This man – Assange – is a conspirator to capture security data from US government data systems. His sources hacked into the confidential data files. They did so via secret and conspiratorial contacts. Once obtained, they were released to distributors in the news industry. News industry, not journalism industry. The public soon learned what had been purloined without any filters to understand their context, or historical meaning.
This data dump was controlled so Assange and his organization could maximize remuneration for their illegal cache. They also manipulated many international governments to embarrass them in complicated issues not easily explained. How much money changed hands has yet to be determined. Plenty of red-faced diplomats and heads of states were left exposed.
That is not to say that what was exposed was wrong, morally or legally. A lot of activity is done by governments to protect their interests. Same with businesses, large and small. Nefarious dealings happen all the time for one organization/nation or another to survive another day, to look good to political supporters, and to embarrass competitors.
Assange moralistically claimed this data all to be proof of skullduggery and wrong. So he did more wrong, stole the data, and controlled its release where it would seemingly do the most damage. On whose side was he in each release? Was he trying to win a point, earn more money, or simply be a professional imp?
Whatever, he gathered and held ill-gotten materiel. It was protected information. It is not his to have or to judge. He does not have all the facts to understand the full meaning of the information.
Nor do we.
It will take expert historians and archivists to piece all of the data together into a cohesive whole. Only then will the importance of the data be understandable and worthwhile. Meanwhile, it is a gambling chip for unprincipled players. They seem to have outplayed their role.
They are now the crooks and dishonest extortionists they thought they would uncover.
Surprise. It is they.
April 16, 2019
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