Mr assange has decided to go work for the russian TV station russia-TV. I can understand that his situation doesn't allow much freedom, but i think there would have been other options available, like maybe the huffington post or al-jazeera.
In my view he now discredits the entire wikileaks organisation and the sacrifices made by people like bradley manning.
Russia TV is a state TV network that is known for airing putin propaganda. It is everything but open and objective. It is also furiously anti-american.
He now reveals his motives as not being for opennes and transparancy but purely being against america and wanting to discredit and harm america as much possible.
This will affect the way people like bradley manning will be seen in western media and politic's and from now on everything coming from wikileaks will be seen as anti-american as well. Newspapers and TV stations now have an excuse not to air anything coming from wikileaks, no matter how reliable the information is and no matter how relevant or important.
I think there's even a serious threat that any call for openness about the recent expedeitionary wars from america and NATO, will simply be silenced with the argument that some politically radicalist movement wants to harm or discredit america or NATO.
Most of all, i think mr assange betrays his own ideals here, if they ever truly where about opennes and transparance. I don't expect him to ever have an interview with gary kasparov, who's a criticist of putin. I don't expect him to have interviews with any putin criticaster or politician from the opposition. I don't expect him to spent any time and attention to journalists getting killed, or the corruption inside the kremlin either, like putin's private estate that's recently being build at the black sea, worth over a billion dollars and payed by russian tax revenue's. I don't expect him to ever mention murders being commited by nasji-members either. Or the terror attacks commited by the FSB that where made to look like they where done by tsjechnian separatists to give an excuse for the war in tsjechnia. He probably won't talk much about all the civilians killed by russian troops in the caucasus region.
There are probably dozens of russian bradley mannings with story's and filmmaterial of russian troops who commit the most terrible atrocities, like raping torturing and killing innocent civilians in the caucasus. But they won't ever be heared on russia TV. And apparently assange is fine with that.
Apparently, everything is politic's these days and apparently whether killing torturing and raping people is right or wrong depends on who's side you are and under who's flag it all takes place.
I think the only way to ever get the opennes and transparence we want, is by acknowledging that killing, raping and torturing can never be justified by ANY flag or political doctrine.
I have always been suspicious of mr assange's true motivations and unfortunately he is proving my suspicion to be right with this awkward move.