Outrage, Applause, Indifference !
These are the many words being used to describe the latest "Wikileaks".
Are the leaks damaging or does the public have the right to know ?
I, for one am for the documents being in the public domain. It helps us understand what our governments do on our behalf and also sends a powerful message to our leaders.
What say you ?
(Please don't rehash the old things about the rights or wrongs of going to war. We have already done this so mnay times)
i like this heading..
Wikileaks is a wake-up call for all politicians
If this scrutiny has but one purpose, it will be to remind politicians of the continuing weight of their accountability.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/8083160/Wikileaks-is-a-wake-up-call-for-all-politicians.html
Most of the politicians, be they ruling or opposition have a pact where they cooperate with each other in many of the issues behind the scenes.
Remember Bofors or Watergate..
You could not have fathomed these through normal channels :O(
It can help in controlling the conspiracy theories though.
determine if it was revealed at the right or wrong time! What is important is also the intent?
there is no right time fr a wrong thing
Are you saying that this is the wrong time ?
without the foul odor coming out. But there are proper time for everything!
I think that the documents being available in the public domain acts as a deterence to armies from violating human rights
this is the smokescreen that they can use to cover their incompetence.
People have the right to know.
The issue of "National Security" s all too often used to suppress information.
Perhaps most people don't want to know what their governments get up to. Anyway, I think that these leaks are probably just confined to Iraq and possibly Afghanistan issues.
WK, I agree.. There are other means to disseminate classified info. in a such way that it's only accessible to the target public.
brit there is an RTI (Right to Information) act in India, If I want to check any government document (Non Confidential ofcourse, Can't expect sensitive intelligence to be disclosed), I can. Not many people make the effort to use it though, that's the problem.
What if this starts a trend and the same occurs in India, China, Pakistan etc.
Would that not be better for all ?
Or do you feel that ntional issues should be kept internal ..
and for one Brit, the recent leaks weren't damaging or interesting to the public that's why it didn't seem that much when they were revealed
This is an interesting point.
To be honest, most people are too worried about the economic issues to care about these leaks.
However, perhaps in a way, they send a message to the elected leaders that the public is watching and they need to be more transparent.
With internet and mass media communication, these leaks are not confined to one country. They are open to the whole world and we have no right to know all the secrets of some other country.
Actually this is something I wonder about a lot as far as Wikileaks goes,in general. Should the public know this? I mean while there are some stuff we should know there's also the saying of ""knowledge that doesn't benefit you harms you" see in some cases, or some people's cases ignorance is truly bliss! We must remember these "leaks" are open to anyone and everyone. and not all people will react in the same manner hence it can not only be good and helpful but can also turn damaging and deadly! For example when certain tapes on war crimes are revealed. You can expect peaceful protests etc but you can also expect retaliation like bombs and riots! So ultimately its hard to say where the worse evil lies..
how did Assange get to publish these classified documents as i have no idea?
The governments should let the common man know. If everything were hidden behind the name of security, where will accountability start?
we would never know without these scandalous means. Its time people know what has been going on
We should know but not via these scandalous means