The controversy over WikiLeaks and cablegate continues. As posted before on The Report, the United States government should not be attacking and blaming WikiLeaks for its troubles, but rather, should be blaming its own citizen and armed forces member, Private First Class Bradley E. Manning. Manning betrayed his country by leaking the documents out, and as written before on The Report should be prosecuted for his treasonous acts and executed if found guilty.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, WikiLeaks' Julian Assange was arrested by authorities in the United Kingdom on a European Union arrest warrant out of Sweden. Assange faces extradition to Sweden to face charges of sexual assault / rape charges. However, it turns out that he didn't actually rape anyone: the women involved have actually stated that the consented to having sexual relations with Assange. The charges stem from Assange refusing to go to a Doctor to get tested for sexually transmitted disease/infection and being difficult to reach. As a result, the women went to the authorities in Sweden when the simple solution would be that they get tested for diseases/infections and leave Assange to deal with anything he may have picked up on his own terms. It is absolutely absurd that the Swedish authorities issued an EU arrest warrant for Assange, and even more absurd that the British actually acted on these ridiculous charges. Had Assange actually forced himself upon these women, then this blog would be advocating for his arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment for life so that he never has the chance to rape another woman again. However, since Assange did not rape anyone, he should be released, the charges should be dropped, and the arrest warrant cancelled. The Report also would advise Assange to go get tested for disease/infection for his own good, because having something like syphilis or herpes go untreated is probably going to be quite painful.
Besides PFC Manning, the other party that needs to be found, arrested, and put in prison are the hackers who have been wreaking havoc on various websites and firms through denial of service attacks. These attacks slow down the Internet for users worldwide, and can hurt the economy by preventing transactions from taking place. While MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, and EveryDNS (not be be confused with a good DNS provider based in Canada called EasyDNS) did the wrong thing by cutting off WikiLeaks, attacking their websites is not the proper course of action. Further, it is illegal, and the criminals behind it should be prosecuted. Those who oppose the actions of the companies that cut off WikiLeaks should oppose them through legal means, such as boycotting them. Instead of using a Visa card or MasterCard card, for example, go with American Express -- if Visa and MasterCard see transaction numbers fall, they won't make as much money and will realize that such poor judgement will cost their bottom line.
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