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I've heard Assange call Wikileaks an "intelligence agency", and others call it "the intelligence organization of the people". Why is anyone surprised when the

I've heard Assange call Wikileaks an "intelligence agency", and others call it "the intelligence organization of the people". Why is anyone surprised when the US government treats it like an intelligence agency, cultivating informants within its ranks and attempting to intimidate its agents [0]? I suspect Wikileaks has, on occasion, been fed false information by the US and other governments. I suspect the US is not the only nation that has informants inside of the Wikileaks inner circle. Calling themselves an "intelligence agency" and doing the sort of work that intelligence agencies do means we should expect other intelligence agencies to be working against them to some degree. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1220562 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1220562

abraininavat 13y ago
Why is it that people always feel the need to ask, "Why is anyone surprised,", when in fact it's not clear that anyone's surprised? Is it just to assert that you're smarter than some group of imaginary surprised people?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
alan_cx 13y ago
Really interesting thinking. Yes, if one views Wikileaks like an intelligence gathering agency, a lot more makes sense. It doesnt change my support for it, because in that light it becomes an independent intelligence agency acting for every human, world wide. In that context, should it not be protected and even financed by something like the UN? Equally, it then makes sense that government, especially the paranoid well resourced US government, will treat it as hostile. Worrying and nasty, but very understandable. Now the problem for me is why did the wikileaks people not defend wikileaks like an intelligence agency? I suppose hindsight... I would now suggest a new wikileaks be born, campaign for it to become protected under the UN. It should take all the precautions of a nation's intelligence agencies, and act like one. An intelligence agency to inform the people, as opposed to intelligence agencies to secretly inform people with money and power. I think we need something like that, and we need it now.
- leot 13y ago
  It is wrong to treat WL as an intelligence agency, because WL lacks the power of a sovereign state.

abraininavat 13y ago

Why is it that people always feel the need to ask, "Why is anyone surprised,", when in fact it's not clear that anyone's surprised? Is it just to assert that you're smarter than some group of imaginary surprised people?

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

alan_cx 13y ago

Really interesting thinking. Yes, if one views Wikileaks like an intelligence gathering agency, a lot more makes sense. It doesnt change my support for it, because in that light it becomes an independent intelligence agency acting for every human, world wide. In that context, should it not be protected and even financed by something like the UN? Equally, it then makes sense that government, especially the paranoid well resourced US government, will treat it as hostile. Worrying and nasty, but very understandable. Now the problem for me is why did the wikileaks people not defend wikileaks like an intelligence agency? I suppose hindsight... I would now suggest a new wikileaks be born, campaign for it to become protected under the UN. It should take all the precautions of a nation's intelligence agencies, and act like one. An intelligence agency to inform the people, as opposed to intelligence agencies to secretly inform people with money and power. I think we need something like that, and we need it now.

leot 13y ago
It is wrong to treat WL as an intelligence agency, because WL lacks the power of a sovereign state.