Comments on: Wikileaks Threatened with Criminal Prosecution by the BND

By: kalidas

kalidas — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 04:43:08 +0000

http://www.truthinmedia.org/Truthinmedia/Images2000/kosovo9-99.gif

By: Andres Kargar

Andres Kargar — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:28:22 +0000

This is the reality of “democracy” in the Western world. As long as the people submit to the will of their government in a sheepish manner, they can enjoy all appearances of “democratic” privileges, but heaven forbid if the political or economic circumstances make these same citizens a possible threat. That is when the government’s fangs become evident. Where is Reporters without Borders or the Committee to Protect Journalists when these types flagrant violations occur?

By: Tom Burghardt

Tom Burghardt — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 03:19:09 +0000

I’m neither disturbed nor insulted by Mr. Kenney’s comments. Far from “grossly exaggerating the importance” of my article, my purpose was to point to an attack on independent journalists to report inconvenient facts by those in power, not as a publicity stunt as Mr. Kenny implies. If he chooses to think otherwise, so be it.

As far as the information in my original piece being “re-hashed yet again,” I must point out, as an American writing primarily (though not exclusively) for an English-speaking audience, the facts concerning the German state’s intervention along with their U.S. “partner” in fomenting and exacerbating the crisis that led to wholesale bloodletting in the former Yugoslavia is neither well-known in the U.S., nor generally reported by corporate media.

Perhaps Mr. Kenney would care to cite a single article by U.S. print journalists where the phrase “Thaci government” and “organized crime” appears in the same sentence since the statelet declared “independence” last February.

Whether or not Wikileaks can be described as “global whistleblowers” I leave to the discerning readers of Dissident Voice. The briefest perusal of the site’s latest posts is answer enough.

By: John Hatch

John Hatch — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:07:18 +0000

Tom Burghardt is a first-rate journalist whom I take very seriously. That a secretive German government agency is using its power to threaten anyone with regard to the dissemination of information to do with the latter’s nefarious activities is information everyone needs to know. Look at what the CIA tries to get away with.

By: Michael Kenny

Michael Kenny — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:04:37 +0000

Mr Burghardt is grossly exaggerating the importance of his article, which merely contained material culled from sources which were in every media outlet in Europe weeks ago. It said absolutely nothing that the whole of Europe didn’t already know! No one could possibly object to the same information being re-hashed yet again, therefore. On the other hand, the documents may well be secret.

All European countries have fairly strict laws as to what may be published concerning the military and the intelligence services. Whether anything on the Wikileaks website infringes German law is a matter for the public prosecutor. All Mr Uhrlau can do is report the matter to the appropriate prosecutor and it is then totally out of his hands. The BND has no “legal machinery” to engage!

By the way, all Wiki sites are American and may be described as “global” only in the sense that they are available in every country.