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0 pointsboomboomsubban1y ago0 comments

First, Assange isn't a whistleblower, nor a leaker. He was a publisher. Wikileaks received leaked documents from whistleblowers and published them. Or at least received documents from somewhere and published them.

In the beginning Assange tried to vet the leaks he published. He contacted the US over the Manning leaks to go over them so he could publish without risk, the US refused.

So Assange set up a huge team of journalists to comb through the documents to see what was safe to publish. One of those journalists working for The Guardian proceeded to publish the key to the entire database, ensuring everything was leaked

Shortly after, he ends up in embassy and was unable or unwilling to do similar things.

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akoboldfrying1y ago

There's nuance here that I didn't originally appreciate, thanks!

Interested in any links you could provide, too.

boomboomsubbanOP1y ago

The Wikipedia article handles it adequately, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks#Unredacted_cable_rel...

If you want a deeper dive, I'm sure something exists but I don't remember where it would be.

slg1y ago

>Shortly after, he ends up in embassy and was unable or unwilling to do similar things.

Are you suggesting with this "unable or unwilling to do similar things" part that he should be excused because he tried to do it initially? Should we forgive a lapse in journalistic ethics from that point forward because he started out on the right path and just couldn't stick to it?

StanislavPetrov1y ago

Being forced into taking refuge in a tiny foreign embassy because the country whose war crimes you exposed is trying to lock you in a dungeon for life and/or assassinate you isn't, "a lapse in journalistic ethics". Our government has been the bad guy every step of the way in this whole affair.

slg1y ago

> because the country whose war crimes you exposed is trying to lock you in a dungeon for life and/or assassinate you

Maybe the plea deal should be an opportunity to reevaluate these hyperbolic claims regarding the potential punishment that awaited Assange.

>Our government has been the bad guy every step of the way in this whole affair.

And that was the exact lack of nuance I was criticizing. One side being a bad guy does not make the other side a good guy. There is no excuse for the way Assange eventually abandoned any form of journalistic ethics.

lukan1y ago

"One of those journalists working for The Guardian proceeded to publish the key to the entire database, ensuring everything was leaked"

It might have been somewhat leaked before, maybe because of misscomunication/individual action. But it was not known widely before - still, Wikipedia made the decision to publish all unredacted on their own:

"WikiLeaks said that on 2 September it would publish the entire, unredacted archive in searchable form on its website"

boomboomsubbanOP1y ago

The key had unquestionably leaked, and though it wasn't wide spread at the time, it inevitably would be. Things were already starting

Wikileaks said their decision to publish was to prevent third parties from tampering with the leaks creating false stories, but it was likely primarily that Assange and Wikileaks wanted the credit for the leak. Not a noble reason, but it still wasn't their fault they were in that shitty situation.

lukan1y ago

"Not a noble reason, but it still wasn't their fault they were in that shitty situation."

Not so sure about that. I recall some of the journalists working with him on the release said, they were shocked to here, that Assange said he does not care at all about the life of the informants, as they were working for the US. (source, some article from "Spiegel", would be quite some work to dig that up)

So I do not trust, that he seriously was concerned about their lifes, making serious security considerations.

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akoboldfrying1y ago

There's nuance here that I didn't originally appreciate, thanks!

Interested in any links you could provide, too.

boomboomsubbanOP1y ago

The Wikipedia article handles it adequately, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks#Unredacted_cable_rel...

If you want a deeper dive, I'm sure something exists but I don't remember where it would be.

slg1y ago

>Shortly after, he ends up in embassy and was unable or unwilling to do similar things.

StanislavPetrov1y ago

slg1y ago

> because the country whose war crimes you exposed is trying to lock you in a dungeon for life and/or assassinate you

Maybe the plea deal should be an opportunity to reevaluate these hyperbolic claims regarding the potential punishment that awaited Assange.

>Our government has been the bad guy every step of the way in this whole affair.

lukan1y ago

"One of those journalists working for The Guardian proceeded to publish the key to the entire database, ensuring everything was leaked"

"WikiLeaks said that on 2 September it would publish the entire, unredacted archive in searchable form on its website"

boomboomsubbanOP1y ago

The key had unquestionably leaked, and though it wasn't wide spread at the time, it inevitably would be. Things were already starting

lukan1y ago

"Not a noble reason, but it still wasn't their fault they were in that shitty situation."

So I do not trust, that he seriously was concerned about their lifes, making serious security considerations.

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