy me. This week, Iran's plans to assassinate a Saudi ambassador in the United States were dashed by quick-reactions from the American authorities. It might have sounded like a heroic mission accomplished on the US behalf as they've stopped a potential terror attack, but I'm sure there's more to it than Iran causing disruption in a country they rival toward.
The relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia is rather love/hate. Historically, they have got along with each other well but since the Iranian revolution in 1979, politically they've been declaring a war-on-words with each other and things didn't help when last year, WikiLeaks revealed that due to Iran's controversial nuclear project, Saudi Arabia President King Abdullah urged America must attack them. It may have been almost 11 months since the story was leaked but with this Saudi ambassador visiting America, Iran would have spent all this time to plot a revenge.
I'm against Iran's plan to cause utter chaos in America but honestly, if it wasn't for Julian Assange, would Iran have made this radical decision to try and kill a Saudi ambassador in the States? According to the Huffington Post, the WikiLeaks founder "spurred" the Middle East uprising after the website said the leaders there have done wrong for the public. It all adds up. This year, Middle East has turned a dramatic corner, and we all think it's going to be a happy ending in the region. New governments there are emerging but will the new leaders instrument a prosperous Egypt, Tunisia, Syria in the future? It may be too early to tell but I'm not totally convinced.
I am in support of investigative journalism, but with the little trust we have on politicians, are tarnished due to some home truths, we won't be able to have settled governments. The leaking of the expenses scandal in the UK could have been one major factor to why we have a hung parliament today. In the US, Watergate scandal lost Republican some supporters but decades later, the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky sex scandal damaged Democrats' reputation. Because of acts of ignorance by the government, we do not know what to do.
So will I want governments kept open - maybe it's best if some talks and documents are kept quiet. No one would want to be phone hacked or publicly releasing love letters intending for just a couple to read, or do we?
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