US certain that WikiLeaks is part of Putin’s propaganda machine

Assange’s US hate has got the better of him

Remember the days when Wikileaks did decent work and provided a valid channel for whistleblowers? Well it looks like those days have long gone and the outfit has become a tool of Tsar Putin’s propaganda machine.

In the good-old days, Wikileaks actually was impartial and careful. Sure it tended to expose US atrocities but that was because there were more of them.

But now there is mounting evidence that the Russian government is supplying WikiLeaks with hacked emails as part of a plan to game the US election and put an oligarch friendly candidate into the White House.

While the allegations are coming from the Clinton campaign they are also being made by security companies and government officials.

One US official told CNN that the methods of the disclosures suggest Moscow is at least providing the information or is possibly directly responsible for the leaks. US intelligence officials are still investigating the degree of connection between Russia and WikiLeaks but they remain confident that Russia is behind the leaks themselves.

The Director of National Intelligence, which represents 19 US intelligence agencies including the Department of Homeland Security leveled unambiguous charges against Russia.

Meanwhile Wikileaks, or the Russians have been tipping off the Trump campaign. Roger Stone, a long-time adviser to Republican nominee Donald Trump, clearly had advance knowledge of the recent hack and publication of his emails on WikiLeaks. Of course he denied it.

Trump has called on Moscow to hack into Clinton's computers, downplayed criticism of Putin's authoritarian tendencies, tried to suggest that Russia hasn't hacked US systems and promoted foreign policy positions that jibe more closely with Moscow's than Washington's. He's relied on aides with ties to Russia and most recently, quoted and fake Russian news reports to raise questions about Clinton.

But in accepting the Russian emails, Assange has placed his organisation in a tricky place. Some of the emails are damaging to Clinton and should be looked at, but because the source is Russia, we cannot be certain if the emails are edited, taken out of context or even forged.

We are certain that a hack of the Republican servers would reveal similar emails, and if the Trump campaign server was turned over it would produce some pure comedy gold. Had WikiLeaks provided these, it would be seen as an effective tool for public information and there would have been no complaints.

Yet the fact that Assange has been unable to source this sort of material means that the Russians are not give it to him or would cut off his headline-grabbing Clinton emails gravy train. Assange might not care; he has made it pretty clear that he regards Clinton as responsible for him being locked up in the embassy – something which is his own fault. However, as a long-term policy decision that hamstrings Wikileaks and weakens the information that is presented on the site. It makes him entirely dependent on state run spying operations and propaganda efforts.

The Russians failed last week to deliver the goods on Clinton and had to publish it themselves. The information was pure Putin propaganda. At least Assange had the good sense not to release that. But it is increasingly difficult to tell what is true and what is not on WikiLeaks.

The Russians are capable of the leaks, but I am not convinced they are the perpetrators.

Its interesting to think that IF it were the Russians, what would motivate them to want to help Trump win and Hellary lose. If that was indeed the goal, it implies to me that Putin believes that a Hellary presidency would be bad for Russia and a Trump presidency would be better. This would run contrary to the idea that a Hellary presidency would further demote the US on the world stage while a Trump presidency would strive to “Make America Great Again”.

Only IF it were the Russians, and that’s a big IF, Putin, call him a bully if you want, would seem to think that a strong US, with sane foreign policy, is better than a weak US with childish foreign policy.

Didn't Comey state in his non-indictment speech that if the Russians had hacked Hillary's server we wouldn't know? So how can they know now? Clapper only said the hacking was “consistent with the methods and motivation” of the Russian Govt. That's not the same thing as saying he knows conclusively. Jeh Johnson is an idiot, and a liar, and totally corrupt Dem big-time donor, so you can't beleive anything he claims.

I think there are parties in our US intelligence and law enforcement community that have had enough of the corruption, and they are the ones releasing this information. We already know they have collected everything from all of us, and they would have more incentive to expose the Democrat's crimes, especially after Comey’s perifidy. Watch what comes next, now that Gen. Cartwright has been charged and threatened with jail time. I think there may be a war going on behind the scenes.

It is Russia's best interests to have Hillary Clinton as President of the United States. Assuming she wins, the Russians as well as the Chinese know that the Clintons can be bought and we still have technology and natural resources that can be acquired at discount prices provided the right palms are greased.

Under a second Clinton administration, the deterioration of the American military in all respects will continue. Only the United States can give any strength to NATO pledges to protect the Baltic States, Poland, and even Norway. The other NATO militaries, with the exception of Poland, are even weaker than ours. If and when Putin decides the time is right to take back what was lost in 1991, NATO will be impotent to stop them. All of Hillary's squawking and hand wringing will be a mere manifestation of American and Western weakness.

Additionally, the results of this election will further divide this nation. A large portion of the anti-liberal opposition is out of the "corral" of the Republican Party establishment and the Fox News/National Review/Westwood One/Salem Communications moderate/ conservative media. Trump has radicalized the base. The voice of the future anti-liberal opposition may be Alex Jones, and not Rush Limbaugh.

This will have the effect of turning the United States into two increasingly hostile camps. This is not always a good thing. French rightists opposed to the leftist government of their country had a saying, "Better Hitler than Blum." Will American rightists, somewhat enamored of Putin's traditional values and Orthodox Christian faith, be saying. "Better Putin than Hillary"?

You wrote.."I think there are parties in our US intelligence and law enforcement community that have had enough of the corruption, and they are the ones releasing this information"... Indeed they are....that is who was behind the DNC hack, but of course they can't say so since those groups are suppose to be on their side. One thing I know ....if Hillary says anything at all regarding "Russia, Putin"...or uses the word "children" or Woman's rights......she's covering up something dastardly about herself and those with her.

I always chill when she says she's spent her life fighting for children......or we have to give money to a nation, be because of the children...Nothing she says actually should be believed.....heck she doesn't believe herself from one day to another.

Your well spoken reply sort of highlights my point.

If its in Putin’s interest to see Hellary elected, Russia would not be leaking these, even if they were able to hack them.

My supposition, and only a supposition, requires Russia to see a more reasonable US as the better choice, which might only be true if Putin is PO’ed enough over the whole middle east and ISIS fiasco that Hellary and Obama have unleashed. On the other hand, Russia now has access to warm water ports as a result so maybe he does want Hellary. Or maybe he’s had just enough to get what he was looking for and now wants the US to back off so he can consolidate.

You can go round and round on this.

Bottom line, I found it odd that Hellary says that Russia would want Trump to beat her. But you are correct that a Hellary presidency would be subject to blackmail from all corners.

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