Once Again An Excellent Commentary by Glenn Greenwald.

Below is a quote from Glenn Greenwald's latest blogpost on his very readable Salon.com blog. I generally recommend him for the simple reason, that he is usually a very informed and well argued observer and commentator. Read his blog!

"I'm genuinely astounded at the pervasive willingness to view what has happened in Libya as some sort of grand triumph even though virtually none of the information needed to make that assessment is known yet, including: how many civilians have died,how much more bloodshed will there be, what will be needed to stabilize that country and,most of all, what type of regime will replace Gadaffi? Does anyone know how many civilians have died in the NATO bombing of Tripoli and the ensuing battle? Does anyone know who will dominate the subsequent regime? Does it matter?"

Glenn Greenwald: Supporters of Bradley Manning Risk Jail for Refusing to Testify in WikiLeaks Probe

Glenn Greenwald, Presentation, 8 March 2011

Nationalistisk bias blandt amerikanske journalister.

I sagen om Raymond Davis, en amerikansk CIA agent som lige nu er tilbageholdt i Pakistan for dobbeltmord, får vi et interessant indblik i ledende medlemmer af den amerikanske presses nationalistiske tilbøjeligheder og hvordan disse afspejler sig i deres rapporteringer (eller i dette tilfælde mangel på samme).

Den amerikanske avis New York Times var, i modsætning til den engelske avis The Guardian, tilbageholdne med at fortælle deres læsere, at Raymond Davis ikke var en amerikansk diplomat, men derimod en CIA agent. Den tidligere embedsmand under Bush-administration, Jack Goldsmith, forsvarer dette, idet han mener det er udtryk “for et lidet værdsat fænomen” nemlig en patriotisme som gennemsyrer den amerikanske presses ledende skribenter indenfor sikkerhedspolitiske anliggender. Et fænomen som Goldsmith mener er en god ting. Goldsmith citerer endvidere i sit forsvar af New York Times redaktionelle linje den amerikanske general Michael Hayden som har sagt, at amerikanske journalister udviser “villighed til at samarbejde med os [den amerikanske udøvende magt]” når det kommer til sikkerhedspolitiske anliggender. Den amerikanske blogger og forfatningsadvokat Glenn Greenwald finder dette særdeles kritisabelt i en anbefalelsesværdig kommentar på sin blog:

“Leave aside just for the moment the question of whether it's good or bad for American journalists to allow such nationalistic allegiances to mold their journalism. One key point is that allowing such loyalties to determine what one reports or conceals is a very clear case of bias and subjectivity: exactly what most reporters vehemently deny they possess. Many establishment journalists love to tout their own objectivity -- insisting that what distinguishes them from bloggers, opinionists and others is that they simply report the facts, free of any biases or policy preferences. But if Goldsmith is right -- and does anyone doubt that he is? -- then it means that "the American press" generally and "senior American national security journalists" in particular operate with a glaring, overwhelming bias that determines what they do and do not report: namely, the desire to advance U.S. interests.”

More on Wikileaks.

Glenn Greenwald: What WikiLeaks revealed to the world in 2010

The generally interesting blogger Glenn Greenwalds round-up of the most important stories that were revealed by wikileaks in 2010.

Glenn Greenwald debates WikiLeaks with Frances Townsend on CNN



Julian Assange interviewed on Al-Jazeera.

Top officials in several Arab countries have close links with the CIA, and many officials keep visiting US embassies in their respective countries voluntarily to establish links with this key US intelligence agency, says Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website, WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks founder Assange told Al Jazeera network that he is prepared to release all the explosive information in his possession to the public after "he has been done away with. "These officials are spies for the US in their countries," Assange told Al Jazeera Arabic channel in an interview yesterday.

The interviewer, Ahmed Mansour, said at the start of the interview which was a continuation of last week's interface, that Assange had even shown him the files that contained the names of some top Arab officials with alleged links with the CIA.

Assange or Mansour, however, didn't disclose the names of these officials. The WikiLeaks founder said he feared he could be killed but added that there were 2,000 websites that were ready to publish the remaining files that are in possession of WikiLeaks after "he has been done away with"."