Julian Assange, and the Arab Spring

The Arab Spring is almost past, with a new sense of life spreading through the mid east. Tyrants have been overthrown, and people have stood up for democratic rule. They fight the good fight.

Wikileaks has played a huge role in this fight. Not surprisingly - given that a multimillion dollar news media entertainment machine has been upended by a team of four people in a non profit. Wikileaks has not been reported upon in any other way other than to say "Julian Assange is in trouble".

However, the delicate pathways that Libyan Tyrant Moamar Ghadafi - forged to hide his multi billion dollar spread of accounts - were revealed through wikileaks down to the last account number. Three days afterward, America pursued the largest financial account freeze in the history of our country - and successfully locked Ghadafi out of all of his accounts as a result.

In Egypt, Syria, and Libya - people have used wikileaks to safely transmit information out of the country.

Julian Assange has been at the forefront for an open government , and the forces of the news media entertainment corporations simply report about a tryst. They've recently posted his personals ads, confidential dating messages, and , interestingly enough - posted the link to an auction where you can win a date with Julian Assange. As if all there is to open government, is the personal lifestyle of those you would have working to keep it that way.

The last time I checked, telling the truth is an act of patriotism. And I would wager that the Arab spring will continue on into summer - and Wikileaks will continue to play a greater role in open government. I do not trust Openleaks - there are too many questions regarding the defection of members of Wikileaks into its organizational structure - at a particular time in which Wikileaks had focussed its effort on opening American Government.

I don't think that we know, really, who to trust , as well - in the rapidly evolving governments that are arising out of the Arab revolution. We do know that their genesis comes as a direct result of the people being able to directly express and communicate in a many to many medium. We know that trusted leaders of this group, have their home phone numbers posted on blogs read by the rebel groups. And that the former high ranking government officials are now scurrying out of sight - desperate to avoid being killed by bombs.

And we are aware that the forces of extremism are wary of this - a particular concern - forces such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and other organizations dedicated to blending religion and government into a caliphate. The revolution is , like Wikileaks - open, secular, and accessible. These groups did not incite the revolt - they simply rode along with it. They have visibly watched as the will of the majority has become center stage - and the powerful expression of the need for a wide base of people to have a connective, open government - is at direct odds to a radical, ideological and essentially closed form of a caliphate.

Assange has delivered a means by which those responsible for the Arab spring, can continue to bring open and transparent government into being. This is the finding of not only this author, but also by several reports from the U.N. , and the PBS News Hour.

The U.N. recently released a statement, saying that internet access should be treated as a basic human right. And with the Arab Spring, and its effect upon the region - perhaps we should look upon the work of Julian Assange, and the Arab Spring - as at least one good reason why such an assertion should be considered true.