13 Nov 2011

Apache Apache: America should not want to rule the world. America should want to guide the world.


On Thursday 10th Nov 2011 a US judge ruled Twitter must release details of Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir's personal account and those of Seattle-based WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum and Dutch hacker Rop Gonggrijp. This follows other rulings in favour of the State Department's pursuit of those involved in the release last year of a video showing a US Apache helicopter unit killing two reporters in Iraq.
The order also seeks records relating to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and WikiLeaks informant private Bradely Manning who is confined in controversial conditions awaiting trial.
Member of parliament Birgitta Jonsdottir pictured at her Iceland home 
2011. US authorities have demanded Twitter to hand over her personal account details.
 The US is investigating the WikiLeaks release of the Apache attack video on civilians in Iraq 2010


Jonsdottir believes the US authorities want to use her information to try and build a case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The former WikiLeaks volunteer  learned her account was under scrutiny after Twitter challenged the subpoenas and believes the case sets a worrying precedent for private citizens and politicians across the world.  (extracted from the Guardian Nov 12 2011)
The appalling events surrounding the shooting of the journalists and several other unarmed civilians, including medics trying to recover bodies, justifies any breach of confidentially between government authority and the people. The West cannot demand that dictatorial regional regimes fall and disappear under the weight of people power while denying the birth and growth of organisations dedicated to free speech and the pursuit of justice. We must practice what we preach. Torture camps, government assassinations, drone bombing of innocents and the culture of not with me then against me, needs to not represent democracy. This is not a perfect world but it is much easier to wreck the house than to rebuild it. Especially, if pillars of democracy such as whistle blowing and free speech are silenced in favour of a suspected war crime.