Re: Julian Assange and the journalism defence.

Great article and thanks for posting!

I´d started reading the 10 page New York Times article that is mentioned here:
........."And that's why what The New York Times's editor, Bill Keller, has recently written about his newspaper's relationship with Julian Assange is potentially so damaging to Assange:

"We regarded Assange throughout as a source, not as a partner or collaborator, but he was a man who clearly had his own agenda."

That agenda, Keller hinted, included an explicit anti-Americanism. Discussing the notorious Baghdad helicopter video, Keller points out that WikiLeaks "released a version that didn't call attention to an Iraqi who was toting a rocket-propelled grenade and packaged the manipulated version under the tendentious rubric 'Collateral Murder'."

Keller attributes WikiLeaks's actions to "its zeal to make the video a work of anti-war propaganda", and elsewhere describes Assange as "openly contemptuous of the American government", and WikiLeaks as "suffused with ... glib antipathy toward the United States."

.......... however, decided after page 1 that the motives of this "journalist" were not to my liking and highly suspect and was´nt going to waste my time reading any further. It seems to me that he is more interested in promoting HIS take on WikiLeaks ( and selling his book)- and more especially Assange - rather than being interested in the "Freedom of Speech" theme that I see as the main motivation for the release of these cables. Nowadays it would be the easiest thing in the world for a geek to fiddle around with the original video and "show" an iraki toting a grenade. And "if" the ones in the helicopters had actually seen this (I watched the so-called original video and did´nt spot him)and fired at him the explosion would have been enormous... they would´nt have needed to shoot at the other innocent people - including 2 journalists. Or did the rocket propelled guy have second thoughts of firing at the helicopter???
And re the anti-americanism... this should sell big time with lots of americans who are still convinced that they have the right to sell their weapons of destruction and start "corporate"-run wars under the ruse of terrorism. So he sure "knows" which cards to play... He probably sees his type of journalism coming to an end, so is rushing to bring out a book.
So - lets see how this "unfolds". I think we are seeing one of the side-effects, although possibly remote (everything being "somehow" connected) in the arab countries clamouring for a voice and getting rid of dictatorship.
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