Julian Assange and Wikileaks

I’m not much impressed with the leaked diplomatic cables provided by Wikileaks and its director, Julian Assange. I’ve not seen in the press anything that strikes me as being particularly deserving of classification. I suppose it’s because the source of the documents is the State Department, which apparently gathers all of its intelligence at embassy cocktail parties.

Boooorrring. Even the Hee Haw gossip girls could do that.

And I’m beginning to suspect the motives of Assange. Is he a journalist? Or an opportunist? And what about his rape charges? Is he a violent sexual predator?

I often visited the Cryptome website, which was a Wikileaks-type website long before Wikileaks. Cryptome claims to publish anything anyone wants to send it, but also does a good bit of gathering intelligence from open sources. I find it a useful service to show where intelligence information might be gathered in the wild, though I am not comfortable with the act of publishing classified information known to be obtained through espionage.

Interestingly, Cryptome’s founder has been critical of Wikileaks’s redaction and of the lackadasical attitude Swedish authorities have shown to Assange’s rape charges.

Assange appears to be the focus of media attention, more than anything. I remain unconvinced that Assange is some sort of hero. From my point of view, he seems like more of a scoundrel.