We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

Described as a real-life cyber thriller, Alex Gibney's documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks has certainly divided critics - depending on the politics of the paper they write for.

It is standard practice of course in the so-called free press that you're free to write what you like as long as you reflect your paymaster's opinions and that's the reason many journalists become cynical.

So at the conclusion of the film I asked a few critics who were willing to express themselves before they have to toe the line what, if any, were the lessons to be learnt by such a film.

They recognised the frightening reality that not only can we be spied on with impunity or assassinated without warning but also that they were often unwitting collaborators, compromising their integrity.

Integrity is certainly an issue in a film charting the rise and fall of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a man with a mission to use the internet to reveal the secrets that Michael Hayden of the CIA admitted were stolen from friends and foes.

It opens with the first major hacking operation Wank in 1989 that threatened to wreck the launch of the US spy satellite Galileo.
In parallel, we're introduced to cadres and whistleblowers, most notably Private First Class Bradley Manning who - horrified by US war crimes in Iraq - provided unlimited access to potentially damaging material.

That included footage of the 2007 Baghdad helicopter strike that killed 12 civilians, including two Reuter employees and another strike in Afghanistan killing two children, to the amusement of marines.
Manning explains that his actions had been sparked by the cruelty of fellow soldiers and homophobia and, seeking solace on line, discovered he had virtual friends who "cared."

The film documents the attempts to get Assange extradited to Sweden after allegations of rape and his attempts to seek refuge, ending up in the Ecuadorian embassy. But for some reason, he refused to be interviewed about this.

It's significant that after all his proclamations about public accountability and refusal to reveal sources, Assange's need to promote a public profile led to increasing hubris and inevitably alienated allies.

Worse, he was accused of selling the story, which had the Guardian, Der Spiegel and the New York Times precipitately disavowing their involvement.

What conclusions to draw? At the core is the consequences of bullying, with all the major players humiliated and taking recourse to striking back as a means of salvaging some self-esteem.
Having served their time in the US war on the world, these "nerds" were driven to blow the gaff to salvage their sanity.

Manning was arrested and incarcerated in solitary confinement where he was further brutalised, sparking an international outcry which President Obama has refused to recognise.
Yet still the forces of darkness continue to spy and still they get shocked when they're shopped.
Who's to stop them?