Columnist Christian Bommarius writes that Washington's pursuit of

whistleblowers is aimed directly at ensuring a badly-informed public.

Zeal to Punish Snowden, Assange, Criminalizes an Informed Public (Berliner Zietung, Germany)

"The crimes committed by Manning and Snowden consisted of simply telling the truth. Assange's crime was the global dissemination of the truth. …A shift in political consciousness is taking place in the democracies, especially in the United States, which may lead to a situation in which it will not only be possible to eliminate the right to knowledgeably participate in society, but to criminalize it."

By Christian Bommarius

Translated By Stephanie Martin

August 22, 2014

Germany - Berliner Zeitung - Original Article (German)

Former U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison after she - then still as Bradley Manning - had informed the world, via the disclosure platform WikiLeaks, about crimes committed by American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. For Julian Assange, the platform’s creator who, fearful of extradition to the United States, has been hiding in Ecuador's London embassy for the last two years, conservative U.S. politicians and journalists have a much harsher fate planned. For him, they demand the death penalty. Kathleen McFarland, a former advisor to the Pentagon under Presidents Nixon, Ford and Reagan, and now an analyst for conservative Fox News, wrote, “If he’s found guilty, he should be executed.” The support for her position was greater than the opposition.

Demonization in the West

What fate awaits Edward Snowden, the most important whistleblower in history who had to flee to asylum in of all places, Russia, after he revealed the global surveillance being carried out by U.S. and British intelligence services, remains unclear. A decision on whether he will pay with his life for the revelations probably won’t be made for a few more years, but as it is, he has already lost his freedom.

The crimes committed by Manning and Snowden consisted of simply telling the truth. Assange's crime was the global dissemination of the truth. The alleged crimes they have committed are nothing new: Whistleblowers and their supporters have always existed. What is new is the anger with which affected governments are responding and their attempt to depict them to the public as enemies of the state who shouldn't be opposed politically, but prosecuted at any price. What is new is the demonization, in Western democracies at least. A few decades ago, even at the height of the Cold War, the authorities reacted more calmly. With the publication of the top secret Pentagon Papers in 1971, Daniel Ellsberg exposed the government’s deception of the American public about the background of the Vietnam War. This contributed first of all to ending the war; second, to a landmark Supreme Court decision [on prior restraint] that allowed the documents to be published; and third, to the filing of an indictment against Ellsberg. However, the charges fell apart once it was discovered that the whistleblower had been the subject of illegal surveillance by intelligence officials.

Criminalized participation

In other words: The “"Ellsberg Case" took place in a liberal America, and today could hardly be repeated. Today, unlawful surveillance methods would do little to undermine the prosecution of a whistleblower, since there is precious little surveillance considered illegal when carried out by U.S. intelligence agencies. And if a judge cited the then-landmark Supreme Court decision and determined the release of Manning’s documents through WikiLeaks to be legal, he or she would have to expect reactions from the political sector similar to those experienced by Assange.

What total surveillance of all communications means when it comes to the substance of democratic rule of law must be clear to even the most dimwitted: Since individuals being spied upon are unaware of any investigation, all legal guarantees lose their validity. As no parliament is observing the observers, in other words, the intelligence services, our legitimate democratic institutions are in danger of becoming nothing more than a facade.  Parallel to this, however, a shift in political consciousness is taking place in the democracies, especially in the United States, which may lead to a situation in which it will not only be possible to eliminate the right to knowledgeably participate in society, but to criminalize it.

Posted By Worldmeets.US

This awareness found its most vehement defender in Danish philosopher and writer Sören Kierkegaard, who was filled with horror by the very limited transparency of the first half of the 19th century: "Complete publicity makes it absolutely impossible to 'govern.' All governments are rooted in the thought that there are a certain few, who have superior insight, and who see so much farther into the future that they are able to govern. Complete publicity, on the other hand, is rooted in the thought that all should rule." This idea - that all should govern - is the basis of democracy.

It is this idea alone that is being defended by Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange and Edward Snowden.

[Kierkegaard quote taken from The Living Thoughts of Kierkegaard, by W.H. Auden, translated by Walter Lowrie, David Swenson, and Alexander Dru]

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