Wikileaks: What do you think?

[Genesis]

Frankly, it's nice to see the U.S govt taking some heat, not to mention it's amusing to see how hard they are trying to keep the site off line with DDoS attacks and by putting pressure on Amazon and Paypal.

I think as long as the identities of various informants are kept secret, these cables offer interesting information on the various back room deals done and what US politicians and diplomats really think about various issues and how they regard their counterparts in various countries, even if publicizing it is hugely embarrassing for them.

After all, if the information is available, Wikileaks has no obligation to keep it secret. Let the US secure their network in the future.

Oh, I also think that saying these leaks "Are going to end up killing hundreds of soldiers and friendlies in Iraq and Afghanistan" is a load of bollocks.

[loretian]

The US government is always taking heat.

Peoples identities are not being kept safe.  Maybe in the west, but there are spies in the east that are being revealed simply by putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

My problem with wikileaks is that apparently, one single man (at least, as best I can understand) wields way too much power.  Julian Assange is basically a whacked-out liberal (in the American sense), from what I understand. We built governments and policies and systems of checks and balances to prevent these kinds of things, with the whole idea being to take the power away from a single person.

If he perceives a government as doing something he considers wrong, based on the information he has, he leaks it.  And then, the information is gobbled up and vomited out by the media to a people that can't tell heads from tails 98% of the time when it comes to the truth and the media (and to those that are different, I salute you.)

That said, it is revealing and people are certainly exposed.   I wonder, what would happen if we were all exposed? 

[Mysteron]

Wikileaks needs to get less coverage.

People speak about people, it is who we are and what we do as a species. Who cares.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Did anything "leaked" really surprise anybody?  Seriously now, I think I'd have been interested if we heard about Area 51 aliens...but not anything I've heard.
That said, the scumbag responsible for releasing sensitive intelligence should be tried and punished to the fullest extent of the law.  What a dipshit.

[Genesis]

My problem with wikileaks is that apparently, one single man (at least, as best I can understand) wields way too much power.  Julian Assange is basically a whacked-out liberal (in the American sense), from what I understand. We built governments and policies and systems of checks and balances to prevent these kinds of things, with the whole idea being to take the power away from a single person.

From what I understand Assange is just the public face of Wikileaks. He does have some power, but I'm sure the main people behind the whole site are well hidden.

Wikileaks needs to get less coverage.

People speak about people, it is who we are and what we do as a species. Who cares.

Did anything "leaked" really surprise anybody?  Seriously now, I think I'd have been interested if we heard about Area 51 aliens...but not anything I've heard.

Now it looks like it's not just about candid opinions, but also secret policies, like the US pressing ahead with the Balkan missile shield in spite of publicly telling Russia otherwise. Note that only 1000 of the 250,000 cables have been made public. There is a lot more dirt to come...

[gnr-4-ever]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40544697/ns/us_news-wikileaks_in_security/

Looks like he's been arrested.

[Sin Cut]

But who was the nasty bastard who told the swedish police his location?

[Rockin' Rose]

But who was the nasty bastard who told the swedish police his location?

No idea, I think it was last week when the british police said they know his location and have his phone number.

Also, they couldn't arrest him back then because there was some kind of formality mistake in the warrant the swedes put out.

[Sin Cut]

I'm still waiting for the swedish males to claim that they were raped, too.

[Halo69]

I have mixed feelings about wikileaks.... I mean certainly there's a lot of stuff that the FBI,CIA and the US government do that shouldn't be done...especially if they're against the law... like the prisons in Guantanamo for example.

However on other things, wikileaks can be a serious problem! It can be a serious problem for relations between countries, it could be a problem for the strategy and war against terrorists that might appear or the ones that are already out there, and it can put people's lives at risk.

Frankly there's stuff that should never leak period... there's other stuff that is always enjoyable reading and knowing you're reading something "classified".

In the end its fun to see for once the US Government going paranoid with this, but i still have mixed emotions about it

[Malcolm]

K first of all, he wasnt arrested, he turned himself over to british police and apparently the courts will have 21 days to determine whether he should be extradicted to sweden to face rape charges and answer questions...The rape charges have been around for almost a year I believe and have nothing to do with the wikileaks stuff...but this guy should be behind bars...although some of the stuff could be interesting

[Rockin' Rose]

K first of all, he wasnt arrested, he turned himself over to british police and apparently the courts will have 21 days to determine whether he should be extradicted to sweden to face rape charges and answer questions...The rape charges have been around for almost a year I believe and have nothing to do with the wikileaks stuff...but this guy should be behind bars...although some of the stuff could be interesting

Happended this August, and he is not charged for rape but for not wearing a condom... The Pope if anyone should be defending this guy..

[Axl4Prez2004]

My problem with wikileaks is that apparently, one single man (at least, as best I can understand) wields way too much power.  Julian Assange is basically a whacked-out liberal (in the American sense), from what I understand. We built governments and policies and systems of checks and balances to prevent these kinds of things, with the whole idea being to take the power away from a single person.

From what I understand Assange is just the public face of Wikileaks. He does have some power, but I'm sure the main people behind the whole site are well hidden.

Wikileaks needs to get less coverage.

People speak about people, it is who we are and what we do as a species. Who cares.

Did anything "leaked" really surprise anybody?  Seriously now, I think I'd have been interested if we heard about Area 51 aliens...but not anything I've heard.

Now it looks like it's not just about candid opinions, but also secret policies, like the US pressing ahead with the Balkan missile shield in spite of publicly telling Russia otherwise. Note that only 1000 of the 250,000 cables have been made public. There is a lot more dirt to come...

...again, does that honestly surprise you?  Nations lie all the time.  Iran tells everybody they have no nuclear weapon ambitions...do you honestly believe that?  Come now. 

[Genesis]

No it doesn't,  but it is good to have this information out in the open. The more governments are forced to work transparently, the lesser the chance that they infringe our rights and get away with it. I think Wikileaks is a necessary evil in this day and age. For example, security through obscurity never works. Although I'm sure any terrorist worth his salt would already have known about those sensitive sites, now that the list has been published and made public, governments will take more steps to secure them even further.

[Axl4Prez2004]

No it doesn't,  but it is good to have this information out in the open. The more governments are forced to work transparently, the lesser the chance that they infringe our rights and get away with it. I think Wikileaks is a necessary evil in this day and age. For example, security through obscurity never works. Although I'm sure any terrorist worth his salt would already have known about those sensitive sites, now that the list has been published and made public, governments will take more steps to secure them even further.

Maybe I'm old school, but I have a different view of it all.  Full disclosure is not always the best policy for all involved.  I don't think most folks are willing to have their families live without walls. 
Another metaphor conjures up an old Seinfeld episode, there's "good naked" and "bad naked."  I believe many of the leaks are the latter. 

[Sin Cut]

Those chicks sound like a couple of feminist bitches.

And Assange sounds like a free-loading asshole.

[polluxlm]

No it doesn't,  but it is good to have this information out in the open. The more governments are forced to work transparently, the lesser the chance that they infringe our rights and get away with it. I think Wikileaks is a necessary evil in this day and age. For example, security through obscurity never works. Although I'm sure any terrorist worth his salt would already have known about those sensitive sites, now that the list has been published and made public, governments will take more steps to secure them even further.

Maybe I'm old school, but I have a different view of it all.  Full disclosure is not always the best policy for all involved.  I don't think most folks are willing to have their families live without walls. 
Another metaphor conjures up an old Seinfeld episode, there's "good naked" and "bad naked."  I believe many of the leaks are the latter. 

But you're willing to live without walls yourself? This only applies to the government? Assuming you're supporting this administration or the last that pretty much has to be your stance.

[Mal Brossard]

I am 100% in favor of WikiLeaks.

How can we truly be a government for the people, by the people, and of the people if we the people don't know what the government is doing?

It's guerilla journalism at its finest.  If the professionals don't want to do the job of finding the info and reporting it (or even having it given to them and reporting on it), someone else will.  And Julian Assange seems to be doing a bang-up job of it.

[Axl4Prez2004]

I am 100% in favor of WikiLeaks.

How can we truly be a government for the people, by the people, and of the people if we the people don't know what the government is doing?

It's guerilla journalism at its finest.  If the professionals don't want to do the job of finding the info and reporting it (or even having it given to them and reporting on it), someone else will.  And Julian Assange seems to be doing a bang-up job of it.

I'm just waiting for WikiLeaks to get their hands on the next 5 minutes of Mal Brossard's screen pic!  I keep watching over and over and over just hoping just once, it will keep going instead of starting over! 

Mal, the only problem is when your enemies are aware of where they can strike.  Giving enemies opportunity to learn how to take down your nation's defenses isn't exactly productive...in fact it very likely requires a lot of wasted money re-erecting the necessary veils of protection.  It sounds great to have everybody know everything...it just aint very practical in some instances.

[Gaymo, the Hobbit]

i think it's pretty sad, that the US and A arrest the guy, that leaked the video about the afghanistan shooting, but the people who actually killed those innocent men run around free

that's the USA right there. most fucked up country in the world. fucking hate them