rant, continued

I've got a short follow-up to my previous rant on Julian Assange, the founder of wikileaks. Now I know this may seem harsh, but I've got friends who've recently risked their lives in Afghanistan, and all this fool has done is make things worse.

So, after being called out by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and members of the media for endangering the lives of Afghan civilians, Julian Assange fired back. If you feel like raising your blood pressure a few dozen notches, watch the following...



Once you've wiped the puke off your chin, check this out. Several human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called on wikileaks to censor the documents to protect the lives of civilians who've worked with the Afghan government and international military forces.

My personal favorite is the open letter to Assange from the head of reporters without borders.

"Reporters Without Borders, an international press freedom organisation, regrets the incredible irresponsibility you showed when posting your article “Afghan War Diary 2004 - 2010” on the Wikileaks website on 25 July together with 92,000 leaked documents disclosing the names of Afghans who have provided information to the international military coalition that has been in Afghanistan since 2001.

...It is true that you said that “a further 15,000 potentially sensitive reports” were excluded from the 25 July mass posting, that they were being “reviewed further” and that some of them would be released “once it was deemed safe to do so.”
Nonetheless indiscriminately publishing 92,000 classified reports reflects a real problem of methodology and, therefore, of credibility. Journalistic work involves the selection of information. The argument with which you defend yourself, namely that Wikileaks is not made up of journalists, is not convincing. Wikileaks is an information outlet and, as such, is subject to the same rules of publishing responsibility as any other media.

...you cannot claim to enjoy the protection of sources while at the same time, when it suits you, denying that you are a news media."

It's a little refreshing to see the left calling this assclown out. Though I'm sure the Afghan people he's endangered are pleased to know he's received some mean emails and letters saying what naughty boy he's been. Which is why I still think we should fit this fool for an orange jump-suit and dump his ass in Guantanamo bay. That might actually help send the message to Afghan civilians that if they keep standing up for themselves, we'll keep standing with them. Until July 2011 that is.... but that's another rant for another time.

Enjoy your weekend. Peace.