Scandals and Controversies: WikiLeaks and Helen Thomas

An informant has been arrested for allegedly leaking classified information to the website WikiLeaks and Helen Thomas has retired over recent comments about Israel. Cenk Uygur gave RT his view on all the scandalous news.

“I love that he leaked that Apache helicopter video because it gives us a fuller sense of what happened in Iraq, closer to the reality. I like that WikiLeaks put it up there, and they serve a really important purpose when the mainstream media is scared to put stuff like that up there,” said Cenk Uygur, radio host and columnist from The Young Turks.

Uygur said, however, that he understood the army’s reaction. He believes that the government is scared and has begun targeting WikiLeaks.

“If they [the government] are scared, then you’re doing real journalism,” said Uygur.

Helen Thomas was recorded in an impromptu video interview saying, “Tell them [Jews] to get the hell out of Palestine. […] Remember these people [Palestinians] are occupied and it’s their land, not Germany, not Poland. They [Jews] go home to Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else.”

“She screwed up,” said Uygur.

He continued, “The first part she could have defended, saying "hey, it’s occupied. I say get the hell out of Palestine' meaning the Palestinian Territories. That’s a defensible point. The second part is not defensible. I’m surprised she thinks that, I’m really blown away by that. I mean, go back to Germany and Poland? That’s crazy talk.”

Uygur said that the second part of her statement is really what forced those she represents to pressure her to retire. He argues that it would have been different had she been discussing the Israeli government or Israeli policy, but she was not.