Posted on 01/14/2011 4:43:26 PM PST by LibWhacker
Tunisia's government has collapsed, partially due to food price inflation and unemployment, but also because of WikiLeaks.
One of the U.S. government cables released by WikiLeaks (via @spbaines) exposed the corruption of Tunisia's President's family, its reach into business in the country, and ability to transcend the rule of law. President Ben Ali's family was called "The Family" throughout the leak. The government attempted to block access to WikiLeaks earlier this month.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Of course, living under a government of gangsters is infinitely worse, but at least Assange will no longer be able to claim that he hasn't hurt a fly. This is just the start.
Ignorance is so much more blissful.
Of course, nothing like the Klinton Krime Family or the Chicago Crime Syndicate
If it took Wikileak’s to give them the courage to rise up I think that’s a good thing, better then living under a brutal dictator IMO. But I think they give Wiki too much credit those people suffered for years more likely a combination of circumstances caused this uprising.
“After 23 years of iron-fisted rule, the president of Tunisia was driven from power Friday by violent protests over soaring unemployment and corruption. The ouster, virtually unprecedented in modern Arab history, sent an ominous message to authoritarian governments that dominate the region: Even strongmen can be overthrown by the power of the street.”
It wasn’t news to Tunisians that Ben Ali’s family is corrupt. They’d been accsuing him of being corrupt, among other things, for some time. The Wikileaks thing may have finally pushed people over the edge - who knows.
Let’s hope they get the freedom they want.
So it would have been better to live under the lie of the corrupt royal mullahs or whatever they are there?
If this leads to reform and to a sweeping out of the trash, then the leak was a good one. If there are casualties in the process, then that is tragic, but sometimes you can’t avoid breaking a few eggs while making omelettes.
Is Tunisian code for American?
Smart power?
Well, of the accidental kind, making it... not really smart at all. More, random luck. But hey, why not take the good with the bad? There was a lot more going on in Tunisia than just this leak. The riots that started were largely because of a roadside vendor who had been abused by the police, and set himself on fire in protest.
Still, if wikileaked memos add fuel to the fi... eh, too soon? Well, if it helped, then it helped. I’ll toast tonight to another dictator fleeing for his wretched life.
“Of course, living under a government of gangsters is infinitely worse, but at least Assange will no longer be able to claim that he hasn’t hurt a fly. This is just the start.”
You think he’s doing this all by his ownself? I’m thinking he’s backed by an intelligence agency. I have no proof of course but this level of manipulation is beyond the scope of one person and his minions. Games are being played.
My experience with Business Insider leads me to opine that it has some good articles related to business but it also has a collection of left-wing, liberal writers who provide the trashy, non-business articles.
Chances are, unfortunately, that whatever replaces this government will be just as corrupt as the last. Seems that the George Washington and Thomas Jefferson types are fairly rare in history.
Lets hope they don’t end up with Iranian style theocracy.
Chances are excellent for just that. Unfortunate. But this sort of development is just tailor-made for the mullahs to stroll in and form a sharia government.
"Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view."
The first of Woodrow Wilson's 'Fourteen Points." I wonder if it's ever been formally renounced.
Say goodnight, Tunisia.
They may well end up with worse than “Iranian style theocracy”. I mean look at Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, any other Arab, which are already Islamic or semi-Islamic nation/sheikhdom/country on earth. They are all ‘theocracy’ waiting to happen in their evolution. S. Arabia will remain the center of Islamic universe.
But, most importantly, I do hope the U.S. doesn’t end up as one waiting in line as well. Though last 30 yrs makes one seriously wonder as to a gradual move for the U.S. to join the above.
“Let’s hope they get the freedom they want.”
Yes...it will be interesting to see what eventually fills the void. I hope it’s good for the Tunisian people.
Interesting idea. I had not thought if it, but you could be right. I’ve wondered just how Assange was able to get so much information.
“I’ve wondered just how Assange was able to get so much information.”
Yeah, me too. The information represents a LOT of power.
Bump dat!
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