Headline October 25, 2016/ ''' *WONDERS-ALL* -!WOW!- WIKILEAKS* '''

''' *WONDERS-ALL* -

!WOW!- WIKILEAKS* '''

SINCE ITS VERY INCEPTION,  WIKILEAKS   has  succeeded spectacularly on some fronts, uncovering-

Indiscriminate killing,  hypocrisy  and corruption, and helping spark the  Arab Spring.

Back in 2000 it  was just getting started when Mr. Assange, an Australian national, sent a mission statement to potential collaborators. One of his goals, he said-was to help expose  ''illegal or immoral''  behaviour by the governments in the West.

Mr. Assange made clear, though  that his main focus was elsewhere. ''Our primary targets are those highly oppressive regimes in China, Russia and Central Eurasia,'' he wrote........

But given WikiLeaks limited resources and the very great hurdles of translation, Mr. Julian Assange said, why focus on Russia, which he described as a  *bit player on the world stage,'' compared with countries-

Like the China and the United States?   In any event, he said,  Kremlin corruption is an old story. ''Every man and his dog is criticizing Russia.'' he said. ''It's a bit boring,  isn't it?''

To  Gavin MacFadyen, a WikiLeaks supporter who run the  center for Investigative Journalism at the University of London, the question for Mr. Assange is not where the material comes from, but whether it is true and in the public interest.

*He noted that  Intelligence Services  had a long history of using news organizations to plant stories and the Western news outlets often publish material that comes from the  C.I.A. uncritically*.

Recent events, though, have left some transparency advocates wondering whether  WikiLeaks has lost its way. 

There is a big difference between publishing materials from a whistle-blower like Chelsea Manning  -the soldier who gave  WikiLeaks its war log and diplomatic cable scoops=

And accepting information, even indirectly from a  foreign intelligence service seeking to advance its own powerful interests, said John Wonderlich, the executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, a group devoted to government transparency.

''They're just aligning themselves with whoever gives them information to get attention or revenge against their enemies,'' Mr. Wonderlich said. 

''They are welcoming governments to back into each other and disrupt each other's democratic processes, all on a pretty weak case for the public interest.''

Others see Mr. Assange assuming an increasingly blinkered approach to the world that, coupled with his own secrecy, has left them disillusioned.

''The battle for transparency was supposed to be global, at least Assange claimed that at the beginning,'' said Andrei A. Soldatov, an investigating journalist who has written extensively about Russian security services.

''It is strange that this principle is not being applied to Assange himself and his dealings with one particular country, and that is Russia,'' Mr. Soldatov said. ''He seems to think that one may compromise a lot fighting a bigger evil. 

Shortly after receiving the war logs in 2010, Mr. Assange threatened to make good on the promise of his mission statement. WikiLeaks, he told a Moscow newspaper, had obtained compromising materials'' about Russia, about your government and your businessmen.''

But Mr. Assange's life was soon upended. On Nov. 20 of that year, an international warrant was issued of his arrest in connection with allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, which he denies.

Eight days later, WikiLeaks release of a cache of State Department cables cast unvarnished   -and unwelcome-  light on the United States diplomatic relationships.

As Mr. Assange pointed out in the interview with  The Times, many of the cables involved blunt judgements on Russia, one called it a  'mafia state.'  But the documents proved far more damaging to the United States' interests than to Russia's and officials in Moscow seemed unperturbed. 

Russia's foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, dismissed Mr. Assange as a ''petty thief running around the Internet.''

Mr. Assange, asked soon after by Time Magazine  whether he still planned to expose the secret dealings of the Kremlin, reiterated his earlier vow, ''Yes, indeed,'' he said.

But that promised assault would not materialize. Instead, with Mr. Assange's legal troubles mounting, Mr. Putin would come to his defense.

In late November 2010, United States officials announced an investigation of WikiLeaks. Mrs. Clinton whose State Department was scrambled by what became known as Cablegate, vowed to take  ''aggressive''  steps to hold those responsible to account.     

The next month, Mr. Assange was arrested by the London police to face questioning by the Swedes, who he feared would turn him over to the Americans. Out on bail, he holed up and fought extradition at a Georgian country house owned by a supporter, Vaughan Smith, who said in an interview that he believed Mr. Assange to be the victim of an  ''intense online bullying and disinformation campaign.''

One day after Mr. Assange's arrest, the Russian president appeared at a news conference with the french prime minister. Brushing off a questioner who suggested the diplomatic cables portrayed Russia as undemocratic, Mr. Putin used the opportunity to bash the West.

''As far as democracy goes, it should be complete democracy. Why then did they put Mr. Assange behind bars? he asked. ''There's an American saying: He who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones.''

It was the first of several times that Mr. Putin would take up Mr. Assange's cause. He called the charges against Mr. Assange ''politically motivated''  and declared that-

WikiLeaks founder is being  ''prosecuted for spreading the information he received from the U.S. military regarding the actions of U.S.A in the Middle East, including Iraq.''

The Honour and Serving of the Operational research on *World & Ways* continues. 

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the World. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

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