New Wikileaks Dump is Unconscionable

What began as an interesting exercise in the freedom of information has now become a fiasco: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/28/how-us-embassy-cables-leaked

This is no longer just about Iraq or Afghanistan. There can be no doubt now that Asange and his cohorts seek to completely undermine the United States and cripple its ability to function abroad.

"Hillary Clinton and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack when they wake up one morning and find an entire repository of classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format, to the public ... Everywhere there's a US post, there's a diplomatic scandal that will be revealed. Worldwide anarchy in CSV format ... It's beautiful, and horrifying."

What their reasons are, I do not know, but this has become unconscionable, in my opinion. Governments cannot govern or conduct policy if they have no ability to confer in private and safeguard certain information and opinions.

 

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The stinking filthy rich Saudis have been playing us off everybody. This stench can pay for it's own battles with Iran in transparent openness, and reveal the true nature of the local Middle Eastern backstabbing ways. The U.S. doesn't always have to be the cannon fodder, just to allow cowards to hide in shadowed purpose.

 

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America hang your head in shame for the 66000 civilians killed in Iraq. Wikileaks will let the world know what evil deeds have been done in the name of freedom. Democratic governments should be fully transparent. How can we know where our vote goes if the government actively hides details that will harm their popularity..

Long live wikileaks... And hats off to the brave that risked all to release the information.

 

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What is unconscionable is that the material was handed to Wikileaks by our own government employees. What is unconscionable is allowing an Army pfc access to this material.

 

No what's unconcionable is the criminal santions launched against whistle blowers. This embarrassed the US? Who cares

 

Leak, leak, leak and leak some more. Democracy without information is not Democracy.

If you can't do it publicly then don't do it.

 

exactly.

 

But should they be able to cover up Apache helicopters gunning down civilians?

Imagine a foreign power was flying over US soil, killing innocent US citizens, and covering up the atrocities. How would you feel then?

 

+1...

 

Well if you could prove the allegations Bells, it would be.

 

I don't know, so far these leaks are not much more than the sort of gossip you can get in an hour of morning "newsertainment". So-and-so is weak, such and such has poor fashion sense, cut the head off the snake... I mean, please. You think THIS is a LEAK??? You can't handle a LEAK!!

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Wow, this thread really separates those who fear from those who love. . . .

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These leaks have nothing to do with your interpretation of those events.

Oh, please. Spare me this bullshit. Every govt. in the world has privileged information and private communications. So do you.

You need to read more closely.

There are no atrocities in past leaks -- or these. This is no longer about Afghanistan or Iraq, topics where Assange could claim, dubiously or otherwise, that he was crusading for. What he just exposed is the private communications of multiple world governments on a host of controversial and ongoing issues. It has no higher purpose, other than to disrupt in the same manner a sibling disrupts when they steal a diary and read it aloud. This is a childish act.

 

Yeah, for almost a 100 billion a year one would think they could keep a secret.

 

The president, the NSC, the two relevant Congressional committees -- not to mention the swath of journalists who do a decent job picking up on the larger trends in the community.

Which neatly torpedoes the conspiracy-theory mongering that often goes on about the IC on this site. But to the point here, this leak is not from the community. It's from the military. Specifically, this guy had access to CIPIRNET, the DOD Top Secret server. I am not sure why, but that's how he got all of this stuff. Remember the 9/11 Commission talking about bringing down walls between agencies. Well, here is the knock-on affect from that. Now State cables are accessible on DOD net. So a leaker can do more damage.

 

These recent disclosures undermine American diplomatic efforts to function both internally and to liaise with other countries and their officials.

I agree that secret, unethical conniving is one thing, but governments require privacy within their own ranks and with their dealings with foreign individuals and governments. Yes, transparency for government dealings within our country, but not transparency for dealing with foreign countries.

It could be something as simple as one US diplomat warning another US diplomat that some foreign official who s/he’s about to meet is a pompous blowhard with chronic bad breath. Or it could be as serious as trying to plot courses of actions, such as asking Saudi’s king how he would react if we bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, or how various countries might react to another war on the Korean peninsula. All governments have sensitive knowledge and special methods of obtaining that knowledge, and these things require protection.