[Benjamin]

8 December 2010

Wikileaks: Australia FM blames US, not Julian Assange


Australia's foreign minister has said the US is to blame for the release of thousands of diplomatic cables on Wikileaks, not its Australian founder, Julian Assange. Kevin Rudd said the release raised questions about US security.
Mr Rudd said he did not "give a damn" about criticism of him in the cables.

Mr Assange, arrested in the UK over sex crime allegations in Sweden, has accused the Australian government of "disgraceful pandering" to the US.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard had earlier called Mr Assange's release of the cables "grossly irresponsible".

Over the past two weeks, Wikileaks has released thousands of classified messages from US envoys around the world, from more than 250,000 it has been given.

Washington has called their publication "irresponsible" and an "attack on the international community".

In an interview with Reuters news agency, Mr Rudd said: "Mr Assange is not himself responsible for the unauthorised release of 250,000 documents from the US diplomatic communications network. The Americans are responsible for that."

The Australian government has found itself in the anomalous position of offering consular assistance to Julian Assange after his arrest in London, while at the same time being highly critical of his part in leaking sensitive US diplomatic cables.

Julian Assange has written an opinion piece for The Australian newspaper which is scathing in its criticism of the Gillard government, accusing her of "trying to shoot the messenger".

The case of Julian Assange is already drawing comparisons here with the detention of an Australian, David Hicks, at Guantanamo Bay. Hicks, who trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, was found guilty of providing material support for terrorism by an American military tribunal. But he became something of a folk hero for many Australians, because of the widespread feeling that he was treated unfairly by the Americans after being detained at Guantanamo Bay without trial.

Mr Rudd, the former prime minister who was replaced by Julia Gillard in June, added: "I think there are real questions to be asked about the adequacy of [the US] security systems and the level of access that people have had to that material.

"The core responsibility, and therefore legal liability, goes to those individuals responsible for that initial unauthorised release."

The White House has ordered US government agencies to tighten their handling of classified documents in the wake of the Wikileaks releases.

Mr Rudd was dismissed in one leaked US cable as a "mistake-prone control freak".

In cables published by the Sydney Morning Herald former US ambassador Robert McCallum said Mr Rudd made "snap announcements without consulting other countries or within the Australian government".

The US was also angered at what it called Mr Rudd's "self-serving and inaccurate leaking" of a phone call with then US President George W Bush in which Mr Rudd was reported as saying: "Stunned to hear Bush say, 'What's the G20?'"

Mr Rudd shrugged off the criticism, saying: "I'm sure much worse has been written about me in the past and probably much worse will be written about me in the future but frankly, mate, I don't care.

So far leaked:
Fears that terrorists may acquire Pakistani nuclear material
Several Arab leaders urged attack on Iran over nuclear issue
US instructs spying on key UN officials
China's changing ties with North Korea
Yemen approved US strikes on militants
Personal and embarrassing comments on world leaders
Afghan leader Hamid Karzai freed dangerous detainees
Russia is a "virtual mafia state" with widespread corruption and bribery
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is "paranoid and weak". Extent of corruption in Afghanistan
Chinese leadership "hacked Google"
A list of key global facilities the US says are vital to its national security
UK fears over Lockerbie bomber
Wikileaks cables: Key issues

"My job's just to act in Australia's national interest as Australia's foreign minister. I don't, frankly, give a damn about this sort of thing. You just get on with it."

Ms Gillard defended Mr Rudd, saying: "He's bringing [his] expertise to bear for the Australian nation and doing an absolutely first class job."

Mr Assange has been highly critical of the Australian government's stance on the release of the cables.

In an opinion piece in The Australian on Wednesday, Mr Assange accused the Australian government of "disgraceful pandering" to the Americans and of putting the powers of the government fully at the disposal of the US.

In the piece headlined "Don't shoot the messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths", he says: "Democratic societies need a strong media and Wikileaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest."

He adds: "The Australian attorney-general is doing everything he can to help a US investigation clearly directed at framing Australian citizens and shipping them to the US."

Mr Assange has been refused bail by a court in London but has vowed to fight extradition to Sweden.

He denies sexually assaulting two women in Sweden but was remanded in custody pending a hearing next week.

Mr Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens, has claimed the charges are "politically motivated".

On a visit to Serbia on Wednesday, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said there had been no contact with US authorities about the possible extradition of Mr Assange from Sweden to the US.

The US has begun a criminal investigation and vowed to punish anyone found responsible for illegal leaks.

No-one has been charged with passing the diplomatic files to Wikileaks, but suspicion has fallen on US Army private Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst arrested in Iraq in June and charged over an earlier leak.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11945558

[lostalex]

Australia couldn't hit back at the US even if it wanted to. Australia would have to take a 16 hour flight and then spend another 4 hours going through customs and immigrations before it even had the opportunity to hit back at America.

Australia is a ****ing island with no western civilizations within 1000 miles. Australia can **** off.

Get real.

[Shasown]

Originally Posted by lostalex

Australia is a ****ing island with no western civilizations within 1000 miles. Australia can **** off.

Get real.

I take it geography wasnt your strongpoint at school, eh, well its not exactly taught well in any US school is it, or history?

http://press.nationalgeographic.com/...=1146580209503

Australia is a continental land mass.

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by lostalex

Australia couldn't hit back at the US even if it wanted to. Australia would have to take a 16 hour flight and then spend another 4 hours going through customs and immigrations before it even had the opportunity to hit back at America.

Australia is a ****ing island with no western civilizations within 1000 miles. Australia can **** off.

Get real.

Love to see you fulfilling the ignorant American stereotype, well done

[lostalex]

says people that believe europe and asia are separate continents...*rolls eyes*

still tryna figure out if Russia and Turkey are in Europe right??? okay then...yea, it's Me that has the problem with geography...

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Shasown

I take it geography wasnt your strongpoint at school, eh, well its not exactly taught well in any US school is it, or history?

http://press.nationalgeographic.com/...=1146580209503

Australia is a continental land mass.

Isn't it funny how it's so easy for you to point to statistics about America?? Oh wait, it's cause we actually study ourselves and proVIDE INFORMATION. Where are all the studies in other countries?? oh yea, they arn't so introspective, they are to busy focusing on America.


So America is stupid, based on a study done BY AMERICANS....

And yet they say that it's Americans that don't understand irony???

[Shasown]

Originally Posted by lostalex

says people that believe europe and asia are separate continents...*rolls eyes*

still tryna figure out if Russia and Turkey are in Europe right??? okay then...yea, it's Me that has the problem with geography...

Funny old thing the europe/asia or Eurasion continent division between geographers also splits US scholars. The same as "does N and S America comprise one or two continents".

As for the UK attempting to keep Turkey and Russia out of the EU, could I recommend you actually go and educate on that situation, it will save you a lot of embarrassment.

I could tell you myself, but then i wouldnt be able to resist adding some comment like "would you like fries with that order of foot in mouth", or offering you a spade for the hole you are digging.

[lostalex]

Africa is more connected to Europe than North America is to South America...and we solved that issue a long time ago.. the continents were officially split with something called the Panama Canal, maybe you've heard of it?

[Shaun]

hell hath no fury like an Australian foreign minister scorned...

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Nutcracker

hell hath no fury like an Australian foreign minister scorned...

Especially one that has been exposed to have called on the US to draw up war plans against China...

He is the Foriegn minister of Australia, and he called on the US (when he was still Prime Minister) to draw up war plans against China.

And rightfully the US diplomats were shocked and appalled by him.

Australians make American rednecks look like aristocrats.

[Shasown]

Originally Posted by lostalex

Isn't it funny how it's so easy for you to point to statistics about America?? Oh wait, it's cause we actually study ourselves and proVIDE INFORMATION. Where are all the studies in other countries?? oh yea, they arn't so introspective, they are to busy focusing on America.


So America is stupid, based on a study done BY AMERICANS....

And yet they say that it's Americans that don't understand irony???

I take it you didnt read the article I linked to?

If you had you would have noted(or ignored) this paragraph:

The National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study polled 510 respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 in the continental United States. The poor performance of young Americans on the poll underscores the results of the 2002 study in which Americans scored second to last on overall geographic knowledge, trailing Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Sweden. For additional 2006 Roper Poll results, go to www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006.

Obviously the results of other studies were taken for comparison. This wasnt done to be ironic, the studies are undertaken in order to gauge education standards, awareness and knowledge.

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Shasown

I take it you didnt read the article I linked to?

If you had you would have noted(or ignored) this paragraph:



Obviously the results of other studies were taken for comparison. This wasnt done to be ironic, the studies are undertaken in order to gauge education standards, awareness and knowledge.

And yet, how many of those countries have universities in the top 20? How many American schools ae there in the list of top 20 universities...

So American's are horrible at grade schools education, but they are the best in the world at high university level education.

So basically...our kids are dumb, but our young adults are the brightest in the world.

Sounds good to me. I'm happy with that. i don't know how that works, but obviously it is working.

[lostalex]

Rank University-- Country Overall Score

1 University of Cambridge--United Kingdom 100.0
2 Harvard University--United States 99.2
3 Yale University--United States 98.7
4 UCL (University College London)--United Kingdom 98.5
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)--United States 98.2
6 University of Oxford--United Kingdom 98.2
7 Imperial College London--United Kingdom 97.8
8 University of Chicago--United States 97.5
9 California Institute of Technology (Caltech)--United States 96.5
10 Princeton University--United States 96.0
11 Columbia University--United States 96.0
12 University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)--United States 96.0
13 Stanford University--United States 93.6
14 Duke University--United States 92.3
15 University of Michigan--United States 92.2
16 Cornell University--United States 90.4
17 Johns Hopkins University--United States 89.7
19 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)--Switzerland 89.3
18 McGill University--Canada 89.3
20 Australian National University (ANU)--Australia 88.6


So basically only England (none of the top universities for the UK are outside of England) does better than the US.