Thread: Wikileaks: Good or bad?

Jim,

You didn't read those well, my friend. They interpreted things differently, but they admitted that the comments about bias were made (but said they were individual opinions not pervasive bias). I understand that you like the BBC, but I find it rather odd that you refuse to accept something they themselves admitted.

The Sunday Times article on the same report: BBC Report Damns its "Culture of Bias"

I'm not making this up...

Concerning the "LIES" (Sidebar: by the way, using all capitals doesn't quite seem to be befitting of a conversation between friends... this is something you've done repeatedly, and it reads as being very condescending which isn't how I perceive you most of the time): please stop it. Michael Moore made the same claim about CNN (plus CNN has their own dedicated "lie blogger"), MSNBC has been caught in several lies, ands so have the other national media outlets... Do I really have to link to them all. It's really easy to find examples. They've been documented extensively.

Yes, I've read all the links I offered you, and I find your supercilious tone very disrespectful of someone who is at least offering you the courtesy of refraining from being personal while offering support of ideas and comments instead of insulting comments, insinuations, and accusations.

We have no way of knowing what all has happened as a result of the War Diaries, and I knew the release date. However, I was pointing out the administration expressed real concern that the release of classified documents would risk lives. That was only months ago. The full fall-out of that (and all other leaks) will not be fully known for a long time, and I know that you realize that.

Considering I have a brother fighting in Afghanistan, I really wish there wasn't such a cavalier attitude toward the potential loss of life... Oh yeah, he's on the intelligence side of things...

To get things back on track, this is what Ron Paul said today about Wikileaks, via Twitter:

In a free society, we are supposed to know the truth. In a society where truth becomes treason, we are in big trouble.

source

Originally Posted by commiecat

To get things back on track, this is what Ron Paul said today about Wikileaks, via Twitter:

In a free society, we are supposed to know the truth. In a society where truth becomes treason, we are in big trouble.

source

I completely AGREE
BUT.
LET'S KNOW ALL THE TRUTH.
PLEASE INCLUDE.
RUSSIA, CHINA, ENGLAND --------------------ENDLESS.
that will be fair game.

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

I completely AGREE
BUT.
LET'S KNOW ALL THE TRUTH.
PLEASE INCLUDE.
RUSSIA, CHINA, ENGLAND --------------------ENDLESS.
that will be fair game.

According to Assange, Russia and China will be next.

Having lived my adult life through the assassination of JFK and subsequent coverup, the Viet Nam war, Pentagon Papers etc., Iran-Contra and what have you, I am all for transparency.

OTOH, we elect leaders to represent us within democratic societies. Many times we are disappointed but the fact remains that we put our trust in those representatives. Part of that trust is allowing them the discretion over what should be made public and what should remain classified.

Human nature assures that our representatives will fall short but we still have to trust them to do the best they can. The uncontrolled leaking of classified information by zealots who do not know or care about the ramifications that come from what they do is not always desirable IMHO.

There is the idealized world and there is the real world. Our national interest may be counter to that of others. With people like Putin, Chavez, Castro, Iran, No Korea we need to think of what is best for us rather than what may be the most ethical path in a storybook world. Wikileaks doesn't take our interests into consideration so it remains IMO a threat to world security.

In a free society, we are supposed to know the truth. In a society where truth becomes treason, we are in big trouble.

While I don't agree with all the man's views, I agree with him on this one.

Also, some George Orwell:
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

I don't agree with Ron Paul on that at all.

If I steal his personal financial information, and pass it on for the world to see, would he be ok with that because it's "true"? On a more sinister level, what if someone gave out a complete map accurately giving away the locations of our troops, list their weaknesses, and give out times/circumstances that would be best for an attack? Just because it's true, doesn't mean it's not treason. Does it?

Not wading into the good/bad debate, but I don't see how this is treason - he's not a U.S. citizen...?

Mark

Originally Posted by Milton Man

Not wading into the good/bad debate, but I don't see how this is treason - he's not a U.S. citizen...?

Mark

I think the treason talk is directed at the guy who leaked the information to wikileaks

Ahh...thanks, I wrongly assumed they were referring to the Wikileaks owner.

Makes more sense now.

Mark