Friday, December 17, 2010

Wikileaks' Assange: What's His Deal

Julian Assange is probably the biggest villain in the world right now.  Everyone in America hates him for the three massive leaks of American classified documents he has done in the last year.  His obsessive need for "transparency" when it comes to international dealings has led to several deaths, and has damaged U.S. international relations for years.  He has no shame.

Assange has also allegedly crossed the line with two of his female groupies.  He is charged in Sweden with sexual assault and has been in and out of British courts fighting for his freedom.  He is out on bail at the moment, and set to be sent to Sweden to face the charges.  In an interview with Britain's Sky News, Assange is of the belief that the Swedish sex charges are part of a larger conspiracy to get him to the U.S. to face espionage charges.  This is bogus.  Any charges would have to be viewed by both Britain and Sweden.  While some of our diplomacy is conducted in the dark, our system of justice is not.

The ironic thing about all this, is Assange wants to desperately protect his privacy.  The man committed to splashing the secrets of others across the Internet wants desperately to keep his own counsel.  In my view, Assange needs to abide by the old adage "what's good for the goose is good for the gander."  He has chosen to expose the private lives of countries, he should expect the same in return.

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