
Bloomberg BusinessWeek refers to WikiLeaks.org as a non profit group that releases information governments and businesses want to keep confidential. A cross reference with Wikipedia states that it “is an international non-profit media organization that publishes submissions of otherwise unavailable documents from anonymous sources and leaks…Within a year of its launch, the site claimed a database that had grown to more than 1.2 million documents.”
Here is how WikiLeaks describes itself on its website:
WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organization dedicated to bringing important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for independent sources around the world to leak information to our journalists. We publish material of ethical, political and historical significance while keeping the identity of our sources anonymous, thus providing a universal way for the revealing of suppressed and censored injustices.
WikiLeaks’ recent leak of 251,287 US Embassy cables appears to be the proverbial straw to break the camel’s back. Amazon.com apparently bowing to US political pressure has severed Wikileaks from its servers. Yesterday we read about an international warrant issued by Interpol for Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange. To the horror of Bank of America executives they learned WikiLeaks has them on the radar next!
World powers seem ready after much embarrassment to cut off Assange and WikiLeaks at the knees.
BU did a search of WikiLeaks website and found one cable listed so far under US Embassy Bridgetown. The information appears to be nondescript to the BU household. We will continue to monitor as more documents are uploaded. We expect given Barbados’ insignificant positioning in the geopolitical sphere that it is highly unlikely WikiLeaks revelations will embarrass anyone in this neck of the woods.
The nature of the WikiLeaks leaks seem to have placed many people in the US intelligence community especially in danger. While relationships between governments can be resolved through diplomatic efforts, lives lost cannot be reinstated. The mission of WikiLeaks and its commitment to freedom of expression has thrown the world in a quandary. Frankly this is a matter with goal posts which are like to move. BU joins the world with keen interest to observe how this matter will play out. Whatever the result it will be precedent setting.





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