Although I can't for the life of me see what all the fuss is about over the publication of gossip and tittletattle made into "gospel" by being sent by third rate diplomats to their over-weening State Department, Julian Assange has undoubtedbly annoyed a lot of people.
"There are the mysterious “insurance files” that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has encouraged supporters to download and store in case something happens to either him or his website.
The first file appeared earlier this summer, four days after the website published its famous Afghan war logs. A link to another file was released earlier this week on Twitter alongside the statement: “Now is a good time to download some ‘history insurance’”.
The contents of these files are currently encrypted. But as Assange remarked earlier this year in a pointed threat against any attempts to stifle his organisation: “All we have to do is release the password to that material and it’s instantly available.”
It’s a shrewd move. Were the US to succeed in permanently taking down the Wikileaks website, they could be faced with a potential Pandora’s Box of previously unpublished information that might make the current leaks look like a picnic.
“It could all be a very elaborate double bluff,” says one cyber-warfare specialist who asked to remain anonymous. “But knowing how deeply anti-American Wikileaks is, my hunch is those files would contain something that could really sting the US if they ever took action against Assange.” (From the so-called Independent)
So, anyone who is a tad irritated by the unwanted publicity and who is also anti-American now has even more motivation to have Mr. Assange whacked.
Good policy?
The Penguin