A conversation about the Nature of Wikileaks. *Not for the faint of heart*

What the hell is Wikileaks? Really bro...you should know.


For the unfamiliar I shall directly quote  " WikiLeaks is a multi-jurisdictional public service designed to protect whistleblowers, journalists and activists who have sensitive materials to communicate to the public. Since July 2007, we have worked across the globe to obtain, publish and defend such materials, and, also, to fight in the legal and political spheres for the broader principles on which our work is based: the integrity of our common historical record and the rights of all peoples to create new history.
We believe that transparency in government activities leads to reduced corruption, better government and stronger democracies. All governments can benefit from increased scrutiny by the world community, as well as their own people. We believe this scrutiny requires information. Historically that information has been costly - in terms of human life and human rights. But with technological advances - the internet, and cryptography - the risks of conveying important information can be lowered.
In its landmark ruling on the Pentagon Papers, the US Supreme Court ruled that "only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government." We agree.
We believe that it is not only the people of one country that keep their government honest, but also the people of other countries who are watching that government. That is why the time has come for an anonymous global avenue for disseminating documents the public should see."

So there that is. I'm sure you can formulate your own opinion based on that alone.  But here is a brief video example of what they are offering to our world.  This is a video of an American helicopter on duty seeking justification to engage the enemy in Baghdad, Iraq. The American soldiers phone in that 5 to 6 of these individuals are armed but the footage does not add up in my view.  There is an obvious twist of the rules of engagement to justify the murder of this group of people.  I can understand that in this region there is an obvious Anti-American sentiment, but this is just fucking disgusting.  This is needless murder. 





So based on the existence of wikileaks I posed this question to Facebook...




"I'm curious about what people think about Wikileaks. (http://wikileaks.org/) As per wikipedia (no actual affiliation between the two) 'Wikileaks is an amorphous, international organization, based in Sweden,[1] that publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive documents from governments and other organization...s, while preserving the anonymity of their sources.' Does it keep companies or governments in check or subvert our saftey for disclosure? What do you think??"






My buddy D stated this;
"Here's what I think. I agree that the public has a need to be informed in certain areas, and sometimes the red tape can be a bit too much. A site like wikileaks can be a good place to bring attention to important matters that shouldn't be a... cloud in people's minds. There is; however, a limit. It is the responsibility of wikileaks to guarantee the authenticity and the ability to sanitize intelligence such that it does not create a larger problem. That may sound hypocritical, but consider that national secrets can often have broader impacts than most can appreciate or even comprehend. Lives could be placed at risk, and international turmoil or panic could ensue."


Nick Gaston said "I think more disclosure is always a good thing, esp. in the 21st century when things can change as fast as the information flow.

I generally don't trust governments, always concerned with keeping their power and positions or corporations, a...lways looking out for their bottom line. I think it's obvious, esp. in the last 10 years or so, that there is too much even basic info that is swept under the rug in the name of national security and what information *is* released can be very misleading and manipulated. History has shown how information is manipulated at home and abroad to garner public support and the self proclaimed "intelligence agency of the people", WikiLeaks, has proven that this manipulation has gotten worse not better. I think it's a good thing that individuals within these towers of power can have an avenue and option to stand up for what they believe is wrong and let others know.

Don't take this next comment as a direct attack on the last part of your comment, D , but you bring up a good point I want to make. As far as turmoil and panic, I just can't make up my mind. On one hand, it smacks too much of the ever popular rational of: we need to suppress some of our activities for *your* own good. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth and insults my and a great many other people's intelligence. On the other hand even the best of us are not immune to faulty decision making, to put it nicely.

I think it's important to scrutinize every source that information comes from. Even WikiLeaks itself has a decidedly political mission and bias which should also be kept in mind, just as the bias of more mainstream sources should be scrutinized." 






Matt Tobin responded "I think all information should be free and those causing harm in the world to be held accountable. Telling everyone what is going on will bring about a majority consensus...since we're all in this world together, the majority of people who agree with things will cause less problems in the world...hopefully"



and then


Patrick Adler  had the following response. "Good q kev. I take a pragmatic approach to government leaks.
They should not be illegal and we can't really punish leakers for publishing information that they believe is moral.

At the same time, we should allow that some information, rela...ted to security and defense, be guarded. If there are governments making nuclear bombs than they should have every right to keep their methods secret.

So the defacto system, a kind of cat and mouse system between "leakers" and governments is acceptable. It allows for a soft check on abuses of power (like war crimes), it allows for activities that rely on secrecy, and actually it provides incentive for really sensitive information to be strictly kept"

I hope what people take away from this is the nature of the discussion. Things are changing so fast. SO FAST.  We're entering this really trans formative period of information proliferation and things changing very quickly.

Please people, TALK ABOUT THIS... this is the very world we live in...things are a changing!!



 I will edit this tomorrow...cus I'm sleepy.



Edit: Here is the longer version of the video for those who are interested. Name changed upon request.