A Better Class of "Criminal"........

When the Joker filed in a request for a better class of criminal, I doubt he could have done better than Julian Assange, editor-in-chief of Wikileaks. Well almost. There is that rape and sexual harassment charge he just got arrested for. Then again, it does look like the allegation has been taken out from the pages of a cheap thriller. Come to think of it, Clive Owen sounds less corny saying "..the International Bank of Business and Credit is behind it all", when compared. At the end of it though, one can't really say. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. His side of the story, however, does sound a wee bit believable. He confesses to having a consensual sexual encounter with two women, but insists that the rape charges are completely fabricated. And it isn't all that hard to see why that makes sense.
 
In his quest for making the world aware, he has ticked off quite a lot of people. The Yanks, bankers, oil men, and politicians, all are out to settle a few scores. Which is no surprise, really. I'd be pissed if I found that someone had uploaded a video of me punching the neighborhood kid and laughing while I'm at it. I'd certainly want to dish out some revenge. In my case though, I think I'll have to look for some other way to get back at him. Accusing him of rape would be......weird!!!!

While the world across debates whether he and his foundation are the new form of journalism or terrorism, it’s more important to ask whether Wikileaks works. Simply put, all this hoo haa, but is it worth the effort? From the looks of it, it pretty much is. For instance in Kenya, December 2002. Mwai Kibaki was sworn in as President, taking over from despot Daniel arap Moi. Kibaki's campaign manifesto was based on, among other things, getting rid of corruption in Kenya. In fact, he swore to clean out Moi for his corrupt practices. On becoming President, he stuck to his word and commissioned risk consultants Kroll Associates to investigate the corruption of Moi and his stooges. The report was completed in 2004, and detailed financial accounts and records showing assets of over $ 2 billion in the UK, the US, Australia, and South Africa belonging to Moi. The report though was never officially published, neither by Kibaki, nor by Kroll. Mostly because he himself was now dogged by a corruption scandal of his own, the Anglo Leasing Scandal. It was however leaked by Wikileaks, that too just weeks before the Kenyan 2007 elections. An election in which Kibaki was running for re-election, that too with Moi's endorsement. Outrage, they said. How could Kibaki pal up with the same guy he vowed to clean up? The answer was pretty simple. Moi is a useful man. He is reputed on being a master tactician. He still commands a huge and loyal following among the masses, and his status as an elder statesman gives him experience unrivaled in African politics. One does not bury a man this useful. In exchange for his endorsement, Kibaki offered Moi protection. The Guardian ran this as a front page story, title The Looting of Kenya. African papers started talking about it. And within a span of days. Kibaki started losing ground. What followed was a hotly contested election with Kibaki winning a second term, but only just. In order to continue as President, he had to form a coalition with Raila Odinga, his opponent, who took over as the Prime Minister. It is this story Assange has been bragging about lately, and rightly so. Changing the way politics works, especially in a continent where politics is far more dynamic and complicated, pretty much proves Wikileaks is much much more than just a TMZ episode starring diplomats.
 
But the problem with Wikileaks I believe is just that. At times, it comes dangerously close to being a paparazzi outfit. Sarah Palin's Yahoo! account details for example. Assange agrees that there are certain legitimate secrets and he would not release them. And I'm pretty sure an email password figures somewhere in that legitimate secrets box, along with diplomatic secrets. In any diplomatic process, secrecy is a requirement, not an option. It is vital for each participant to make honest, often brash assessments of their opponents to arrive at any kind of result.

Within the same lines comes another issue. The fact that Wikileaks is more of an editorial. The Apache massacre video was not put up as it was recorded. It was cut short, edited and given a title, for "maximum political impact", as Assange put it. The original video was available only on request. And viewed by only 1 out of 10 people who had watched the edited version. That, in some ways, makes it a distant cousin of Fox News. My sense of a whistle-blow is an unadulterated, straight forward account of the truth. While I might be naive to think so, it certainly does not make me wrong. Because what I am concerned with is this. From the entire set of data that is available to them, how much of it is actually being published. Assange has already made clear he might unload everything he has. So what all is being held back??? Is the world getting a whistle blower's account or a Glenn Beck bulletin?

Cablegate will no doubt change the way governments handle diplomacy. Like the film, gaming and music industry, it was about time diplomacy learnt the cardinal rule of the internet age. One cannot contain digital information. Especially in a world where anything that is digital is on public domain, already or soon enough.