What do you think of "wikileaks"?
As you guys may or may not have heard, a new round of wikileaks related controversy is kicking off. This time the whistle-blower on meth is claiming 15,000 unreported civilian deaths during the Iraq War.
Since it's Saturday I'm on a different mode and looking more at things that effect our lives than things that just effect markets and the bottom line. As a kid from an immigrant background the freedom of the press has always been a point of wonder and amazement for me. Even though you guys have heard it all of your lives, it is pretty hard for Americans to understand what real censorship is and how it feels.
Though I don't wish to go into greater detail, I could easily spend a day rambling about a slew of friends and relatives who disappeared or had their lives ruined because they said something that didn't suit a particular government or administration.
This is why the wikileaks issue has me debating myself...
In spirit, I think freedom of the press and the right to information are essential for a healthy democracy. But at some point I have to ponder the question:
When is enough...enough?
When do we go too far in the search for truth? When do we cause chaos by seeking to create order? When are our motivations gentle, but our executions violent?
I wonder if America really benefits from knowing how much Dick Fuld stole.
I definitely wonder about the benefits of wikileaks...more accurately, I wonder about the drawbacks of certain information coming to light.
The truth is a very murky and dusty thing, not necessarily served best by a squirt of windex and a damp cloth. I fear that in our self aggrandizing platitudes regarding truth, morals, values and other ego derived theorems we ignore that life lasts only while it is lived.
I am not sure that wikileaks pursues the truth in life...
I am not sure what it seeks to achieve...
How about you?
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both -- ben franklin
Obama should send in the Jason Bourne squad to take those guys out. Wikileaks does nothing good. There is a reason that every government in the world keeps secrets, and always has. If the government has to be "pc" in everything they do, they will never accomplish what needs to be done. Classified documents are classified for a reason. I've never heard anyone complain about that, so why would anyone claim that wikileaks, which is basically declassifying these docs, is a good thing. The people at wikileaks are just doing everything they can to further tarnish the USA and its allies. Furthermore, they are giving away national secrets that could be used by other nations at our detriment. Finally, wikileaks is doing the exact thing they would say they are fighting-endangering lives. US, British and especially Iraqi individuals are being put in harms way by these releases. Is that what Wikileaks is trying to do? If you ask me, these people are just "truth" fanatics that have not stopped one second to think about the consequences of their actions.
I'm all for freedom of the press when it comes to opinions, public info, etc., but government secrets are secrets for a reason. I think we can all agree that some things are best left in the vault. Wikileaks is just another example of the new American generation-more concerned about abstract ideas like "truth" and being "pc" than results of actions.
Midas- that's interesting what you say about Americans and censorship. You are probably right too. But what you say at the end of the post is also true. I think what Wikileaks is doing has gone too far. They don't seem to be acheiving anything positive through their releases. Once again, there is a reason governments keep classified info (every govt does). In some cases it is for the benefit of everyone to keep secrets. On another note, maybe the people that should really be getting flak are the people/person giving these documents to wikileaks.
It is a problem that Wikileaks is releasing these documents.
The thing is, the even BIGGER problem is whoever is leaking these documents to Wikileaks in the first place. Hopefully most of it is garbage/intentional misinformation from counterintelligence, but there's no way we'll know.
actually if you go over most declassified documents you would come to the conclusion that the reason they were classified in the first place was to solely keep the public out of the know
rarely is it ever for the "benefit of everyone", maybe for the benefit of a few
I 100% support freedom of information. What I do not support is taking information that is vital or critical bs putting it out there for "freedoms" sake. Also, wikileaks is only putting stuff out there that supports their political motives. You never see any info being leaked outside of that which condoms US soldiers and their actions.
As for the person who said this:
lol. Righttttt. And the rest of your post is just as ridiculous and presumptuous.Gotta side with truth and freedom of the press here. I find a lot of what Wikileaks does distasteful, but if governments don't have someone calling bullshit on them they'll run amok.
If wikileaks seriously compromised national security it would of already been shut down.
Wikileaks should be celebrated. What compromises national security are these ridiculous wars that accomplish nothing, not people who expose their ridiculousness. The more realistic look at real war that we get, the less likely we are to see more and more of it.
Hmmm. why did my last post get deleted?
Fake news
[Deleted! No longer relevant.]
Im with Uncle Eddie, hands down
"When do we go too far in the search for truth" - I suggest a special police branch, maybe with stylish grey suits, that could help us against 'the search for truth'.
The right truth or no truth.
Or maybe look at it from another perspective and tighten up control measures so we don't have to be afraid of the truth?
/D
Did you guys see this today:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/8084720/Wikil…
Not cool.
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