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What we are all witnessing in the unfolding Wikileaks drama is a stunning reprise of the birth of the nuclear-era at the close of World War II -- with cyber warfare playing the role of the American attack on Hiroshima.

With the dropping of the world's first nuclear weapon, followed quickly by a second over Nagasaki, World War II ended -- and the world as it was up until that moment changed radically forever. The Cold War was cold in part due to the recognition that nuclear weapons were so terrifyingly effective that there would be no winners in their mass use. Of the Cold War confrontations -- notably Korea and Vietnam -- nuclear weapons were never used, and could have been. The Cuban missile crisis terrified the world in its day, concentrating global attention on the real possibility of global annihilation.

The Wikileaks attack on the United States government has quickly been followed by attacks or threatened attacks on non-military institutions such as MasterCard, Visa and Amazon.com. If not stopped, chaos will reign. And this will not be easy to stop. Indeed, SarahPAC, the website of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has been targeted. This means little in terms of Palin herself (somebody doesn't like her…newsflash.) Added to the other civilian attacks, the Palin attack means quite literally that no one with computerized anything is safe.

While Julian Assange and his followers are leftists, as with the technology that built the bomb, the technology to do what Wikileaks is doing will soon spread. A crazy who hates, say, the New York Times or MSNBC or the Catholic Church or the Democrats or Hollywood or Wall Street -- or you -- can do precisely what is being done to Palin and the rest. No one, whether institution or individual, will be safe.

This is a major development -- and inevitable. It can and will change the world.

In some respects it may help some of the world's flashpoints. Arguably, Iran's nuclear missile program could be dismantled without firing a shot -- its high tech innards ruined at the press of a button in Jerusalem or by some guy sitting around in his underwear in his basement in Seattle or Kuala Lumpur.

It will also have significant political ramifications. To the extent an aggressive Republican House turns its sights on what the Obama Administration knew and did or didn't do months ago to stop Wikileaks in its tracks, this could prove to be the most explosive political event of 2011 and the 2012 campaign season. As one American institution, candidate, celebrity or private individual after another falls prey to Wikileaks attacks -- and this is related to a perceived incompetence by the Obama Administration -- there will be a furious political hell to pay that will make the reaction to ObamaCare look like child's play.

Stay tuned. Something big is happening right in front of ours eyes. And it may well change the world as we know it.

View all comments (20) | Leave a comment

William R| 12.9.10 @ 5:11PM

The Conservative Case for WikiLeaks

http://www.amconmag.com/tactv/.....wikileaks/

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 8:39PM

Agreed,
jingoists such as Lord are over-reacting. Lord would only have a case if nuke, bio, chemical weapons secrets were leaked by Assange's people.
Assange is not bin Laden, wikileaks is not al Jazeera.

PJ| 12.9.10 @ 11:20PM

If Alan Brooks is pro-wikileaks, you KNOW there is a good reason to be against it.

"wikileaks is not al Jazeera."
Pelosi is not al Jazeera either, but she is dangerous enough to our freedom and prosperity.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 11:58PM

"If Alan Brooks is pro-wikileaks, you KNOW there is a good reason to be against it."

Then go on record as being opposed to wikileaks.

Bob K.| 12.10.10 @ 7:59AM

It is another example of the continuing decline of privacy and the continuing rise of publicity in our society. In reality people don't want privacy which explains the rise of phenomena such as "Face Book."

Dave Brown| 12.9.10 @ 5:23PM

You know, you might be grossly underestimating the impact here. This could be the modern equivalent of the destruction of the entire universe and all life in it!

Or...it might just be the inevitable result of living in a free and open society and people who truly value it feeling like that freedom is in danger.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 10:35PM

All of a sudden Assange is arrested for something not related to Wikileaks.
Such a coincidence.

Pete| 12.9.10 @ 5:30PM

Sounds like a "crisis" that needs to be exploited for...let me guess...regulating the internet? Maybe?

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 10:37PM

That is too tinhat even for a libertopian.

Sean| 12.9.10 @ 5:34PM

These sorts of website attacks have been happening for years. They are usually very limited and not very long lasting. Now Stuxnet virus could be more important because we are talking nuclear equipment going out of whack. If it is able to take control and give commands then you could see some reactor melt downs and such caused by a similar virus.

Dixie Pixie| 12.9.10 @ 7:11PM

Wikileaks attracts and the world is in danger.
You have got to be kidding.

Consider, No one has died or physically harmed.
Only one PFC takes the rap and no one higher up even receives a letter of reprimand.
Certainly no officer's career is in jeopardy.

Was anyone noted that when the liberals started pressuring the military culminating in the liberals destroying General McChrystal's career, suddenly Wikileaks receives a data dump of wide ranging documents.
Even more suspicious is when the military documents were made public not a alarm was raised.
Only when the document dump starting impacting the upper levels of the Washington elite does Wikileaks become a problem.

This whole affair smells of a orchestrated leak from on high.
To many dogs did not bark in the night for a Sherlock Holmes to miss.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 10:43PM

Or perhaps Cheney orchestrated controlled demolition at WTC, Dixie?
Did John-John shoot his father in Dallas?
Is Elvis still alive?
Are the Bilderbergers cloning quetzalcoatls?

Dixie Pixie| 12.9.10 @ 11:34PM

Cute Allen if that is your real name.
But stick to the theme of the thread.
This whole affair smells of a deliberate leak.

Alan Brooks| 12.10.10 @ 12:00AM

"This whole affair smells of a deliberate leak."

Yes, but it was a leak by Assange, not anyone outside of Wikileaks.

Dixie Pixie| 12.9.10 @ 7:30PM

Wikileaks: The Cyber Hiroshima????
Sounds like the Y2K hoax all over again.

PS.... Did Ross Perot's staff let him out of his Y2K bunker deep in the heart of Texas.
Or does his staff still tell him it is still too dangerous to come out as Liberals, Vampires and Zombies roam the land.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 10:39PM

Perot thought REPUBLICANS were sabotaging his daughter's wedding in '92.
But it wasn't a lesbian marriage!

Dixie Pixie| 12.9.10 @ 11:44PM

Again, Cute Alan if that is your true name
Ross Perot and the Y2K bunker is a long running joke.
I just thought everyone would like to hear it again.

PS.... The Perot wedding maneuver was a Psyops strike which worked.

Alan Brooks| 12.10.10 @ 12:02AM

Right, the Perot wedding maneuver was a Psyops strike which worked. And the New World Order is fluoridating the pure natural essence of our bodily fluids.

Red Phillips| 12.9.10 @ 8:30PM

William R, you beat me to it. I was going to link to the Jack Hunter article as well.

wholesale handbagboots| 12.11.10 @ 1:14AM

Thanks for sharing your article. I really enjoyed it.

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