On board the good ship
Cablegate
By Israel Shamir
Our real-life Neo did it again! In this new
installment of Wiki-Matrix, the intrepid Julian Assange assaults the
Empire while being pursued by ravenous Pentagon generals, shadowy CIA agents and
overheated Swedish feminists.
Excuse me if I’m sounding like a teenager’s
comic book, but this story has so many twists and plots it makes my head swim. I
haven’t been this dizzy since my first days as an anti-Zionist writer, hounded
and alone. One day I was approached by a venerable Hassidic man; I instinctively
cringed, expecting an ugly scene. Instead of condemnation I was deluged with
goodwill, and at that same moment an orchestra next door suddenly struck up an
old Jewish wedding tune. This ancient blessing seemed to rocket me up, up and
away from the modern nationalist cult of brutal force, up to a place where old
traditions still had value and relevance. Or was that just Clark Kent doing his
thing again?
The digital generation prefers the
Matrix’s Neo to Superman, but the dynamics remain the same. As Neo wanders
Morpheus’ spaceship, he stumbles upon a group of down-to-earth, eager, sweet kids
dedicated to the destruction of the Matrix. Hard as steel yet perfectly humane,
these young men and women enjoy the camaraderie of an elite troop awaiting the
signal to attack. They follow their leader simply because he is the best and the
brightest. I felt this same esprit de corps on a recent visit to one of
Wikileaks’ safe-houses somewhere in Europe. This confluence of hackers and
journalists was assembled in preparation to launch what will be known to history
as Cablegate, or perhaps Megaleaks.
Here were Malena from Brazil, Joseph from
Sweden, Sara from New Zealand, James from England, and numerous others no less
important and valuable, all lounging on mats and sofas, laptops on laps and eyes
peering into the heart of the Matrix. One quarter of a million secret and
confidential US Embassy cables sit like so many digital wasps waiting to be
released into cyberspace. They will strike at the tender underbelly of the
empire, the flattering self-delusions that maintain the imperial armies. It just
might be enough to turn the tide in the battle to recover our evaporating
freedoms.
These dirty little cables throw a bright
light upon the murky policies of the American Imperium, on their methods of
collecting information, of delivering orders, of subverting politicians and
robbing nations. Yet before we lapse into a comfortable and reflexive
anti-Americanism, let us never forget that this, arguably the greatest
revelation of criminal wrongdoing in history, was only made possible because
brave and honest Americans were willing to risk life and limb to leak the truth.
Tensions run high when you dare oppose the
awesome power of the Matrix. These bright, young cyber-warriors are willing to
put their lives on the line for us. Will they survive the launch, or will some
evil clones round them up and break them down? In any case, spirits are high and
the weather is fit for such a daring enterprise: glorious high skies, a
brilliant sun, and bright stars to guide us through the restless nights.
Whatever happens I shall be forever grateful for these days, for the company of
these charming young men and women, and for the inspiration of their charismatic
leader. It is impossible not to admire Julian Assange. He is forever kind,
quiet, gentle, and even meek; like the Tao, he leads without leading, directs
without commanding. He never raises his voice; he hardly needs to speak and the
way becomes clear. Our Neo is guided by the ideal of social transparency. Bright
light is the best weapon against conspiracies.
On board the good ship Megaleaks, I
leaf through the latest reports from the front line. There seem to be three main
themes, all of which are centered on our plucky hero, Julian Assange. There is
the “traitor” theme (which shrouds a globalist empire in patriotic colors), the
“rapist” theme (in which a spurned lover is revenged upon our hero because he
failed to produce a contraceptive device at the critical moment), and finally
there is the “Zionist plot” theme (which is oddly tied up with the rape theme
since one of his accusers has absconded to Israel). As in all well-designed
disinformation campaigns, there is something for everyone: conservatives can
jump on board with the traitor theme, liberals are fans of the rape theme, and
the lunatic fringe can get excited about another Zionist plot. Let’s do our best
to liberate the enslaved name of “Zion” from the apartheid state and restore it
to where it belongs: the good ship Megaleaks and the spotlight of truth.
It is simply too good a name to leave to Zionists.
The contents of Megaleaks
The full set consists of 251,288 documents
dating from the 28th of December 1966 to the 28th of February 2010, originating
from 274 embassies. Each one of these documents is either a secret diplomatic
cable that was sent to the USA, or a communiqué from the Secretary of State to
US bases. They show the orders given around the world, the intelligence the US
government wants gathered and the information to be fed back; what diplomats
discover about the places they are working, detailed notes of meetings with
members of other governments and the opinions of the sender regarding those with
whom they meet. The 261,276,536 words that constitute these cables would, if
printed, fill over 3,000 books. These cables clearly depict the tentacles of US
worldwide command and control.
The preliminary analysis reveals bad news
as well as good news. Bad news: they are insidious. The files show US political
infiltration of nearly every country, even supposedly neutral states such as
Sweden and Switzerland. US embassies keep a close watch on their hosts. They
have penetrated the media, the arms business, oil, intelligence, and they lobby
to put US companies at the head of the line. The cables show that the United
States is already maintaining a global empire.
And now the good news: they are not
omnipotent. The cables prove that they encounter resistance on every level. They
always push, but they don’t always get their way. Russia is relatively free, so
are Iran and Turkey; even the tamest European state does not always placidly
submit. The cables add to our own intimate knowledge of the grassroots
opposition in the UK and the US; online magazines like Counterpunch are
beacons in a sea of fog.
The files reveal some brazen cases of
interference. Many of the most recent are connected to Iran, which has become an
obsession within the US leadership. For instance, just before the speech of
President Ahmadinejad at the UN General Assembly, the State Department ordered
the Europeans to leave the room at a certain cue. In fact, the European powers
did jump to the US whistle that day, just as the obedient soviet satellites once
leapt to Stalin’s tune. There was only one country that violated the order:
Sweden. The terrified representative had accidentally missed the cue and
frantically sent distressed signals to the Americans for further instruction.
Consider the small and poor state of
Tajikistan, who merely changed masters. It supposedly became “independent” in
1991, but what really happened? Nowadays, they jump to US orders just as they
once did Soviet orders. An ambassador’s cable says tersely: “the US called upon
president Rahmonov to dismiss [the Drug Authority chief] Mirzoev and he
fulfilled this request”. Who shall save our poor little Tajikistan from the
clutches of the Matrix? The ambassador gives us a clue: “We believe Russia is
exerting consistent and strong pressure on Tajikistan to reduce the U.S. and
Western role and presence. Moscow's pressure is beginning to take a toll.”
Or consider Azerbaijan, where American
influence has waned and the power of Israel has waxed to such an extent that a
cable from the Baku embassy compares Israeli-Azeri relations to an iceberg with
nine-tenths unseen.
It appears that American power peaked in
1990s, and now it has begun to slowly decay. Megaleaks is not so much a
cause as a symptom of decline. With any luck, people of good will around the
world can work together to gracefully degrade the machinery of foreign
domination. Americans have benefited least of all from the violent and intrusive
politics of globalism. Heroic figures like Julian Assange lead us toward genuine
local control and away from a Matrix-like network of conspiracies.
Edited by Paul Bennett