As the transition from Obama to the Trump Administration accelerates, brutal battles are being waged behind the scenes. From the ramparts of the neocon think tanks to the “experts” who are always wrong yet somehow always featured by the mainstream media, the interventionists are not about to go quietly into that good night. In fact they are kicking and screaming to keep their positions of power and influence in the Trump Administration. They may well win their battle against those who advocate some of the more realistic positions articulated by candidate Trump. They are certainly not used to losing.
In the smoke of battle there remains the issue of Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange. What is to become of him? Will the US still seek to put him on trial for blowing the whistle on the illegal and immoral activities of the Obama and Bush Administrations? Would not a “drained swamp” result in a Trump-mandated u-turn on investigating Assange and his truth-telling organization?
Turn back the clock to 2010 when Wikileaks first appeared on the scene and one-by-one Members of Congress called for Assange’s head. US Rep Ron Paul saw clearly the value of the organization and stood on the Floor of Congress to defend all the whistleblowers. Since then he has consistently championed those who shine the light on the activities our government would rather keep in the shadows. Watch Ron Paul’s historic 2010 speech below. But first have a look at the nine critical questions he raises in his speech:
Number 1: Do the America People deserve know the truth regarding the ongoing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen?
Number 2: Could a larger question be how can an army private access so much secret information?
Number 3: Why is the hostility mostly directed at Assange, the publisher, and not at our governments failure to protect classified information?
Number 4: Are we getting our moneys worth of the 80 Billion dollars per year spent on intelligence gathering?
Number 5: Which has resulted in the greatest number of deaths: lying us into war or Wikileaks revelations or the release of the Pentagon Papers?
Number 6: If Assange can be convicted of a crime for publishing information that he did not steal, what does this say about the future of the first amendment and the independence of the internet?
Number 7: Could it be that the real reason for the near universal attacks on Wikileaks is more about secretly maintaining a seriously flawed foreign policy of empire than it is about national security?
Number 8: Is there not a huge difference between releasing secret information to help the enemy in a time of declared war, which is treason, and the releasing of information to expose our government lies that promote secret wars, death and corruption?
Number 9: Was it not once considered patriotic to stand up to our government when it is wrong?
Thomas Jefferson had it right when he advised ‘Let the eyes of vigilance never be closed.’ I yield back the balance of my time.
It is imperative to use our voices to urge an end to the US government’s Wikileaks witch hunt!!!
