Wikileaks\’ Julian Assange is now a wanted man. The Interpol has issued a red notice: Assange is wanted for sex crimes. That\’s right, sex crimes. He must be a really, really bad guy.

I\’m not going to say Assange is innocent, because there\’s no evidence that he\’s not guilty. If I were sitting on a Swedish jury, I would absolutely listen to all the evidence put forward by the two women claiming they were forced into non-consensual sex. Then I would convict him justly to meet the specific crime. That\’s what everybody who\’s interested in pursuing justice would do.

However, I\’m not interested in government smear campaigns targeting a man who merely angered the U.S Dept. of State (among other foreign governments). If the world wants Julian Assange arrested, or in some cases, executed, individual governments can go after him with a clean investigation. I want to be very clear, this Interpol red notice for alleged sex crimes is nothing more than a witch-hunt, and its issue timing is no coincidence.

Regardless of whether Assange was right to release thousands of controversial documents (which appears to be a mixed bag), he should be getting pretty cozy in a bunker. If you think he\’s being heavily targeted (by governments) now with Interpol\’s \’red alerts\’ and \’warnings\’, just wait until he exposes the corrupt U.S financial system.

In a recent interview with Forbes, Assange said his website plans to publish tens of thousands of secret documents obtained from a major American bank (presumably Bank of America). “It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume,” Assange told Forbes.

See, when someone goes after the foreign policy of powerful governments, powerful people are supposedly affected, but no one person loses money. Certain people might lose prestige, corrupt motives may be exposed, international relationships may be severed, but no specific powerful people lose money. When Assange goes after the banks, however, there will be real money on the line. CEO X, executive Y and banker Z might lose real compensation, bonuses, etc. When large leaks happen, X, Y and Z aren\’t happy. Assange better expect to be a target–Interpol\’s red notice on a warning poster is just the beginning.

Assange is naively assuming that the release of controversial documents will trigger major financial reform from a gridlocked, bitterly partisan U.S Government that is already in the back pocket of the financial system. Assange should know there\’s virtually nothing Wikileaks can release that could somehow stimulate a paralyzed Congress.

It\’s more likely than not that he\’s being far too optimistic, and the end result of his exposés will actually improve security and secrecy, not transparency in government and corporate America. Hopefully, his releases of fraudulent memos and lethal practices in the financial industry will serve the public well in the short term.

Men in their prime, if they have convictions, are tasked to act on them–Julian Assange

I also find it positive that Assange genuinely believes he is providing a service to the world population and the field of journalism by exposing corruption. Though one could argue that Assange\’s discretion (regarding the documents he chooses to release) may be flawed, his motives appear to be positive for everyone who truly cares about free speech and justice. His actions, however, may have unintentional consequences that add even bigger problems to transparency in modern democracy. Julian Assange is rapidly evolving into a victim and a problem for just about everyone, including himself.