The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a
previous order of the House, the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. PAUL) is recognized
for 5 minutes.
2010 Ron Paul 61:1
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, WikiLeaksí
release of classified information has
generated a lot of attention worldwide
in the past few weeks. The hysterical
reaction makes one wonder if this is
not an example of killing the messenger
for the bad news.
2010 Ron Paul 61:2
Despite what is claimed, information
so far released, though classified, has
caused no known harm to any individual
but it has caused plenty of embarrassment
to our government. Losing
a grip on our empire is not welcomed
by the neoconservatives in
charge.
2010 Ron Paul 61:3
There is now more information confirming
that Saudi Arabia is a principal
supporter and financier of al
Qaeda, and this should set off alarm
bills since we guarantee its sharia-run
government. This emphasizes even
more the fact that no al Qaeda existed
in Iraq before 9/11, and yet we went to
war against Iraq based on the lie that
it did.
2010 Ron Paul 61:4
It has been discharged by self-proclaimed
experts that Julian Assange,
the Internet publisher of this information,
has committed a heinous crime,
deserving prosecution for treason, and
execution or even assassination.
2010 Ron Paul 61:5
But should we not at least ask how
the U.S. Government can charge an
Australian citizen with treason for
publishing U.S. secret information that
he did not steal? And if WikiLeaks is to
be prosecuted for publishing classified
documents, why shouldnít the Washington
Post, the New York Times, and
others that have also published these
documents be prosecuted? Actually,
some in Congress are threatening this
as well.
2010 Ron Paul 61:6
The New York Times, as a result of a
Supreme Court ruling, was not found
guilty in 1971 for the publication of the
Pentagon Papers. Daniel Ellsberg never
served a day in prison for his role in
obtaining these secret documents.
2010 Ron Paul 61:7
The Pentagon Papers were also inserted
into the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
by Senator Mike Gravel with no
charges being made of breaking any national
security laws. Yet the release of
this classified information was considered
illegal by many, and those who
lied us into the Vietnam War and argued
for its prolongation were outraged.
But the truth gained from the
Pentagon Papers revealed that lies
were told about the Gulf of Tonkin attack,
which perpetuated a sad and
tragic episode in our history.
2010 Ron Paul 61:8
Just as with the Vietnam War, the
Iraq war was based on lies. We were
never threatened by weapons of mass
destruction or al Qaeda in Iraq, though
the attack on Iraq was based on this
false information.
2010 Ron Paul 61:9
Any information that challenges the
official propaganda for the war in the
Middle East is unwelcome by the administration
and supporters of these
unnecessary wars.
2010 Ron Paul 61:10
Few are interested in understanding
the relationship of our foreign policy
and our presence in the Middle East to
the threat of terrorism. Revealing the
real nature and goal of our presence in
so many Muslim countries is a threat
to our empire, and any revelation of
this truth is highly resented by those
in charge.
2010 Ron Paul 61:12
No. 1, do the American people deserve
to know the truth regarding the ongoing
war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
and Yemen?
2010 Ron Paul 61:13
No. 2, could a larger question be how
could an Army private gain access to
so much secret information?
2010 Ron Paul 61:14
No. 3, why is the hostility mostly directed
at Assange, the publisher, and
not our governmentís failure to protect
classified information?
2010 Ron Paul 61:15
No. 4, are we getting our moneyís
worth from the $80 billion per year we
spend on intelligence gathering?
2010 Ron Paul 61:16
No. 5, which has resulted in the
greatest number of deaths: Lying us
into war or WikiLeaksí revelations or
the release of the Pentagon Papers?
2010 Ron Paul 61:17
If Assange can be convicted of a
crime for publishing information that
he did not steal, what does this say
about the future of the First Amendment
and the independence of the
Internet?
2010 Ron Paul 61:18
No. 7, could it be that the real reason
for the near universal attacks on
WikiLeaks is more about secretly
maintaining a seriously flawed foreign
policy of empire than it is about national
security?
2010 Ron Paul 61:19
No. 8, is there not a huge difference
between releasing secret information
to help the enemy in a time of declared
war, which is treason, and the releasing
of information to expose our government
lies that promote secret wars,
death, and corruption.
2010 Ron Paul 61:20
No. 9, was it not once considered patriotic
to stand up to our government
when itís wrong?
2010 Ron Paul 61:21
Thomas Jefferson had it right when
he advised,
“Let the eye of vigilance
never be closed.”
