Publication of the list of sites considered vital to US interests does seem reckless but, with senior US politicians calling for the assassination of WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange, we should perhaps ask where the fault truly lies (“Scots firm on WikiLeaks list”, The Herald, December 7).
The sites were identified by US diplomats (part of their job) and distributed to embassies by the State Department. As part of that distribution, the cable was placed on a large database to which millions of US citizens have remote access. At least one of those vetted citizens downloaded the database and passed it to WikiLeaks which, under considerable pressure at present, decided to publish.
It is a truism that any country with an effective intelligence service (Russia? China?) already had agents with access to the database. Are we to believe that none of the millions of vetted Americans has sympathy with violent domestic or foreign organisations that might wish to harm the US government? That not one of the millions of vetted US soldiers is sympathetic to al Qaeda?
Remembering Fort Hood, are we to believe that none of the vetted millions has mental health problems that might make them wish to lash out?
If workers at factories across the world are at risk because of this list, then surely much of the blame must lie with those who first decided to make sensitive data so widely available; those who first decided to publish the information on a database to which millions of vetted citizens have access.
Dr Geraint Bevan,
Glasgow.
“Jail him for life”, “Hunt him down”, “Assassinate him”. These doubtless considered quotations are attributable to Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and Tom Flanagan respectively in relation to Julian Assange.
Since these comments were uttered by people considered to be part of the political elite in north America, it is perhaps little wonder that most of the mainstream media cower in compliance when bullied by some of the venal people who inhabit the US Government, Congress and Pentagon.
Mr Assange was wanted on rape charges, but those charges were dropped almost immediately in August. His new “crime” comes under the heading of molestation and involved having unprotected consensual sex with two women in a 48-hour period and failing to take a test for STDs, which allegedly breaches some obscure Swedish law.
In addition, WikiLeaks’ main server in France has gone offline and its network has come under cyber attack. PayPal has withdrawn its services so that donations by which WikiLeaks survives cannot be collected.
This is nothing less than a war against those who believe in free speech and open government, and it demonstrates the police state-style methods the US employs around the globe to blacken people’s character and corrupt the truth with the compliance of our government and our politicians.
For the sake of our right to free speech (without fear of assassination) and many other freedoms, we need to ensure WikiLeaks and the courageous Mr Assange not only survive but thrive and that the western media openly support his organisation in exposing the misdeeds of the political class who have, frankly, lost touch with the people they purport to represent.
Donald MacDonald,
Boat of Garten.
There is a real economic opportunity in Kintyre that would be to benefit of rural communities
Your reports (The Herald, November 30 and December 6) of the desperate unemployment figures for Kintyre, of the knock-on effects if the wind tower factory is unable to prosper and of further delay to any real prospect of a ferry link to Campbeltown, paint a sombre picture.
Successive governments have struggled to encourage economic activity, but they have done themselves no favours by repeatedly shying away from any real commitment to a regular, reliable, confidence-building ferry link -- to Ayrshire as well as Ulster.
Substantial investment was made in a well-designed roll-on, roll-off terminal, which has proved its worth in enabling cost-effective sea shipment of oversize wind farm components manufactured at Machrihanish. A narrow view would be that Campbeltown is a long way from anywhere, best swept (with its population) under the carpet -- and that the ferry terminal has proved a white elephant. But, in terms of sustaining employment, directly and indirectly, that’s far from the truth.
Campbeltown is at the end of a long and winding road from the rest of Scotland, but is also at what amounts to a marine “motorway junction” where the Firth of Clyde meets the North Channel between the Irish Sea and the Atlantic.
It also has one of the most capacious airport runways in the world, and is strategically located to service the construction of the large-scale offshore energy generators that are now evolving from just ideas to real projects.
Our government must grasp the opportunities, and the need for long-term commitment to facilitate exploiting them.
Tourism is hugely important, but it’s easy to indulge in high-end golf resorts and leisure developments, if people can be nudged in the right direction, or put out of sight and mind.
Is that really what Scotland is all about? Establishing good quality ferry links might be a far better investment for this country than easing the way for luxury condominiums for the select few.
Robert Wakeham,
Castleton
LibDem position on tuition fees has become reminiscent of dancing to the hokey cokey
I write with reference to the student tuition fees debacle overseen by the Westminster Government -- and specifically the role of Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary who is the minister responsible for the shambles (“LibDem tensions rise over fees vote”, The Herald, December 7).
Would it not be highly appropriate for Mr Cable now to appear in a celebrity version of Strictly Come Dancing over the festive period? Surely he has to be a shoo-in as winner if he chooses to dance the hokey cokey? As a minister in the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition, he can at least look fondly back at the first election for the Scottish Parliament in 1999, when many enthusiastic LibDem candidates went forth into the field claiming there would be no tuition fees only for the party’s leadership to agree on a graduate endowment tax as one of the conditions of joining a coalition with Labour.
Plus ca change …
C Brodie,
Ayr.
Is there any truth in the rumour that the Liberal Democrats are now considering the adoption of the chameleon as their new party logo?
Gordon Shiach,
Dunfermline.
Making sense of the Christian message
I would like to thank Ron Ferguson for bringing some sanity, moderation and humour back into our discussions on Christianity in his column (“I am not ashamed, nor am I impressed”, The Herald, December 6).
His article was a timely reminder of what being a Christian is supposed to be all about.
His views might not dominate the front pages, but they are refreshingly devoid of self-righteous, hysterical hypocrisy.
Margaret Delussey,
Greenock.
