I don’t really know enough about WikiLeaks or its history to defend or condemn it, however it seems like anyone in the world ever hates the group and its leader Julian Assange. For instance, some are demanding his assassination. Yikes. I understand that some criticism has come from civil rights and journalist groups, most of whom support the organization overall, regarding the dangerous implication of civilians around the world. From Wikipedia:

In 2010 Amnesty International joined several other human rights groups criticizing WikiLeaks for not adequately redacting the names of Afghan civilians working as U.S. military informants from files they had released. Julian Assange responded by offering Amnesty International staff the opportunity to assist in the document vetting process. When Amnesty International appeared to express reservations in accepting the offer Assange disclaimed the group as “people who prefer to do nothing but cover their asses.” Other groups that joined Amnesty International in criticizing WikiLeaks subsequently noted that, despite their displeasure over the issue of civilian name redaction, they generally appreciated WikiLeaks work. (Source)

At any rate, the recent release of something like 250,000 “cables” has caused a huge uproar in the US. Of course the question on my mind and every American’s mind: what the fuck is a cable? Seriously, why is no one asking this? Is that like, what, an email? An IM? Isn’t a cable like… morse code? So first of all, what’s a cable. Second of all, in response to the leak, Hillary Clinton said this:

So I guess what I’m asking is, who are we really mad at? Or who should we be mad at? Should we be mad at WikiLeaks for revealing that US diplomats called Iranian “President” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  Hitler and French President Nicolas Sarkozy a “naked emperor,” or should we  be mad that US diplomats called Iranian “President” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  Hitler and French President Nicolas Sarkozy a “naked emperor” (source)? Should we be mad that WikiLeaks revealed that the Yemeni government claimed responsibility for US drone strikes to cover for us, or should we be mad that our government lied to the world by allowing the Yemeni government to claim responsibility for US drone strikes to cover for us? The list of sensitive material revealed goes on and on.

But is there something more at issue that I am missing? I feel like there must be. I understand that the government has to keep secrets, but in this digital age that’s becoming quite a challenge. Regardless, it doesn’t seem as if the information leaked in this round or past rounds of releases was really keeping us safe. It’s not like WikiLeaks published cables that say things like “The nuclear code is ‘password,’ username ‘admin’” or “Kryptonite will kill the President” (I have it on good authority that it will) or “We’re attacking Osama’s base on Thursday.” Doesn’t seem like anything of that sort (but if WikiLeaks does or would release information like that, then critics of their lack of editorial standards are correct in their criticism). It just kind of seems like everyone is mad because Mike sent a photoshopped picture of the boss’ head on a woman’s body to everyone in the office, and someone showed the boss, and now Mike is really embarrassed because that was really silly. If the US government is so concerned about foreign leaders finding out the embarrassing things that diplomats are calling them, then maybe we should stop doing that. Also maybe diplomacy can be made less of a facade and more an honest practice. As far as past leaks go, if my government is responsible for the deaths of 15,000 civilians in a foreign country, I just plain want to know.

So yeah, just a few thoughts. Really though, am I missing something? I want to be able to form a definitive and informed opinion on this.

Someone help me do that. Oh also, Julian Assange is really creepy looking:

Share this: