Why Wikileaks is a threat to International Security and Julian Assange is a traitor

By Zach Foster

What happens when private citizens go abroad and disrupt the affairs of foreign nations?  If they go abroad and break any laws or codes whatsoever, they will be at the mercy of the country whose jurisdiction they are in.  In 1860 the filibuster (paramilitary pirate) William Walker, notorious for assembling private armies and attempting to conquer numerous Latin American regions to establish republics over which he would be the sovereign, was arrested and executed by the Honduran government.  He violated their laws with his presence in their country as a foreign invader with public intent to overthrow the sovereign government.  In 1838 Samuel Lount, an American citizen and native of Pehnnsylvania, was executed by the Royal Canadian government.  He got involved in Canadian politics and led an armed uprising in 1837.  Jamaican citizen Edward Nathaniel Bell was executed in 2001 for the murder of a Virginia police officer.  Clyde Lee Conrad, a US Army soldier, was arrested in 1990 by German authorities and sentenced to life in prison for spying on NATO for the People’s Republic of Hungary.

What did these individuals have in common?  Each of them got involved with the affairs of other nations, violating their laws, and being rightfully subjected to their laws and jurisdiction.  Has Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of Wikileaks, commited any offenses against foreign governments as a private citizen?  Has Julian Assange betrayed his own country?  The answer to both is yes.

Upon being accused by the international community of treason, including a great many Americans outraged by the leaking of hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan War documents, Assange has complained publicly in protest of such accusations that he is an Australian, not a United States citizen, and thus not guilty of treason.  The fact remains that he is, though it must be admitted that most people calling him a traitor have been passionately name-calling without knowing the basis of his treason.

Let it be known that, while Assange is guilty, he is by no means the only one guilty, for he is simply the tip of the iceberg.  While there are countless moles working toward the success of Wikileaks, Assange must fulfill his leadership role as editor-in-chief and take responsibility for the illegally leaked documents.  As editor-in-chief, Assange personally approves the content that is posted on the site.  Assange’s repeated approval of posting classified documents from the Iraq and Afghan wars marks him as a traitor to his own country, Australia, which participated in the Coalition of the Willing for five years, and continues to participate in the Afghan War coalition with over one thousand troops in the country, rebuilding the infrastructure, aiding the democratic government, and fighting the Taliban insurgents.  Section 80.12 of the Australian Criminal Code defines treason in several paragraphs.  Assange is guilty of treason according to paragraphs d, e, f, and h.

"A person commits an offence, called treason, if the person: (d) levies war, or does any act preparatory to levying war, against the Commonwealth; or (e) engages in conduct that assists by any means whatever, with intent to assist, an enemy: (i) at war with the Commonwealth, whether or not the existence of a state of war has been declared; and (ii) specified by Proclamation made for the purpose of this paragraph to be an enemy at war with the Commonwealth; or (f) engages in conduct that assists by any means whatever, with intent to assist: (i) another country; or (ii) an organisation; that is engaged in armed hostilities against the Australian Defence Force; or (h) forms an intention to do any act referred to in a preceding paragraph and manifests that intention by an overt act."

In war, critical information can be more valuable to an army than regiments of soldiers.  The historically famous Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz, author of On War, writes in Book I Chapter 6: “By the word ‘information’ we denote all the knowledge which we have of the enemy and his country.”  Military strategist Sun Tzu writes of the value of information in chapter 13 of The Art of War.  Sun Tzu writes “Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.  Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men.”  He also writes “Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: (1) Local spies; (2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies” and “Having inward spies, making use of officials of the enemy.”  The most recent local/inward spy of military intelligence aiding Wikileaks was Army PFC Bradley Manning.  While Assange is neither responsible for Manning’s actions not did he directly influence them, he did peruse the classified documents and approve their posting.

Among the hundreds of thousands of classified military documents posted by Wikileaks in recent years for the world to see were memos and after action reports detailing the names and numbers of military units, detailed descriptions of combat and other counterinsurgency operations, and most critically, the names of Iraqi/Afghan soldiers and policemen and, most unfortunately, the names of local civilians who served as informants for Coalition troops as well as the democratic Iraqi/Afghan authorities.  This was a devastating blow to the war efforts and even more painful for Iraq and Afghanistan.  These documents released online have now given “a hundred ounces of silver” (Sun Tzu) in rich information to the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and other insurgents fighting against Coalition troops and the governments of Iraq and/or Afghanistan.  If a blow was dealt to Coalition troops, then a blow was also dealt to Australian military forces, as they frequently work side by side with US and Afghan troops to this day.

How has this helped these insurgents and terrorists?  They now know exactly which military units are operating where, as well as what part of operations they play in Enduring Freedom and New Dawn (then Iraqi Freedom), knowledge on how they fight in battle (so that they can be fought more effectively and ferociously), the IDENTITIES of indigenous soldiers and police officers so that they can be tracked down and “executed” (murdered), and the identities of CIVILIAN informers and partners in rebuilding the country, so that they can be “executed” (murdered, “made examples of”), thus severing vital information that would have gone to Coalition troops and government authorities.  The Australian military was an active participant in Operation Iraqi Freedom for five years and continues to be an active participant in Operation Enduring Freedom (the Afghanistan War).

Let us pay closer attention to the language used by Sun Tzu and von Clausewitz.  They both elaborate on how information can hurt the enemy.  But wait!  The information posted by Wikileaks helped terrorists and hurt the Coalition which includes the Australian military.  Assange is an Australian citizen!

Continued in Part 2