The ongoing publication of US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks has provided an invaluable insight into the real state of international relations, the undercover criminal activities of the United States and other governments, and the mounting tensions between the US and its “allies” and rivals alike—tensions that threaten to spark new military conflicts in flashpoints around the world.
The revelations published so far are the most significant exposure of the real character of “imperialist diplomacy” since Leon Trotsky published the diplomatic cables of the Tsarist government after the October Revolution of 1917.
Like that event, the WikiLeaks exposures have sent shock waves throughout the globe. Their significance can be gauged by the fact that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been subject to a series of death threats from members of the US ruling elites as well as calls for his trial and execution.
In Australia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has joined this international lynch mob declaring, without any foundation, that the activities of Assange and WikiLeaks are “illegal.”
The international witch-hunt against Assange reveals the extent to which any commitment to upholding basic democratic rights has been discarded in ruling circles. How could it be otherwise when, in country after country, governments of all political stripes are imposing draconian austerity measures to provide hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out the banks on the demands of the financial markets?
The SEP has called two public meetings to demand that the democratic rights of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange be defended, and to discuss the significance of the WikiLeaks’ exposures for the Australian and international working class.
We urge all WSWS readers and SEP supporters to attend the meetings and to advertise them as widely as possible.
Melbourne
December 20, 7.00 p.m.
Conference Room
Arts House, Meat Market
5 Blackwood Street
North Melbourne
(Melway Reference: 2B A9)
Tickets: $4/$2 concession
Sydney
December 21, 7.00 p.m.
Tom Mann Theatre
136 Chalmers Street
Surry Hills
(Close to Central Station)
Tickets: $4/$2 concession