TIME's Q&A With WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

TIME:

TIME: There's a collection of newspapers with your picture on the front page. Who is Julian Assange?

Assange: I am a journalist and publisher and inventor. In the case of WikiLeaks, I have tried to create a system which solves the problem of censorship of the press and the censorship of whistleblowers across the whole world. As a public spokesman for the organization I take all the heat and get all the credit.

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[undsoweiter]

05:53 PM on 07/28/2010

You simply can't have a war without secrets. That's a statement that cuts both ways.

[nobodysgirl]

09:20 AM on 07/28/2010

May karma getcha mr assange. You got your big scoop, your big headlines. My little brother is in the military and it would be unforgivable if the consequences of your actions put him in jeopardy.

I believe in transparency - within reason. Publicizing classified documents while we're at war isn't within reason, sorry.

Wonder how many of america's foes are at this minute, devouring this intelligence?

[silkyj]

11:24 AM on 07/28/2010

Umm if you actually bothered to look at the information, which it is evident you have not - You would realize one of the points discussed is something that is long known to the rest of the world that the Taliban have been getting active intel and training from groups such as Pakistans ISI and the Iranian Quds forces. Same reason why in the past years there has been advances in some of their abilities to carry out attacks and changes in their IED technology.

As far as the 'reasoning' of bringing such information to light, hmm where would we be if such information or individuals have not made a effort over the years. We would still be in endless war of Vietnam for one -where people attempted to use the same logic you are using now and years later some have seen the error of their ways. No different than the people of this country have a right to know a more realistic picture of the nation building project we are in, just like how developing the ARVN was a useless strategy. I wish your family best wishes just like I want my friends back home here in Texas, yet at the same time if you believed in transparency you would be more interested in finding out what PMCs and other corporate interests are really doing over there.

[just sayin]

08:15 AM on 07/28/2010

Thank you for taking it upon yourself to “solve the problem of censorship of the press”, Mr. Assange. Nothing like an individual member of the citizenry who is disconnected from the strategies, tactics and problems of fighting a war deciding what should and should not be secret. Just one question, “Would be equally supportive of someone publishing your home address and phone number under the same pretense?”

Thank God for whistleblowers; there are times when they are badly needed. This was just a document dump, though, with little point beyond self-promotion and hurting the U.S.

Thanks a lot, Mr. Assange. I hope it was worth it.

[Chinalover]

07:52 AM on 07/28/2010

WikiLeaks may turn out to be a greater blessing for our planet than we currently suppose. Their two forays into publishing war information has helped put the "War Machine" (the US government and its associated military industrial complex) on a defensive stance for the first time in over a decade. Lets hope that WikiLeaks prospers and continues to expose the crimes and duplicitous actions of the US War Machine and its allies. I have been an ardent student of this war-wrecked century, and Julian Assange is so far, this century's greatest hero.

[suzc]

09:17 AM on 07/28/2010

Clearly you have no loved one in the war zones!
Of course I suppose a China Lover might find this anti-American endearing.

[nobodysgirl]

09:41 AM on 07/28/2010

I'm with you on this, suzc.

[Malbolge]

07:33 AM on 07/28/2010

I've said this before, I'll say it again. No one in the West complained about Wiki-Leaks when it was initially being conceived and created. Back then it was seen as an excellent system for whistle-blowers in former Soviet States, China and East Asia... Allowing workers, citizens and others to leak information highlighting or demonstrating corruption or illegality by Corporations, businesses and local and National Governments. This was welcomed. It would help spread Democracy... it would be a check and a balance for the People against their rulers.

However, now that information compromising to America (and my own Fatherland, Britain... and France and Poland and whoever else) has been released, people commenting here want to see this man shot, or tried for treason? Would these people be calling for the same if information had been leaked about, say, Russian military involvement and possible War Crimes in Chechnya? What about Canadian Military Standard Operating procedures? Or East Timorese Presidential Assassination prevention procedures? Those things are all, or have all, been leaked by Wiki-Leaks, they could all be used to endanger lives... yet it's only now that people are calling for the man to be tried for treason (which is ridiculous, he holds no allegiance to the USA. Would people be happy for an American journalist to be tried in a foreign country for treason for reporting a compromising story?)

If our Governments aren't doing anything wrong, they should have nothing to hide.

[nobodysgirl]

09:07 AM on 07/28/2010

That's an incredibly naive statement: If our govts aren't doing anything wrong, there's nothing to hide.

I have never supported the Iraq war, and want us out of Afghanistan asap - but that adage about 'if you've got nothing to hide, why worry?' is thrown around so carelessly these days in the age of no privacy. War, whether we agree or support it, involves our own people and there's a fine line between free press and treason. National security demands covert and classified actions in the age of technical voyerism, terrorism, and unrest. I'm a moderate politically, but when it comes to national security, you must consider the reality of today's hostile & hatefilled world.

Your history lesson is interesting, but your final comment very childlike. Sorry.

[Malbolge]

10:06 AM on 07/28/2010

My final comment was meant to be child like... I had ~15 words left and wanted to sum up, and be facetious and cynical (as I am wont to do). It's the line that we, as citizens, are fed all the time about our own privacy concerns... CCTV cameras, the Patriot Act, cataloguing of Internet activity, phone activity, text messages, our buying habits, DNA databases, 'random' stop & search... Nothing to hide, nothing to fear. I was just turning it round and applying it to the Governments that apply it to us every day. Maybe if there is a little more of this sort of whistle blowing, and some more State secrets are exposed, some amount of privacy may be recaptured by citizens.

In addition... Yes, a military may wish to keep information secret, in order to prosecute their part of the war... but, also, to hide abuses. There is a military argument for keeping that information secret... it is timely, it may describe troop movements etc. However, information like that expires very quickly... So I don't think that argument is valid in this situation.

[James Croteau]

02:07 AM on 07/28/2010

He seems to know more about US History then a lot of the people in the US.

And he is doing more to protect their rights, as a lot of the people in the US give up their rights.

[patriciacaldwell]

01:54 AM on 07/28/2010

I read the Q & A with Julian Assange and I'm puzzled by the disconnect between what he says his beliefs are and what he does. I read a NYT Magazine article about him a few months ago. It appears that Assange flies to a "secure" location and works for 3-4 days without eating or sleeping. He's protected by a chosen few who risk everything for him. I wonder if it is wise for a paranoid, sleep-deprived hacker to make decisions about leaking documents that can affect the lives of our troops. His helpers are true believers in his cause, whatever it is.

[PaleMail]

06:13 AM on 07/28/2010

I haven't read any report yet that these documents "affect the lives of our troops". Have you? The lives of troops are risked when sent to war and deplorably so when nobody can even define what a win in Afghanistan is.

[BestGuest]

06:24 AM on 07/28/2010

that's waste

[BestGuest]

06:24 AM on 07/28/2010

He's a hero... He talks about the needless wast of Afghan lives.... Remember them?

[silkyj]

11:06 AM on 07/28/2010

Some people conveniently seem to forget "those people"

[dwillisno1]

12:45 AM on 07/28/2010

I haven't yet reached a conclusion on this issue, but can't help noticing how much this guy sounds like the guys from BP

[PaleMail]

06:38 AM on 07/28/2010

British accent.

[breakingpoint]

12:20 AM on 07/28/2010

someone's getting rich off these wars.

[PaleMail]

06:19 AM on 07/28/2010

And it ain't the kids in the trenches.

[Jim Elkins]

11:32 PM on 07/27/2010

http://www.darkpolitricks.com/2010/06/daniel-ellsberg-fears-a-us-hit-on-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange/

One can only hope...

[patriciacaldwell]

02:03 AM on 07/28/2010

Did Assange leave the U.S. to avoid questioning or possible arrest is a saner question. I think there's a political motivation in suggesting a hit man would be sent for him.

[UpNorthGuyWI]

11:19 PM on 07/27/2010

This leak can do nothing but harm the enemy, who are laughing at how dumb we are. ASSage is an elf

[patriciacaldwell]

01:55 AM on 07/28/2010

Do you mean harm or help?

[wkrett]

11:07 PM on 07/27/2010

With all the attention given to the source of these "leaks" there will undoubtedly be an effort to make Internet access not as ubiquitous as it currently is. We need to remember stories like these so that doesn't happen:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/03/outgoing-dhs-cy/

[BestGuest]

06:25 AM on 07/28/2010

One of my first thoughts too....

[suzc]

09:22 AM on 07/28/2010

We must ALL fight to keep the Internet open and free as possible! It IS our connection now. And ANY govt control will be to the detriment of freedom (as it always seems to be).

[mrJJ]

09:51 PM on 07/27/2010

Source: Wall Street Journal

snip

The material released by WikiLeaks relates entirely to the war in Afghanistan, while Spc. Manning was stationed in Iraq. But investigators are trying to determine what material he was able to get access to and what material he transferred. Col. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said investigators are looking broadly to determine where the material was taken from, but acknowledged that Spc. Manning was a person of interest in the investigation. "He is someone we are looking at closely," Col. Lapan said...

snip

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704700404575391523088194344.html

WikiLeaks Iraq Cache More Than Three Times As Big

Source: Newsweek

The cache of classified U.S. military reports on the Iraq War as yet unreleased by WikiLeaks may be more than three times as large as the set of roughly 76,000 similar reports on the war in Afghanistan made public by the whistle-blower Web site earlier this week, Declassified has learned.

Read more:
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/2010/07/27/wikileaks-iraq-cache-three-times-bigger.html

[Grant in Calgary]

09:32 PM on 07/27/2010

As more and more reports of what's actually in the documents surfaces, it appears to just reinforce what Obama said during his election run and what a bunch of other participants in Afghanistan have said for years.

USA took their eye off the ball when they invaded Iraq and morale in Afghanistan plummeted. The Afghan situation was left to fester. Should have declared victory when we had one. Bush's obsession with Saddam.

[BestGuest]

06:27 AM on 07/28/2010

If they had concentrated on Afghanistan the situation in Pakistan wouldn't have gotten worse. So they didn't....

[Grant in Calgary]

09:26 PM on 07/27/2010

He's certainly not stupid.