The same Republicans who are making the most noise over the Bush-backed Solyndra loan guarantee (yeah, Diaper David Vitter, I'm looking at you) are being oddly quiet over Bush's role in making it happen, just as they're being oddly quiet over their own support of loan guarantees and outright grants (aka free taxpayer money, folks) for energy-related projects in their own Republican districts. And you won't hear Darrell Issa talk much about the burgeoning San Bernardino Airport scandal that's unfolding, complete with an FBI raid, in the home district of Issa's fellow California Republican congressman, Jerry Lewis, the former head of the House Appropriations Committee and a big fan of the Berdoo Boondoggle.
When dealing with a trusted keeper of secrets, there is a very fine line between "common sense, let them keep secrets" and simply being a dupe to a predatory and potentially criminal entity. Wikileaks wouldn't exist if the various governments of the world gave us even the slightest reason to trust them.
In the US, our elected officials are one step shy of openly taking bribes, and in the last few months, two of the three branches have been mired in what boils down to little more than a dick waving contest. We have spent a decade occupying two countries we invaded without the slightest bit of reliable intel that would give us reason to do so. Our economy was raped by Wall Street parasites that subsequently got written a big check and left without so much as a slap on the wrist.
I have absolutely zero faith that our government has the best interests of its people in mind. While I would not personally go as far as actively work to release classified documents, I find it particularly difficult to chastise anyone who believes they need to do so for the good of the public.
Human rights organisations have cast doubt on claims of mass rape and other abuses perpetrated by forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, which have been widely used to justify Nato's war in Libya.
Nato leaders, opposition groups and the media have produced a stream of stories since the start of the insurrection on 15 February, claiming the Gaddafi regime has ordered mass rapes, used foreign mercenaries and employed helicopters against civilian protesters.
An investigation by Amnesty International has failed to find evidence for these human rights violations and in many cases has discredited or cast doubt on them. It also found indications that on several occasions the rebels in Benghazi appeared to have knowingly made false claims or manufactured evidence.
The findings by the investigators appear to be at odds with the views of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who two weeks ago told a press conference that "we have information that there was a policy to rape in Libya those who were against the government. Apparently he [Colonel Gaddafi] used it to punish people."
