Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wikileaks, really? by gimleteye
It has been interesting watching TV reports the Wikileaks story. The media can't seem to find its footing. Is the release of hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables, treason? Isn't the open window on our government operations, good news? I hadn't known that Putin and Berlusconi were best friends, lavishing gifts (and likely, women) on each other. Is anyone surprised by the revelations? A Washington Post report last summer disclosed that 850,000 citizens of the US have top security clearance. This is the amazing result of a nation whose security interests are calibrated to terrorists living in medieval parts of the Muslim world. With 850,000 top security clearances, 'secret' cannot help but be a relative term. Personally, I fear a government security backlash against Wikileaks and a tightening of surveillance across the board, much more than Wikileaks.
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2 comments:
Transparent government is great, but there's a limit, and Wikileaks has crossed way over it; again. A SEAL team should be dispatched to cause it's founder to become unable to continue his political burlesque show. Playing Australian roulette with US national security and diplomacy for your own personal enjoyment and assuaging of one's feelings of low self-esteem is just another form of international terrorism directed against us, and should be treated as such.
The world is a rough neighborhood. Some government operations require private conduct to ensure frank, open discussions and to protect national security.
I'm amazed at the backlash against "quid pro quo's" between ourselves and foreign leaders. In any human endeavor, you're either negotiating or begging. The very nature of diplomacy is you give me something I want, I give you something you want. The sophomoric and idealistic notion that "transparency" is necessary in all areas of government operations reveals a world view that can only be characterized as naive and guileless; characteristics of an immature and nuance-free intellect.
I can't wait for the 5GB data dump from a Bank of America exec's hard drive is posted on Wikileaks in January.
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