The first reaction from here about the newest "WikiLeaks" disclosure of secret American diplomatic cables [1] from around the world was, "Good, maybe we'll get at the truth of what is really happening." The second reaction came after reading the Obama administrations response to the WikiLeaks disclosure [2] (which condemned the release of the cables) which was, "Do they have something to hide?" (especially when recalling this administration had said it was committed to transparency and openness with the American people). Then there was the thought of "Why is all this happening?" to which the answer was, "When so much seems to be classified and all we get is pretty much official "propaganda" there is the screaming need to find out was is really going on." So thank you WikiLeaks.
There may have been a time to give the government the benefit of the doubt on what it says to the American people while at the same time remaining skeptical as to the truth of what is was saying.
But today that would be the height of naivete considering the outright lies this government and its recent predecessors have committed (which are known publically) in recent years and in particular since 9/11.
What WikiLeaks is doing is providing a public service. When so much of our government's dealings are shrouded and cloaked in secrecy, the truth begs to be revealed.
We the people are certainly not kept informed by our corporate owned main stream media that has become at times a triumphalist cheerleader, enabler and stenographer of whatever the government says (without checking on the voracity of its pronouncements) or we get a sanitized version of the news with its phony obsession with objectivity (irrespective of the dubious connections of many of the "talking heads" presented as "experts").
With WikiLeaks we get disclosures that are raw and unvarnished. That is its brilliance. It lets the people see for themselves what is going on so they can make up their own minds and judgments.
The real patriot here is PFC Bradley Manning, the low level U.S. Army intelligence analyst who was responsible for passing on to WikiLeaks the cables the latter releases. It was Manning who realized he was part of the governments (and the Army's) cover ups of crimes to which he in good conscience couldn't live with.
That he is being held and charged with illegally leaking classified information is the real injustice.
We are all in his debt. Yet the travesty is he is likely to be found guilty and sentenced to a lengthy prison term which will reveal much of what has befallen on this nation in its duplicity, illegal and endless wars, torture et al.
The real irony of course is the real traitors of our country, the top government officials, the militarists in the Pentagon and their consorts in the military/industrial complex, the corporate bandits et al that loot the Treasury all remain free instead of being indicted for the crimes they have committed. That's the real injustice.
