Wikileaks Leaks – So Very Ordinary?
If Wikileaks has leaked nothing of the confidential and classified information relating to the workings, conditions and decisions of the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. Nothing of exploitation-driven genocides in the Third World. Nor the arms trade, genetically modified foods, corruption. Nor regime change, insurgency sponsorship et al, then it has said nothing of significant importance. That is, not to anyone who understands history, international relations and human nature. So where is the extraordinary news from the leaks?
Since when did powerful princes stop being haughty or stop dreaming of jurisdictional expansion?
When did weaker kingdoms stop seeking the alliance of more powerful empires to crush their troublesome neighbours?
Do ministers of government ever stop complaining about their frustrations to their counterparts in other governments and vice versa?
Since when did the senior officials of one government stop talking ill of the head and officials of a rival government as a means of self-justification?
The questions of ordinariness (and even the canny predictability) of the Wikileaks leaks are endless. An absence of bad guys, just silly or careless guys. It is without real evils or crimes just suggestions and intentions. No destruction or arm-bending just condemnations or immorality. Lacking is the use of incisive economic weaponry or ruthless political timing just best and second-best imperial options, not taken. It all seems very cool, tame, uni-dimensional, and interest-centric. Regardless of the mass sensation, notoriety and “apparent anger” the leaks elicit. Is something more coming?
The “backlash” of the leaks (unless the revelations produce concrete self-defending transparency capacities for Wikileaks and other leaks) looks more significant than the revelations themselves. Such is analogous to the “controversy” or “event” about rights that end up irreparably obliterating the capacity to promote and defend the rights. The endpoint of the unfolding nature and scope of the leaks so far is something an “informed betting man” would put his house on. Well, in terms of accurate linear “I told you so” expectations. Other websites and internet providers have been banned in the past, I wonder why.
All that said, perhaps Wikileaks is getting there with innovative tactics and ingenious time-management. It may eventually tell the world stuff it would have never known or confirm facts that we cannot confirm by traditional or regular means, otherwise. Or…
Grimot Nane
Sounds plausible to me.
Wikileaks or any other righteousness manufactured in the West cannot liberate non-Western people from global tyranny, they have to do it for themselves and by themselves with some help from outside. Wikileaks is like democracy, freedom, liberty, capitalism, Marxism, Christianity, the internet, the news etc. They are all pristine forms of Eurocentricity; only is not nice or polite to talk about them that way. ‘A dog does not bite its puppy to the bone’ and that goes for wikileaks. My comments might be premature though but I seriously doubt it.
Give wikileaks a chance Assange is more worried about the charges against him and his safety at the moment than the selective release of information. How do we know that it is not the mainstream media who is not holding back the kind of information you guys expect? I am all for Assange!
@Pat – It is not about what we expect from the leaks that is causing doubts in our minds about wikileaks. It is simply about the direction and framework of the leaks. And you could be very right about the media holding back information offensive or shameful to their Eurocentric interests.
I was excited when the wikileaks’ most recent releases of arcane information came to light. Well, not any more, not for now, perhaps if more interesting news comes out of it I will be. If this set of information is what wikileaks wants to change the world with, then they might not succeed.
Wikileaks on twitter appears to be making excuses. It has got new websites but as the post says the news is quite elite-centric. Is Wikileaks employing a clever strategy of revelation the will unfold in a very big way soon or is Cablegate much ado about nothing or is it just another smoke-screen for facilitating even greater secrecy in future? I have all the time in the world to wait and see.
I wonder how you Ruke when you have the world’s most powerful forces in the world trying to annihilate you? Think about that first.
Pat, the whole thing about revealing secrets is that the whole menu secrets are revealed first and the consequences come later. In this case only a very few low grade starters on the list have been revealed yet the consequences are already in full swing. That does not sound right whatever the case. Trickle-down release of classified state secrets, come on! It is not as if a court injunction or constitution can prevent the whole menu of secrets being revealed into cyberspace. It looks like an elite-centric game to me. Does Assange need sympathy? He knew what he was doing and the consequences of doing so. I support the exposure of government secrets if they genuinely help governance and justice. So far Cablegate has not done that. With high levels of Islamophobia in the civilised world do it people care about a few military murders in cold blood? Even the most intelligent in civilised nations, with few exceptions, would believe the flimsiest most obtuse justification of the massacres. So forget the Baghdad helicopter massacre videos. Pat, I am thinking of the elite of the world getting off lighting at Assange’s leisure. And I am thinking of your foresight or naivete.
@Ruke: You are definitely an intelligent guy and very persuasive at that. According Amitai Etzioni, it is difficult for most of the general public to understand information released to them by transparency protocols and the volume of information can be overwhelming causing people to ignore it most of the time. This more a truism than a mere fact. How can you present 250,000 cables of information to the public on one website at a go? Is that practical? Piecemeal releases of the secrets is more favourable to the general public who are the primary target and only a very small minority of initiated thinkers like you can handle a big one-time release, no sarcasm intended.
This how wikileaks and its uno numero want to change the way the world is ruled for the better. Early days, shallow start. Things can get better though. I confess in advance that if wikileaks does release information that will change the world, I’ll be a very happy man.
I am confident that at the end of the day wikileaks would have done the world a great service. Leaks are supposed to be independent of people’s expectations but I see many are expecting what they want to hear from the leaks. I am waiting.
Ignorance is bliss. How could Eurocentrism be a reality? How could being served with a dish that is presented to have nine items but served with only three items be provoke complaints? How could taking tablets with nasty side effects for a disease one does not have be a good service to the recipient? And whatever happened to free speech which Wikileaks seems to be today’s avant garde?
I laughed hard when I heard Julia Assange is under arrest in UK and facing extradition to Sweden because he is suspected of ‘penileleaks’ which is having ‘consensual sex but without the use of a condom’. So funny.
I know some people have now heard some of what they want to hear from wikileaks. Patience!
If you read the blog article on here “Educating a Shell Worker” Grimot has already told (since 2008) of how Shell controls Nigeria. Shell’s control of Nigeria is no news, it simply confirms old news that might have otherwise been denied or left to our imagination.
How about the whole story on Shell’s role in under-developing Nigeria? So much for backward unenlightened venal corrupt leadership. What is the news on regime change and Saro-Wiwa lead by Shell?