Hillary, Wikileaks, Russia – theater of absurd goes viral
“Can people STOP referring to Wikileaks as a news organization. They are a foreign agent, supported by Russia, publishing stolen data,” tweeted Michael McFall, who is considered among the most controversial former US ambassador in Russia. During his tenure in Moscow, McFall was surrounded by controversies and continues to air bombastic tweets.
On the other hand, Wikileaks, which was launched 10 years ago, has turned out to be a unique phenomenon. It is redefining modern media by attempting to expose even media outlets, tabloids, and successful channels alongside their big bosses. The website has been publishing leaked documents to bring truth out in the open.
The sad state of affairs of our times is that truth has to find its way to the public through questionable ways and instruments. In case of Wikileaks, most of their documents are accessed either via hacking or are supplied by whistleblowers.
All these years Wikileaks has been revealing a lot of classified information on numerous subjects related to foreign and domestic policies of countries. Wikileaks publisher and journalists have won many awards. In 2015, it was nominated for the UN Mandela Prize and was nominated for six years in a row, from 2010 to 2015, for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The sad state of affairs of our times is that truth has to find its way to the public through questionable ways and instruments
Maria Dubovikova
In an interview to Der Spiegel recently, Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange said that Wikileaks gives platform to the most persecuted documents in the world and that it constantly struggles with censorship and lies. The website has sympathizers as well as those who work for it all over the world. These people, according to Assange, just want to know the truth and spread it as they are aware of the lies that are serving the interest of political figures.
Whosoever has visited Wikileaks knows that it is possible to submit documents directly to the website. Moreover, any accusation related to leaks should also take into account the global network of hackers that are always active.
Election fever
The ongoing presidential campaign in the United States has been the most controversial in living memory. It can be argued that both the candidates hardly deserve to enter the Oval office and lead the country. Even Hillary Clinton has dirty hands when it comes to campaign financing and Middle East policy. The leak of her emails has added to this “unreliability” factor.
Trump, on the other hand, is a controversial figure who seems totally incapable of controlling himself. His campaign has been a bundle of scandals and even Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made Christine Amanpour blush and laugh with his rather unexpected comment on it.
Both candidates have also dragged Kremlin into their campaigns. Hillary accused Russian hackers of leaking her e-mails, which led to the American media trying to bring spotlight on Russian influence on the US elections. Questions have also been raised about Trump’s affiliation with Putin with several conspiracy theories doing the rounds.
Americans should understand that for Russia, Hillary coming to power will be preferable to a Trump victory. Both the candidates have practically the same declared foreign policy approach. Hillary is predictable and calculated while Trump is unpredictable and hotheaded. The US nuclear arsenal with him in power can be extremely dangerous.
In this tussle between two candidates Wikileaks seems to have gone to the Donald Trump side with the publication of material against Hillary. The website has threatened more damaging material, which could possibly ruin her chances. As soon as some documents were released, it was reported that Assange’s Internet connection was cut off. It was around the same time that the media started blaming Wikileaks for becoming a Kremlin project.
The demonization of Russia and Europe is rising in the US and Wikileaks is becoming too dangerous for Hillary Clinton. An effort is hence being made to muffle the voice of Wikileaks to protect Hillary and secure her chances of winning the election. However, this campaign apparently won’t stop with the end of presidential campaign.
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Maria Dubovikova is a President of IMESClub and CEO of MEPFoundation. Alumni of MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations [University] of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia), now she is a PhD Candidate there. Her research fields are in Russian foreign policy in the Middle East, Euro-Arab dialogue, policy in France and the U.S. towards the Mediterranean, France-Russia bilateral relations, humanitarian cooperation and open diplomacy. She can be followed on Twitter: @politblogme