Wednesday, July 28, 2010
WIKILEAKS
The recent Wikileaks activity is obviously a big free speech issue so I present below two more or less opposing views of what is involved. Rather amusingly, both come from Left-leaning sources
The WikiLeaks war logs change everything
“Whatever our keepers of intelligence secrets do know, and whatever abuses they’ve done to our civil liberties to learn them, they must feel less sure today about keeping it all contained. When that many people have access to information, however compartmentalized their bosses may think they’ve made the system, some of it will get out, which leads to something else we should worry about. …
The WikiLeaks war diary will absolutely spur our powerful institutions to look for increasingly draconian ways to clamp down on how we share information. What WikiLeaks represents is what governments and corporations fear: a threat to their cultures of secrecy and dominance in their domains.”
Source
Not the Pentagon Papers
“Just because some documents are classified doesn’t mean that they’re news or even necessarily interesting. A case in point is the cache of 92,000 secret documents about the Afghanistan war that someone leaked to WikiLeaks, which passed them on to the New York Times, Britain’s Guardian, and Der Spiegel in Germany. All three published several of these documents — presumably the highlights — in today’s editions.
Some of the conclusions to be drawn from these files: Afghan civilians are sometimes killed. Many Afghan officials and police chiefs are corrupt and incompetent. Certain portions of Pakistan’s military and intelligence service have nefarious ties to the Taliban. If any of this startles you, then welcome to the world of reading newspapers. Today’s must be the first one you’ve read.”
Source
I am inclined to share the concerns of the first article: That a crackdown designed to prevent further leaks may imperil free speech generally. Whether any such legislation would get past SCOTUS is another matter, however. Their decisions are pretty unpredictable but they have lately leant towards protecting free speech.
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12 comments:
Divulging military secrets during time of war is not free speech. It's treason. And those who steal those secrets, as well as those who make them public, regardless of the phony excuses they hide behind, should be publicly executed.
The leftist malcontents and so-called anti-war "peace activists" always fail to recognize the fact that no one, NO ONE, is more anti-war than the brave warriors who have to do the fighting and dying, for only they have truly earned the right to be anti-war.
Soldiers who are anti-war? Is this some orwellian-speak like war is love?
"Soldiers who are anti-war? Is this some orwellian-speak like war is love?"
---Oh, there are a few. Some soldiers just join the military to get a free college education, some don't expect to go to war, or disagree with the mission. I suspect some are seeking fame and recognition by being anti-war. Either way, the military like all institutions has always had a few bad apples. Why else would they have a Military Police?
Publishing miliary materials marked confidential is treasonous, especially when it places soldiers in danger. I wouldn't mind if they published these materials 50 years or so from now, but to do so today is wrong.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.
I would categorize any information which harms the military in a time of war as adhering to their enemies, giving them aid.
correct. This is treason, nothing more or less.
And I'd not be at all surprised if the source of the leak is to be found at cabinet level or higher in the US government.
These guys hate their country in general and its military in particular so much they'll do just about anything to harm it.
Anonymous 4:08 said...
"Soldiers who are anti-war? Is this some orwellian-speak like war is love?"
Yes comrade, soldiers are truly anti-war, because while you're sitting at home living off your parents, they're doing the fighting.
My parents are dead, but they helped win WWII in their own modest ways.
We the People and Anon 3:08 are correct. Soldiers who have fought are the only ones who can truly understand.
And by the way, it seem most commenters don't understand the role of the military. According to the Art of War, the best way to win a war is to be so powerful that no one will want to fight you.
Anon 3:37 nailed it. The simple fact is that leaking military secrets during time of war is a crime. I do not necessarily hold WikiLeaks responsible, but definitely hold the person or group who leaked the documents to them. And if WikiLeaks hides behind "we disclosed based on a promise of anonymity" then they should be held accountable for obstructing justice.
Whether we like it or not, we are at war, and the security of the United States depends upon the chain of command, and the integrity of its military.
"NO ONE, is more anti-war than the brave warriors who have to do the fighting"
That's true. Ask any vet and they will tell you that they hate war -- but they still see it as needed on occasions
Anonymous said...
"My parents are dead, but they helped win WWII in their own modest ways."
How, by gathering information for the USSR?
3:12am - You write as though the USSR was an enemy in WWII. You do know it was one of the Allies - or don't you?
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