NOAM CHOMSKY: The Brookings Institute just a few months ago released extensive polls of what Arabs think about Iran. …They show that Arab opinion …—holds that the major threat in the region is Israel, that’s 80 percent; the second major threat is the United States, that’s 77 percent. Iran is listed as a threat by 10 percent. With regard to nuclear weapons, rather remarkably, a majority, in fact, 57 percent, say that …it would have a positive effect in the region if Iran had nuclear weapons. …
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When they talk about Arabs, they mean the Arab dictators, not the population, which is overwhelmingly opposed to the conclusions that the analysts here, Clinton and the media, have drawn. There’s also a minor problem. That’s the major problem. The minor problem is that we don’t know from the cables what the Arab leaders think and say. We know what was selected from the range of what they say. So there’s a filtering process. We don’t know how much it distorts the information. But there’s no question that what is a radical distortion is—or not even a distortion, a reflection of the concern that the dictators are what matter. The population doesn’t matter, even if it’s overwhelmingly opposed to U.S. policy. This shows up elsewhere…. –Noam Chomsky: WikiLeaks Cables Reveal “Profound Hatred for Democracy on the Part of Our Political Leadership”
Tag: Wikileaks
Why you MUST be shielded from Wikileaks!
You will know you have spoken the truth when you are angrily denounced; and you will know you have spoken both truly and well when you are visited by the police. –J. B. R. Yant
Apparently the folks from Wikileaks.org have spoken both truly and well. Which is why you must be shielded from them – – –
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State." –Chief Nazi "Information Officer" Dr. Joseph P. Goebbels
Thus the American establishment — including opinion mills from both halves of the War Party — is actively looking for any which-way it can to repress the release of more of it’s mortal enemy to "we the people." The methods of repression include a very shakey prosecution of head Wikileaks dude, Julian Assange, threats in fact, to persecute him all over the world, an on-going investigation of Wikileaks by Mr. Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder, presumably to invoke the Espionage Act, etc.
There have also been calls to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by U.S. Representative Peter King (R-NY) to have Wikileaks declared a Foreign Terrorist Organization, or FTO on a par with al’Qaeda. That would open Wikileaks associates to assassination, etc. as per the latest White House push to authorize executive kill lists.
Is it just me, or does it seem as if the U.S. establishment — in fact, establishments world wide [1] — are as terrified by the truth as they want us to be of al’Qaeda?
Perhaps Wikileaks front dude Julian Assange and company aren’t aware of the dangers the truth poses, not only to the state as Goebbels revealed, but to those ill-advised enough — or brave enough — to reveal it.
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. –George Orwell
If you’re going to start talking the truth, keep one foot in the saddle of your fastest horse. –Chinese proverb
So, is your foot in the saddle?
No? It’s OK, but how about the next best thing: Support these brave folks, not only wikileaks, but the folks brave enough to put antiwar.com up for more than 12 years, etc.
Notes:
"This disclosure is not just an attack on America’s foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community," Clinton said, following talks in Washington with Turkey’s foreign minister. –[Hillary] Clinton accuses WikiLeaks of ‘attack’ on the world return
Justin Raimondo on Fox Business Channel
Update: A video of the full show has been posted here. The first segment is Julian Assange, with Justin Raimondo (and his opponent) in the second segment. We will be posting the stand-alone segments in the next day or so.
Antiwar.com’s Editorial Director Justin Raimondo will be appearing this weekend on Fox Business Channel’s Freedom Watch, hosted by Judge Andrew Napolitano. The show airs Saturday, July 31 at 10am and 8pm and again on Sunday, August 1 at 7pm and 11pm. All times Eastern. Please note this is Fox Business Channel, not Fox News.
A preview of the show can be seen below.
Crack It Open for Bradley Manning
I’ve exposed perhaps too much of what makes me weepy in these pages; here’s more. It turns out PFC Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old intel analyst who risked his life to expose the banally recorded daily atrocities committed in service to the imperial project, is simply a good guy. He’s not a fame-seeker, unlike the slimy self-promoting pig who outed him, or on the side of The Terrorists. He simply wanted to do what he thought was right. I’m convinced of this now — as I read endless reams of coverage, I keep coming back to the human dimension of Bradley. He’s 22.
“Everywhere there’s a U.S. post, there’s a diplomatic scandal that will be revealed,†Manning wrote of the cables. “It’s open diplomacy. Worldwide anarchy in CSV format.”
He’s also a bit of an excited badass. Is that wrong?
You can read a better and longer analysis of the virtues of Bradley Manning in recent and forthcoming pieces by the tireless Arthur Silber. But if you don’t have time to read it through, you can get to the distilled essence of it here: a courageous, rash, intelligent, disillusioned, young man has risked his life to expose what he, and most of us who read this website, consider the world’s worst evils. If that doesn’t make him a hero deserving of your help, or at least your vocal sympathies, what would? As we continue sifting through this data — and there is MUCH more to come — how important will this man have been to the cause of peace, looking back from the future? Scott Horton summed it up in a recent interview with Mike Gogulski, the creator of the website championing Bradley’s legal defense:
“This ought to be the Dan Ellsberg moment — the part where people finally decide that they’re over it and they no longer support this, and they want and end to it sooner, not later.”
Open your wallet for Bradley. I’m sending him $100. You can also change your various profile photos to this “Google Bradley Manning” image — I have just changed mine. The London Times might be wringing its hands over the alleged outing of Afghan “informants” (likely mostly bribed tribal elders) as the “human cost” of the leaks — never mind the wars themselves, I guess — but Bradley tried to strike a blow for all humans.
Of course, we aren’t sure if Bradley leaked these particular documents, but it seems likely he did in light of his admissions and his access to US military records. If it later turns out he did not, his case will still be important for future whistleblowers. If there’s anyone who hates when their authority is challenged, it’s the authorities, and the brave people who defy them need all the help they can get.
Wikileaks Releases Video of US Choppers Slaying Reporters, Civilians
Warning: Very Disturbing Footage
From CollateralMurder.com:
WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters news staff.
Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.
The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured.
After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own “Rules of Engagement”.
Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before, during, and after the killings.
WikiLeaks has released both the original 38 minutes video and a shorter version with an initial analysis. Subtitles have been added to both versions from the radio transmissions.
WikiLeaks obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a number of military whistleblowers. WikiLeaks goes to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the information it receives. We have analyzed the information about this incident from a variety of source material. We have spoken to witnesses and journalists directly involved in the incident.
WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives gets the attention it deserves. In this particular case, some of the people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs: putting their lives at risk in order to report on war. Iraq is a very dangerous place for journalists: from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were killed while doing their work.
Hat Tip: ZeroHedge
Update: AP Source Confirms Authenticity.