A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
No wait, I'm sorry. Wrong story.
Wikileaks began in 2007 as a whistle-blowing website for "those... who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their own governments and corporations." Wikileaks encouraged users to submit documents via the Tor computer network, which is a highly encrypted daisy-chain connection of computers, to protect their anonymity. Some of the first leaks included Somali assassination orders, documents concerning Guantanamo Bay, and illegal activities by Swedish banks (Julius Baer actually succeeded in temporarily shutting down Wikileaks for a short time, only to eventually lose the court case).
Wikileaks is, more or less, the shining light for the Internet. It offers a place for documents to be digitally sent in an anonymous fashion, and have them posted for everyone to see. It is the result of a completely open and free network of computers, unrestrained by government censorship (depending on where you live) or some other regulating force. It is the truth's best friend and secrecy's worst enemy.
So, it came as no surprise that classified US documents began to be submitted to Wikileaks in order to shine some light in areas that were being purposely kept dark by the US Government. Much like the Pentagon Papers that exposed the real truths behind the Vietnam War, documents exposing the real truth in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars soon found their way into Wikileaks' hands. Following a good bit of media hype-up (gotta get that money, don't you, Assange?), the documents were released for everyone with an internet connection to see.
(As a side note: I do not support the leaking of classified information. However, what is leaked in this fashion cannot and should not be "unleaked.")
Then came the release of the diplomatic cables. For those that are not informed, a "diplomatic cable" is basically an email sent from a United States diplomat back to their next-in-command to officially inform them of happenings in the country the diplomat communicates with. (It's called a "cable" because it travels over a cable. I'll take "Stupid Answers" for 1000, Alex.) After this release, it seemed Julian Assange and Wikileaks had the political world by the figurative balls.
Until...
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