Wikileaks: servant of democracy, enemy of hypocrites and liars Everything we knew about the mass killing, torture and corruption in Iraq and Afghanistan has been confirmed. The world's leaders can no longer hide the truth by simply lying to the public. The lies themselves have been exposed.

By Robin Beste and Alistair Cartwright
Stop the War Coalition
07 December 2010

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Hypocrisy incarnate: Obama and freedom of the internet

The Stop the War Coalition believes the attacks on Wikileaks are an outrage.

Wikileaks has only served the interests of democracy in revealing the secrets of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which are now irreversibly in the public domain.

Everything we knew about the mass killing, torture and corruption in Iraq and Afghanistan has been confirmed. The world's leaders can no longer hide the truth by simply lying to the public. The lies themselves have been exposed.

Wikileaks has shamed the mainstream media, which has been all too willing to accept government propaganda about the reasons for going to war and the bogus claims of "progress" in the countries devastated by US-led attacks.

The Wikileaks revelations show that politicians and military leaders waging war in Afghanistan admit in secret the war cannot be won. Yet they continue to send young men and women to fight and die there -- 101 British soldiers having been killed this year.

Just as the majority of people around the world -- including 72 per cent in Britain -- oppose the war in Afghanistan, so is support for Wikileaks pouring in worldwide.

Paypal, Mastercard and Visa may stop donations, but thousands of people are finding other ways to donate. Amazon may cut off the Wikileaks website, but hundreds of 'mirror' servers have been set up by individuals as alternatives.

President Obama -- singing the praises of an "unrestricted internet" -- said recently, "I believe the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world, can hold their own governments accountable, they can begin to think for themselves."

US secretary of state Hilary Clinton agrees with Obama. On 21 January 2010 she said: "Information has never been so free. Even in authoritarian countries, information networks are helping people discover new facts and making governments more accountable."

Except, of course, when it is the US and its allies, including Britain, who have invaded other people's countries without justification. Then the information is to be suppressed and the messenger is to be destroyed.