Poll: WikiLeaks - Good or bad?

[uc.asc]

Wikileaks is a controlled opposition of the USA government. Most documents are old or already known if you cared to research.

No, I am not going to dig the sources for you, do it yourself. My statement still stands, despite it will be challenged without sources. Go google it.

Also, why is there [almost] no dirt on Israel? Sorry, but these kind of controlled leaks seem to provoke/fuel more conflicts/wars in the world and I am not a favourite of it.

1. When somebody makes an assertion, backing it up is their job. If they fail to do so, they have no right to whine when they are ignored.

2. Where did this thing about israel come from, and why is my "this guy subscribes to an anti-semetic conspiracy theory" sense tingling?

(oh, right -- it's because you have singled out israel when there also is not a lot of dirt on tunisia, cyprus or the netherlands antilles; and because instead of mentioning any of the entirely fair reasons not to like israel you have instead chosen to make veiled insinuations)

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

it's a very mixed bag of good and bad. there does need to be a lot more transparency about certain things, but when leaked information costs lives, there's a problem.

 

[Jamieson 90]

I think its a good thing. Just look at the Chilcot inquiry into Iraq. It only went ahead with assurances that US interests would not be compromised and we would never have known this if the politicians had it there way, same with the expenses scandal last year.

Look at the media though, Julian Assange is wanted by Interpol all of a sudden, where did that come from? It has character assassination written all over it.

 

[uc.asc]

Wikileaks is a controlled opposition of the USA government. Most documents are old or already known if you cared to research.

No, I am not going to dig the sources for you, do it yourself. My statement still stands, despite it will be challenged without sources. Go google it.

Also, why is there [almost] no dirt on Israel? Sorry, but these kind of controlled leaks seem to provoke/fuel more conflicts/wars in the world and I am not a favourite of it.

1. When somebody makes an assertion, backing it up is their job. If they fail to do so, they have no right to whine when they are ignored.

2. Where did this thing about israel come from, and why is my "this guy subscribes to an anti-semetic conspiracy theory" sense tingling?

(oh, right -- it's because you have singled out israel when there also is not a lot of dirt on tunisia, cyprus or the netherlands antilles; and because instead of mentioning any of the entirely fair reasons not to like israel you have instead chosen to make veiled insinuations)

Too bad I already covered myself in before you could make any statements of your own.

I know statements without sources are to be challenged and I don't really care if you check the sources on your own or not, google is basically your friend and it gets you top rank results.

Also, I am anti-semetic conspiracy theory? You have the balls to make such claims or even feel this in your gut, I am in no way a person that opposes Jews or their religion they follow. Even more, I am to respect the religion itself and it's people or I couldn't be called Muslim.

Check it out, there is really nothing on Israel whilst they have done questionable/despicable things, why you establish a connection with me being a possible anti-semetic person is beyond me.

You can re-read the part in the parentheses if that helps you.

 

[Halceon]

The only things the leaks put to risk is the safety of governments from their own people. I support it whole-heartedly and will probably donate once I get my internet-capable card set up.

 

[EasySt17]

While I do think it is important that there is such an thing as government accountability wikileaks is not a tool that improves that situation. For one thing negotiations between world leaders shouldn't be transparent. If it were we would see how every country acts in its own selfish self interest. That's not a good thing for world peace. Second, as far a war goes, anyone who thinks occupying an urban environment with terrorists hiding amoung civilians isn't going to result in some civilian fatalities is bat-shit retarded. Quite frankly I don't trust the vast majority of people to foster an informed, educated opinion about most controverial topics anyway.

 

[Eumersian]

I feel like there's a serious potential for danger here. Just because nothing really incriminating has been leaked yet doesn't mean that it won't be leaked. Have you ever kept a secret? Yes? I thought so. People keep secrets from one another all the time, because certain people not knowing is better than them knowing.

If you shoplifted some skittles from a convenience store, would you tell your parents? The police? Probably not. You know that what you just did was illegal, or at least I hope so. But you believe that what you did wasn't a horrible crime, so you don't feel guilty and like you have to admit it to stay sane.

Let's bump it up a bit. How many underage pornography watchers are there on earth? Based on evidence from certain peoples' posts (not here, of course), probably quite a few. How many of them routinely tell their parents about the porn that they watch. Probably very few.

I know all that may come off as a weak argument. Weak arguments are usually my specialty. But I truly believe that wikileaks is not noble in any respect. People should leave it to themselves to reveal their own issues if they ever want to. The possible ends it may generate certainly do not justify these means.

 

[Robert0288]

It comes down to fuck the people. There are two views of what goes on in the world. The public immage, and the reality.

Everyone knows that China thinks the North Koreans are a bunch of twats who are on the verge of collapsing their own country. However China and Nkorea are still more or less allies. Of course China will talk to other countries in the region about what they will do if the Norks go and implode.

So now wikileaks has come around and basically told the suicidal north korea that its one and only friend actually hates his guts and is planning on what he gets to do with his stuff after he jumps off a bridge and kills himself. Wikileaks litterally pointed the Norks in the direction of a bridge, gave him a shove and said even his best friend wants to see him dead.

There is no reason for this. Governments always do things for self intrests. The problem is that most people in the world (atleast in the western scense) are dumb, panicky, hardcore raging globalist who would like nothing better that to sacrifice their own safety and security through their own ignorance on a stupid crusade for what ever reason.

 

[Palademon]

Please, don't get me started on the list of why the US is not a good guy.

Despite my interest in world changing news, and almost conspiracy-like releases of information, I mostly agree that this will just raise tension and make the world more sensitive to...bad things.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

It's good. It exposes just how corrupt the government is and why you shouldn't vote for them.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

I think if you honestly thought the government wasn't corrupt then you are severely naive. If you think that governments haven't always been corrupt you are severely deluded, and if you think people need to know about the workings of government you are severely, um, wrong?

Just kidding. I don't like Wikileaks, mainly for the above reasons. I tend to go with Bismarck's approach to things 'Laws are like sausages, you should never seen them being created' (paraphrased). Governments, politicians, they have to do shady backroom deals because that is the entire nature of the game and always has been. There is no getting away from the fact that running a country is and always has been a matter of keeping from the public what the public doesn't want to know, and a website like this is just going to cause masive problems in the long run.

Seriously, leak the wrong document and I would not be surprised if World War 3 was declared and led to the nuclear extinction of the entire human race, and then Wikileaks wouldn't look like such a good idea would it?

 

[Asehujiko]

I though INTERPOL made the warrant.

They did, but the US has decided to uphold it despite the fact that it's withdrawn.

 

[EasySt17]

It's good. It exposes just how corrupt the government is and why you shouldn't vote for them.

Great idea, don't vote, that should fix the world.

 

[Cpt Corallis]

Anything that improves the scrutiny of any government is a good thing.

 

[The Hive Mind]

Berlusconi's official reaction was laughter. How is this guy in a position of authority lol?

If this had been done in a less public manner, Julian Assange would have a bullet between his eyes by now.

Right now they are trying to find a loophole in the extradition laws so that they can have him arrested on the charge of being a terrorist and having blood on his hands and all that shite.
Really this stuff is just harmless personal insults about the leadership of countries; not the leadership as in the government or their policies, but the leaders themselves. Unless the leaders of these countries are pathetic enough to rise to personal taunts *coughkimjongilcough* then there shouldn't really be any issues with this, really.

Wikileaks is doing something amazing, and it is done so publicly that nobody can stop them. Their incorporation of the wiki brandname means nobody will touch them, and as they are a charity, sueing them will be very difficult. Unfortunately, this will most likely hasten the rate at which the governments see the power of the internet as a tool for free speech and clamp down on it -- its only a matter of time


BTW, I'm curious: could an American please tell me how your ridiculously biased news stations are treating this stuff please

 

[Something Amyss]

On the other, it raises global tensions in a world that really doesn't need it right now.

I'm sorry, how?

The folks in Iraq and Afghanistan know what's going on already. It's been talked about by the press and already used by the insurgents as recruiting propaganda.

Many of the comments about other nations and leaders may at most be embarrassing, but hardly going to start WW3. Like the notion of us spying on the UN, I doubt many people are surprised. It's embarrassing, but it's little more than a loss of face.

In the end, it's utterly meaningless. The American people didn't give a damn about Gitmo or Abu Garhab. Torture, loss of freedom, prison without trial? Meh. Lies to the people? Still apathy.

International tensions caused by this will end up being trivial as well.

 

[Valkyrie101]

It's a bad thing. I mean, this could lead to full-scale wars. Confidential things are confidential for a reason. There are people's lives at stake, this is not a game.

And no, I'm not american.

This, exactly. It's interesting how Assange claims to uphold freedom of speech, yet seeks to undermine Western (generally speaking) civilization, the one institution which safeguards it.