WikiLeaks Articles

[Rick]

Jefferson once said that he'd rather live with newspapers and no country than with a country that had no newspapers. So I'm wondering how you perceive the latest revelations with the release of classified cables. For those of you that chagrin American news organizations this should reaffirm your faith in them since a good number are reporting what was released whether it be right or wrong.

So what say you?

[Justin Case]

Its a good reminder that the Government lies all the time to the people,, If the Government has nothing to hide, This shouldn't bother them,

[Rick]

Interesting take on it. A devil's advocate question. If you were serving on the front line in Afghanistan would it be okay to release it if the cable named you specifically and the address of your family?

"Sgt. Case inflicted significant damage upon the enemy with disregard for his own safety. Col. Whathisname has requested a presidential letter be sent to his family at xxxx Anystreet, Anytown USA 11000."

[Justin Case]

Interesting take on it. A devil's advocate question. If you were serving on the front line in Afghanistan would it be okay to release it if the cable named you specifically and the address of your family?

"Sgt. Case inflicted significant damage upon the enemy with disregard for his own safety. Col. Whathisname has requested a presidential letter be sent to his family at xxxx Anystreet, Anytown USA 11000."

Is that the case ? I have not read any of the documents,, Is that stuff in there ?
Hmmm,,, well, yes, that is Bad,,, But how or who would/should edit this kind of stuff ? (if the second poll option is chosen)

[Justin Case]

BTW,, you can find it all here http://wikileaks.org/

[Pal334]

These documents are almost real time, in that they contain information about OUR current combatants. These are folks that have been there, are currently there, or will soon be returning there. Frankly most of what has been released (I have admittedly not read all of it) is of no interest since it is diplomatic chit chat. However, when a military member is identified by name for military accomplishment (s) (whacking a bad guy (s) ) we do not need to have his / her name spread through out the world, making that person and family a potential target. I personally hope that the source of these leaks is found and dealt with in the most stringent means available. Any one who has a basic knowledge of the classification of information will know that personal identification is a reasonable and justified reason to classify or restrict access to information. If anyone thinks that this means that the government is lying to you, then so be it, deal with it, the life of one service member is worth more than any of our hurt feelings.

[BENESSE]

I see no benefit whatsoever in releasing this info to the public at large.

[2dumb2kwit]

This one makes my head hurt. To me, this is not an all or nothing thing. Yes, I want any polititian that is doing shady stuff, to be exposed.....but at the same time we have to keep secrets. The problem is deciding where the line gets drawn.....and who draws it.

It's kind of like socialism. I want poor children to be cared for. I want police departments, and fire departments. I want interstate highways, and bridges. These are all, to some extent, socialist things, but most of you know that I'm far from a socialist.

It's also like air temp. Some yell for cold, and some yell for hot, but really what we want is in between. We don't want it to be 20 below, or 120 above. The true difference between some of us, is I may like 65 and someone else may like 72. Then we start arguing about the temp, and I act like they want the 120, and they act like I want the 20 below.

Ummm....sorry.....I started rambling. LOL

[BENESSE]

You runnin' a fever 2D, or is it male menopause?

[Pal334]

2D,, I can sympathize , however, I only look at it one way, Protect the Troops!!! And "eff" the others. We are all big boys and girls here, we can not have our cake and eat it to.

[bulrush]

I thought we were talking about the most recent leak, which was leaking secured emails (which were hacked) from US embassies all over the world. The emails said things like "Prime Minister xxx likes to Conga dance and big-busted blondes" and "xyz is very averse to change."

Isn't that the topic of the current Wikileak leak?

Anyway, some people will be very offended that they are called "very averse to change" and this will result in no small amount of friction between the subject and the US gov't. And so I think the leaks are unnecessary. They are not constructive and only serve to damage relations between the US and other countries.

That was what I heard at 7am this morning anyway.

[crashdive123]

I have held security clearances that most of you have never heard of. Sensitive materials are classified at various levels for a reason. Compromising that information (not all of course) can and will cause grave harm to this country and many of our allies. People will lose their lives because of Julian Assange and those that have provided him with the information that he is publishing. He should, IMO be found, arrested and put on trial for espionage. If freaking bloggers can find him to do interviews, I'm sure that Federal authorities can as well.

[roar-k]

If the releasing of said documents would bring about harm to those that defend this country then no they shouldn't be released. Even if there is a smidgen of a chance that it could somehow cause harm them or their family, then no it shouldn't even be considered.

Also, 95-98% of the population couldn't fathom or handle the truths our government could reveal about the missions they have sanctioned and the reasoning behind them.

[Rick]

My personal opinion is some things should remain "need to know". I want my government to be able to conduct it's business in secret when releasing information jeopardizes operations, information and/or personnel. To me, it should be pretty easy for an editor to make that determination based on the information. Blacking out names and places is not a real answer to the question either, IMO. Those enemy combatants involved may gain valuable information just by knowing which operation the memo is about.

It would be a pretty sad world if the evening news said, "Special forces will conduct a raid on a safe house tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. local time in Karachi. The military has told us they think the house located at 234234 Anybomber Lane is being used by Omygosh Itsadud for planning operations."

[bulrush]

Here's an interesting snippet I found. This is from 1979 regarding Iran negotiations to release the US prisoners there. (This was in all uppercase. I fixed it.)

3. Perhaps the single dominant aspect of the Persian psyche is an overriding egoism. Its antecedents lie in the long Iranian history of instability and insecurity which put a premium on self-preservation. The practical effect of it is an almost total Persian preoccupation with self and leaves little room for understanding points of view other than one's own. Thus, for example, it is incomprehensible to an Iranian that U.S. immigration law may prohibit issuing him a tourist visa when he has determined that he wants to live in California. Similarly, the Iranian central bank sees no inconsistency in claiming force majeure to avoid penalties for late payment of interest due on outstanding loans while the government of which it is a part is denying the vailidity of the very grounds upon which the claim is made when confronted by similar claims from foreign firms forced
to cease operations during the Iranian revolution.

Now, if that doesn't piss off the Iranians I don't know what will. The thing about this is, when you have a self-centered person with a big ego, and you say they are wrong, they get very very angry, because, in general, they do not have the capacity to admit they are wrong.

Now I understand why my ex is the way she is.

[Rick]

I sort of see Kim Jong-un throwing a tantrum because the West doesn't like him.

"Daddy! Daddy! Did you read these cables?"

[roar-k]

I believe there was a scene in Blackhawk down where the one captured soldier is in a room with a leader of the group that captured him and he is sitting there watching American news stations to get information.

[bulrush]

Some of the military info that goes out on US news stations concerns me.

[2dumb2kwit]

These documents are almost real time, in that they contain information about OUR current combatants. These are folks that have been there, are currently there, or will soon be returning there. Frankly most of what has been released (I have admittedly not read all of it) is of no interest since it is diplomatic chit chat. However, when a military member is identified by name for military accomplishment (s) (whacking a bad guy (s) ) we do not need to have his / her name spread through out the world, making that person and family a potential target. I personally hope that the source of these leaks is found and dealt with in the most stringent means available. Any one who has a basic knowledge of the classification of information will know that personal identification is a reasonable and justified reason to classify or restrict access to information. If anyone thinks that this means that the government is lying to you, then so be it, deal with it, the life of one service member is worth more than any of our hurt feelings.

I hope I didn't come across as being OK with anything that will hurt our troops. That is not the case. In fact, I've been thinking about this, and realized that I was missing the obvious. We already have laws to address this. Isn't releasing info that could/will endanger our country, or our troops treason, or espionage, depending on who did it???

[Justin Case]

The news is saying that its mostly Embarrassing stuff,, I think Facebook is more of a danger to our Troops as it can easily be seen exactly where they are blogging from,,

But , to be clear, i am only going by CNN,, I havent looked at any of this stuff,