Wikileaks

[dvcr8tor]

Rather than find fault with wikileaks for publishing it, I fault the military for not securing it.

If a hacker had gotten the docs from the SIPRNET then you could blame the military for not fully securing them. But, this was an Intel Analyst that had the clearance and the access and decided to go rogue. I hope the full weight of the law, both UCMJ and Federal statutes crash down hard on him. He knew better - he signed the paperwork that fully discloses penalties for the actions he took - so I hope the full penalties are imposed.

 

[ATOMonkey]

If the government didn't feel the need to hide so much from us, we wouldn't even have wikileaks type people releasing sensitive info.

 

[Lex Concord]

Overall, wikileaks is a good thing.

Releasing a good portion of 90,000 documents without fully reviewing them for info that could cause specific folks harm and redacting said information, probably the Wikileaks "screw the pooch" moment.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

If the government didn't feel the need to hide so much from us, we wouldn't even have wikileaks type people releasing sensitive info.

What big scandalous "secret" about how we're conducting the war has come out of leaking these documents?

All I've seen so far are comments about a video where a bunch of armed Iraqis in civilian clothes (prima facie evidence of terrorist activities despite Iraqis being able to own one rifle per family) with a couple of Reuters journalists in attendance get waxed by an Army aircraft. I don't see the problem with that; if journalists are going to hang out with criminals and they get killed doing so, too bad. Putting an uninformed anti-war spin under a combat counterinsurgency operation doesn't make it a scandal or a war crime, especially when fighting an enemy who doesn't obey the Geneva Conventions or the Laws of War.

I'll grant that our government often tries to hide mistakes, fraud, and willful disregard of the law, but how does putting the lives of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq in jeopardy by releasing the raw reports that identify them help in the cause of "transparency in government?" All this bunch of leaks will do is expose our intelligence sources and outline the tactics, techniques and procedures some of our more secretive operatives use in furtherance of their assigned objectives. Big gain to the bad guys; not so much for us or those brave "whistle blowers" who don't have to suffer the consequences of their actions. At least the DOJ attorney who outed the Justice Department's racism had the grace to resign before he did it.

 

[Expat]

I long for the day of a robust CIA that could make things happen that we would never know about. If Ahmadinejad died tomorrow of a heart attack, that would be good for all concerned.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

All wikileaks does is put documents out there that others would keep from public perusal. They've done it with government files as well as bad acting corporations. They are neither "good" nor "bad". They just release whistle blown files. Even their recent release had good info in it that is useful. We got to see that Pakistan is working against our interests. We've also got to see a lot of what the troops are doing, for good or ill. It allows the American public to see what the government didn't want us to see. Transparency IS a good thing.

There is no f***ing excuse for releasing classified military documents during a war. None. Both hard core liberals and libertarians are wrong on this issue. This is not transparency - it is a criminal act that puts our military and civilians trying to help us in a more dangerous footing than before the discloseure of these classified secrets.

It been reported that informant's names are included in the documents. Names. Now the enemy knows exactly who to target. Would you want your name disclosed to people that would kill you? Hell many of you didn't even want to fill out the friggin census, but it's OK to release informant's names?

Even when names are not released, sources can be determined by the information gathered. If not specific people, then villages can be targeted for cooperating. Have you read stories about the Taliban riding into a village and executing all the men for perceived cooperation? Yes, it happens. Entire villages are now at risk, when they shouldn't be.

Information gathering techniques have been compromised. While the information itself may be of no further value, how is is obtained is of immense value and those techniques need to remain secret. Now the enemy knows what we know, and how we gathered it. Just like Osama bin Laden, they will change their communications to thwart our ability to gather and assimilate intelligence.

Like it or not, we are at war. I wish people understood that. This is not some esoteric or acedemic discussion on the principles and virtues of transparency in government. Our troops in the field deserve better than what has happened. It will cost lives, and as far as I am concerned Wikileaks and this private have been complicit in murder.

This prick is an enemy of the United States for what he did. I hope someone pops him.

 

[9lock]

Why does "this" poll show who voted for what? Motive?