Wikileaks - good or bad?

Miyazaki

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Surely the leaking of information fits into the American ideology of freedom, and the information it exposes reveals the deception, cover-up and spying to be the true terrorism and not the other way around as American diplomats and politicians state?
 
I think it is a good thing...there are too many meddling meddlers in the world and if it outs a few of them or makes them think more carefully before meddling again I'm all in favour of it. I'm not talking about the men right at the top. We all need a President or Prime Minister but it is all the other self-important hangers-on who tinker and fiddle with things because it gives them a sense of power. We would all be better off without them...so thank you Wikileaks for exposing at least a proportion of these idiots who think they pull the strings. Most people just want to go to work and raise a family, dying happy and content. It's frustrating that people think they are so important that they can ruin it on behalf of the decent man.
 
The Americans are saying that this latest release will put lives in danger.

I guess we will soon find out.

I am all for freedom of information, but would not want to see the guys on the front line exposed and have their lives put at greater risk because of this.
They do a great job and are there following orders.

It is the guys higher up, mostly bent politicians, who need a good flaming from the press.
 
This thread needs a poll.

And WikiLeaks is definitely in the good books for me.
 
In theory I'm in favour of it - certainly very curious.

However all governments need (in the real world) to have secrets. Of course governments everywhere would like to make all they do secret, rather than just what is really needed to be secret.

Especially their communications with other governments should be kept secret.

Does anyone now think the Saudi's for example are going to be keen to talk openly at a high level to the American Government again ? Does that help the world, or does it just add to the instability.
 
In theory I'm in favour of it - certainly very curious.

However all governments need (in the real world) to have secrets. Of course governments everywhere would like to make all they do secret, rather than just what is really needed to be secret.

Especially their communications with other governments should be kept secret.

Does anyone now think the Saudi's for example are going to be keen to talk openly at a high level to the American Government again ? Does that help the world, or does it just add to the instability.
The same conversations will take place, just not recorded.
 
I'm not going to word this very well but here goes: I hate what they've done with these U.S. Docs. There's something very pompous about it and the underlying "Freedom of Information" ideals of which the founder boasts are, to me, always secondary to human lives. I don't doubt that some of the info is embarrassing and the U.S. want it secret for that reason alone but Planet Earth is not the place for some jumped-up Australian freedom-hugger to be deciding the fate of people he'll never know he helped to extinguish.

It's reckless, careless and unknowably stupid. Sometimes the people who run things need to do it in secret; that's just a fact of life. When they are working on our behalf, and the stakes are so high, they need to do what they need to do to do the things that they do effectively. And you can react as cynically as you want to that :)

The dude who stole the information in the first place should have the book thrown at him as he's gone beyond 'whistleblowing'. What's important anyway is what happens next (regarding legislation/tactics/security/encryption). These leaks might have undone millions of pounds worth of Government expenditure and will now be causal in them spending even more in future to attempt to stop these sorts of leaks occurring and if such restrictions limit our armed forces functionality in some way or diminish foreign embassies effectiveness we can 'thank' this guy for that too. If he were to end up losing a fight with the roof support structure of a Parisian tunnel I wouldn't be massively affected.

Mike.
 
The same conversations will take place, just not recorded.

How will the communication take place without being recorded ?

Is America going to stop receiving diplomatic notes ?

Is the president going to stay up 24hrs a day to chat to heads of state around the world in different times zones?

Is the US ambassador for Saudi going to fly home every time he has been given a message to relay ?
 
I think it is a good thing since the US has a freedom of information act - will help make the authorities understand that the rules can't just be imposed on those that they want.

What disappoints me most is that the US (and the UK governments to a lesser degree) seem to be oblivious to the bad deeds that have been done, rather than showing remorse and condemation of the acts commited they are criticising the people releasing the information.

It's the old age culture - "we aren't doing anything wrong if no-one finds out".

It also shows that some of what the US government organisations are prepared to commit to paper is childish and unprofessional.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
Don't know if its good or bad. Currently I'm inclined to think that actually nothing that has been headlined was really news.
Stuff about 'Dave', well no surprise there.
No surprises either that Berlusconi, Sarkozy, Putin, Merkel etc are described like that, we all know it to be true.
The Iranians want missiles? Yup.
The saudis don't like the Iranians, want the West to bomb them and then supply huge quantities of money to Al Quiada, well we all knew they were two faced.
Corruption amongst Afghan politicians?.

We knew all this, big deal
 
Let's all have a pop at the French......

'France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country. France has usually been governed by prostitutes.'

Mark Twain

-

'I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me.'

General George S. Patton

-
'Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion.'

Norman Schwartzkopf

-

'We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it.'

Marge Simpson

-

'As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure.'

Jacques Chirac, President of France

-

'The only time France wants us to go to war is when the German Army is sitting in Paris sipping coffee.'

Regis Philbin

-

'You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have the face for it.'

John McCain , U.S. Senator from Arizona

-

'The last time the French asked for 'more proof' it came marching into Paris under a German flag.'

David Letterman

-

'Only thing worse than a Frenchman is a Frenchman who lives in Canada .'

Ted Nugent

-

'War without France would be like .. World War II.'

Unknown

-

'The favorite bumper sticker in Washington D.C. right now is one that says 'First Iraq , then France .''

Tom Brokaw

-

'What do you expect from a culture and a nation that exerted more of its national will fighting against Disney World and Big Macs than the Nazis?'

Dennis Miller

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'It is important to remember that the French have always been there when they needed us.'

Alan Kent

-

'They've taken their own precautions against al-Qa'ida. To prepare for an attack, each Frenchman is urged to keep duct tape, a white flag, and a three-day supply of mistresses in the house.'

Argus Hamilton

-

'Somebody was telling me about the French Army rifle that was being advertised on eBay the other day --the description was, 'Never shot. Dropped once.''

Rep. Roy Blunt, MO

-

'The French will only agree to go to war when we've proven we've found truffles in Iraq '

Dennis Miller

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Q. What did the mayor of Paris say to the German Army as they entered the city in WWII?

A. Table for 100,000 m'sieur?

-

'Do you know how many Frenchmen it takes to defend Paris ? It's unknown; it's never been tried.'

Rep. R. Blount, MO

-

'Do you know it only took Germany three days to conquer France in WWII? And that's because it was raining.'

John Xereas, Manager, DC Improv

-

French Ban Fireworks at Euro Disney

(AP), Paris, March 5, 2003

The French Government announced today that it is imposing a ban on the use of fireworks at Euro Disney. The decision comes the day after a nightly fireworks display at the park, located just 30 miles outside of Paris , caused the soldiers at a nearby French Army garrison to surrender to a group of Czech tourists.



Why are all the streets in Paris tree lined? So the Germans can march in the shadow.

Unknown
=========================================================================
 
The Americans are saying that this latest release will put lives in danger.

I guess we will soon find out.

I am all for freedom of information, but would not want to see the guys on the front line exposed and have their lives put at greater risk because of this.
They do a great job and are there following orders.

It is the guys higher up, mostly bent politicians, who need a good flaming from the press.

IMO it is not wikileaks putting lives in danger it is the American politicians with their nefarious activities.
 
'Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion.'

Norman Schwartzkopf

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Its even funnier that a German said it. At least he has a German surname anyway.
 
Surely the leaking of information fits into the American ideology of freedom, and the information it exposes reveals the deception, cover-up and spying to be the true terrorism and not the other way around as American diplomats and politicians state?

I'd tend to agree, but using the words 'true terrorism' is maybe a tad melodramatic though. - Oh and don't call me Shirley. :D
 
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How will the communication take place without being recorded?

Is America going to stop receiving diplomatic notes ?

Is the president going to stay up 24hrs a day to chat to heads of state around the world in different times zones?

Is the US ambassador for Saudi going to fly home every time he has been given a message to relay ?
I'm sure the US will find a way. Only 226 of the 251,287 documents planned leaks have actually leaked. I guess we are in for an interesting Christmas.
 
This whole thing could be a set-up. A charade done with the knowledge and approval of the governments concerned.

Taking this in with a pinch of salt.
 
Err he was the (US) commander of the Coalition forces during the first Gulf war.

Often known as 'Stormin Norman'

No idea who he is/was but that is a German surname surely? I think it means 'Black Head' going by the remnants of GCSE German in my head.
 
I'd tend to agree, but using the words 'true terrorism' is maybe a tad melodramatic though. - Oh and don't call me Shirley. :D

I heard on the new that an American senator called for wikileaks to be branded as 'terrorists' which is why I said that the behaviour of American politicians involved is more akin to terrorism than the reporting of their behaviour.
 
No idea who he is/was but that is a German surname surely? I think it means 'Black Head' going by the remnants of GCSE German in my head.

Yeah, Stormin Normin put the squeeze on the Iraqi forces!
 
If WikiLeaks is intent on putting information into the public domain which was never intended for public consumption, then I believe they should only do so if the information is evidence of any illegal activity which needs exposing. Beyond that, they should have the common sense to filter the information which is being published otherwise it's sensationalism and journalism of the worse kind.
 
:D

I think you mean Black Top or Black Hill.

Schwartzkopf as far as I know is used to describe stubborn people or "Hot heads". Or at least it is by some of my ancestors.
Kopf definitely refers to head in that situation.
 

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