WikiLeaks is back again with its biggest leak of government information yet: More than 250,000 diplomatic cables from 274 U.S. embassies — some classified, some not, but unexposed to the public.
It seems until now that the U.S. has been the country most embarrassed by the top secret leaks — which, in the past, have included damning evidence about the failing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — but now it seems most of the major world players have a reason to be angry.
The Obama administration maintains that the leaks will put lives at risk. However, U.S. officials admit they can’t confirm whether anyone’s life has actually been harmed because of the documents’ release, according to a Miami Herald report.
It’s understandable that it could be a possibility, but it seems more likely that U.S. officials are simply looking for as many reasons they can to stop Julian Assange, WikiLeaks’s founder.
Most of the media has worked quite closely with the State Department to make sure specific people aren’t implicated. It appears the U.S. is more afraid of what action the public may take in the wake of the leaks.
As leading U.S. foreign policy dissident Noam Chomsky put it, the documents reveal “profound hatred for democracy on the part of our political leadership.” If the U.S. is engaging in behavior that isn’t in the interest of democracy, people ought to know.
Some notable documents reveal:
• Yemen’s prime minister lied to the parliament about covert U.S. bombings in Yemen.
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Condoleeza Rice ordered U.S. diplomats to spy on UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and other UN officials.
• Saudi Arabia King Abdullah has repeatedly urged the U.S. to strike Iran, while at the same time, Saudi groups remain al-Qaeda’s top financiers.
Officials are discussing whether they can charge Assange under the Espionage Act and Rep. Peter King, R-NY, is lobbying for WikiLeaks to be classified as a terrorist organization.
Don’t buy into the propaganda. Allowing the U.S. government to silence dissidents would be a horrifying instance of government overreach and destruction of First Amendment rights. WikiLeaks itself is not responsible for the leak, only the publishing.
The attack on the whistleblower group is the same route taken by the government when the Pentagon Papers were leaked in 1971.
If you didn’t know, the Pentagon Papers were an enormous collection of documents outlining U.S. actions in Vietnam. The papers revealed the true reality of the war was kept secret from the public, and their publication helped end the war. Daniel Ellsberg, the man responsible for the leak, realized that state secrets didn’t always benefit the government or its people.
The information WikiLeaks has is necessary at this point in time. While the government screams that lives are at risk, we have been watching the soldier and civilian body count stack up for the last nine years in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The balance of power in the world has been upset and citizens deserve to know if the nation’s diplomatic behavior has only contributed to increasing tension.
If the U.S. government doesn’t want to be embarrassed about how it conducts relations with foreign countries, it ought to start conducting itself in a more transparent and democratic manner.
WikiLeaks must be preserved so it can serve as a deterrent to the more nefarious aspects of our government’s actions that do not promote democracy and truly harm citizens.
It’s also important to note that the U.S. isn’t the only nation shown in a negative light; several countries are revealed to have engaged in shady behavior. If WikiLeaks were shut down, it could eliminate possible popular uprisings in regions with oppressive governments.
A little known fact about the leaks is that an Oklahoma native is responsible. Soldier Bradley Manning leaked the first documents to the site, probably for the same reasons Ellsberg did almost 40 years ago, and it is speculated he is responsible for the cable leak as well.
Currently, Manning is in federal prison, it seems, for exposing the lies and fatal secrecy of the U.S. government. For the government’s own crimes, however, no one has been arrested.
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Sharon 1 year, 5 months ago
Wikileaks is mostly about rumors, like who was sleeping with whom that night or interputing telephone calls. It creates confusions by making people focus on details and forget the scope.
mustafa 1 year, 5 months ago
Manning leaked the documents because he is an embittered homosexual who hates his own country. He used his special access to betray his oath and the trust his countrymen placed in him. He deserves to be tried as a traitor and executed.
His leaks will result in deaths of informants and operatives. People who got incredibly bent over the phony danger Valerie Flame claimed to be in, somehow are able to blow off and real cases of endangerment caused by these leaks.
As well informants, World leaders like the Saudi King and Mubarak, tell us things in presumed confidence that they dare not say in public. They won't do so under "a more transparent and democratic manner."
DancingTableLeg 1 year, 5 months ago
I swear, I'm beginning to doubt mustafa is a real person.
mustafa 1 year, 5 months ago
So did you see how Hillary ordered spying on UN delegations? Whatta-ya-know, someone in this administration does have some cojones.
YOU GO, MOXIE GIRL!
Sharon 1 year, 5 months ago
To DancingTableLeg, What do you mean that mustafa might not be a real person? For me, after I have done some research, at least it is a real person name not a broken piece of furiture. I wish comments here convey university levels not elementary.