WikiLeaks: Unleashing the Dogs of War

The reaction to WikiLeaks in Canada and around the world is a travesty that threatens everyone's right to live in a decent world.

The WikiLeaks release of 250,000 diplomatic cable messages last November cast a dim light on scandalous behaviour by government diplomats and the routine role that cover-ups, collusion, and corruption play in international diplomacy. However, rather than criticizing the chasm between the world revealed in the WikiLeaks correspondence and official version peddled for public consumption, the “dogs of war” – and notably from the bombastic far right of the Canadian political scene – advocated that WikiLeaks co-founder and spokesperson Julian Assange be assassinated.

Tom Flanagan, a University of Calgary political science professor and former senior advisor to Prime Minister Harper’s election and transition teams, said so in as many words on the CBC’s Power and Politics, adding a touch of laughter to soften the dire message. Flanagan “wouldn’t be unhappy” if the WikiLeaks founder disappeared, he noted. Not to be outdone, eternal blowhard Ezra Levant queried in the Toronto Sun, “Why isn’t Julian Assange dead yet?”

Similar sentiment has been widespread among conservative extremists south of the border, along with the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China, which has denounced WikiLeaks and blocked access to the site in its country. Meanwhile, the Italian foreign minister states incredulously that WikiLeaks has unleashed a “diplomatic 9-11.” This is nuts.

Not all of those weighing in from the lofty heights of U.S. state power hold such rabid views, however. There is even a certain amount of levity displayed by the Obama administration, but not much. Instead, there is a crackdown on those who facilitated the leaks, while Assange is chastised for jeopardizing the lives of soldiers and informants. Others worry that the bright ray of light will serve only to drive diplomacy even deeper into the shadows and away from the glare of publicity. That, however, will only further undermine the legitimacy of governments and international diplomacy.

The U.S. government has the capacity to eliminate WikiLeaks from cyberspace. That it has not raises fascinating questions about diplomacy in the global digital media age.

The U.S. controls the “root domain server” through ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the “global registry” of all internet sites. ICANN is a private corporation, but one that was created by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the continued existence of which depends on the department’s periodic renewals. The U.S. government does not control ICANN directly, but ICANN serves as a kind of proxy for U.S. government interests. ICANN could be ordered to delist WikiLeaks, to send it into an electronic black hole at the drop of a hat (read Milton L. Mueller’s 2010 book Networks and States to learn more about these arrangements and capabilities).