Embarrassed by contradictory, provocative and degrading statements made by powerful world leaders, America and its Allies have begun a frontal attack on the information website that provided the news. Orchestrated as if the struggle were a powerful military campaign, Western nations have pursued WikiLeaks simultaneously on three fronts. They have not only attacked the corporation as an entity and its founder and leader personally, but also have launched a propaganda crusade of disinformation. In this article, we will examine the areas and allow the reader to understand the tactics.
Barrage on the Corporation
The actions on the commercial side have been straightforward. The first attack was a series of DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks on the servers. “There were indeed large-scale DDOS attacks, but they were successfully defended against," reported Dan Nystedt and Martyn Williams in PC World on December 3, 2010. The second is governmental influence on suppliers of services to WikiLeaks. When Senator Joe Lieberman, chairman of the U.S. Homeland Security Committee asks Amazon to stop hosting WikiLeaks, Amazon eagerly complied.
- On 22 January 2010, PayPal temporarily suspended WikiLeaks services
- November 2010 Dynadot domain name service ousts WikiLeaks
- November 2010 EveryDNS host service ousts WikiLeaks
- December 1, 2010 Amazon pulls server from WikiLeaks
- December 2, 2010 France requests .ch WikiLeaks site closure
- December 4, 2010, PayPal permanently cancels WikiLeaks' accounts
- December 6, 2010 MasterCard cuts off receipt of payments for WikiLeaks accounts
- December 7, 2010 Visa International cuts off WikiLeaks accounts
When governments are humiliated and caught red handed lying to the public, the most powerful option available is to attack the messenger, in this case Julian Assange. Using these methods, governments are able to do two things. Distract the public from the information and keep the adversary tied up in legal battles. In both cases, the governments of the world are using a skittish media to propagate their message.
- Distraction – this is the art of flinging information about an individual, whether true or not, with the intent of discrediting the source. Most students of Nobel Physicist Albert Einstein know that he had an affair with and eventually married his maternal first cousin Elsa Lowenthal. Some individuals may consider this an incestuous relationship but it does little to change history. The public rightfully separates Einstein the man from Einstein the genius. In Julian’s case, the Swedish Government is, in cooperation with the UK, France and the USA, attacking the man in an attempt to distract from the message.
- Legal Battles – Sex and lies, initiated by governments and perpetuated by the media confront Julian Assange. The last several days the world has heard the “facts” that the Swedish government “filed” criminal charges “…of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion,” against Assange according to the BBC on 1 December 2010. Joel Sterling, of CNN reported, “Assange is wanted in Sweden on suspicion of rape….” The facts are that Sweden has not issued any warrants for rape or filed any new charges against the WikiLeaks founder. In August, Sweden dropped the rape allegation and requested questioning on violation of an obscure Swedish law against having sex without a condom, according to Angella Johnson of the Daily Mail. Refocusing on the rape allegations, the Swedish government has stopped calling the allegations rape, but direct informers to a site that does so. However, a copy of the Interpol request (shown above) has no indication of rape only “Sex Crimes.” Furthermore, reporter Mark Townsend of the UK’s Guardian Newspaper on Dec 3 paraphrases Assange attorney Mark Stephens, “Assange is wanted in Sweden…although no charges have been laid.”
Campaign of Disinformation
The most unfortunate effect of the controversy is the black propaganda campaign launched to divert the public from the issues. Similar to distraction above, in this movement governments are wildly rhetorical at best or blatantly dishonesty at worst. They intentionally provide false information with a concentration on national security.
This is a common tactic of the USA. In 1971, the New York Times published what became the Pentagon Papers; an embarrassing account of Presidents, Truman through Johnson. In retribution, Attorney General John Mitchell used the FBI to hunt the whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. Called by former President Richard Nixon “the most dangerous man in America,” according to a recent documentary by the same name, once incited the government’s rage was enormous.
Today the USA is following the same script as thought the world did not see act one. Arguments of “putting our troops in danger” follow “international treaties and cross border alliances could falter.” However, reporter Nancy Youssef of McClatchy Newspapers reported on November 28, 2010, “…despite similar warnings ahead of previous…releases of classified…reports…. U.S. officials concede that they have no evidence…that the documents led to anyone's death.”
I do not know what crimes Julian Assange committed nor can I imagine what possible relevance they have to the fact that the King of Saudi Arabia instructed the USA to attack Iran and "cut off the head of the snake.” The USA and its allies are definitely humiliated over WikiLeaks’ actions. World government’s 3-way attack is having immediate benefits as WikiLeaks has had to protect their corporation, Julian has had to hide and the disinformation is taking its toll. Canadian government adviser Tom Flanagan expresses how governments around the world may feel. While appearing on a CBC television program Flanagan said, "I think Assange should be assassinated."
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