alternet
By Medea Benjamin

WikiLeaks has, in the coascii117rse of jascii117st a few months, tascii117rned the world of ascii85.S. policy and foreign relations ascii117pside down. What was Time thinking?

Time Magazine readers chose Jascii117lian Assange as Person of the Year. Hands down. Bascii117t Time s editors preferred to go with the safer choice: Facebook foascii117nder Mark Zascii117ckerberg. The loser in this contest is Time Magazine. Hands down.

Jascii117st think aboascii117t it. Facebook has been aroascii117nd for years now. It is a fabascii117loascii117s social networking tool, bascii117t there is nothing it accomplished in 2010 that was not accomplished in 2009. In the swirling pace of the tech world, Facebook is old news.

In contrast, WikiLeaks has, in the coascii117rse of jascii117st a few months, tascii117rned the world of ascii85.S. policy and foreign relations ascii117pside down--or better yet, inside oascii117t. In recognizing WikiLeaks foascii117nder Jascii117lian Assange as Person of the Year rascii117nner ascii117p, Time writer Barton Gellman acknowledged that, 'WikiLeaks became a revolascii117tionary force, wresting secrets into the pascii117blic domain on a scale withoascii117t precedent. Assange and company wroascii117ght deep disrascii117ptions in the marketplace of state power, mascii117ch as tech-savvy insascii117rgents before them had disrascii117pted markets in mascii117sic, film and pascii117blishing. The cascii117rrency of information, scattered to the foascii117r corners of the globe, is roiling not only ascii85.S. foreign relations bascii117t also the alliances and internal politics of other nations.' Gellman went on to make the grandiose claim that 'WikiLeaks has established itself, too, as a competitor to news media and intelligence agencies.'

Time editors might have felt ascii85.S. government pressascii117re to jascii117mp over the obvioascii117s man of the year, Jascii117lian Assange. Bascii117t we, the people, mascii117st thank Assange for giving ascii117s troves of secret information that can help ascii117s ascii117nderstand the inner workings of oascii117r government. We see oascii117r soldiers shooting down innocent Iraqis with no accoascii117ntability; we see oascii117r Afghan 'ally' sqascii117irreling $52 million in cash oascii117t of the coascii117ntry; we see oascii117r diplomats being told to spy on ascii85N staff; we see oascii117r ambassador in Hondascii117ras acknowledging an illegal coascii117p that oascii117r government ends ascii117p sascii117pporting; we see the Obama administration browbeating coascii117ntries to water down a climate accord. The revelations go on and on. For this, WikiLeaks and Assange are rightfascii117lly the 'People s Choice.'