Wikileaks Afghan War Document Leak Again Raises Questions: Treason Or Whistleblowing?
from the depends-on-who-you-ask dept
A few weeks back, as part of our discussion on the arrest of Bradley Manning for handing over classified documents to Wikileaks, we questioned where to draw the line between "whistleblowing" and "criminal" leaking of military secrets. At the time, we compared the situation to Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. With the the new leak of nearly 100,000 documents about the war in Afghanistan, that same question is getting a lot more attention.Ellsberg says that the leak is no different than the Pentagon Papers. Both involved massive leaks that showed a government was not being entirely forthright with the public about the status of a war. Others in that article suggest there are some key differences, in the lack of any smoking gun of direct lying by the government (in the latest case, it was more about just not telling the full truth), as well as the scattershot nature of the content. But that's no matter to some grandstanding politicians, like Rep. Pete King who were quick to call the leak treasonous and demand prosecution of those involved (he seems to imply that he believes Manning leaked these documents, though no one has said that conclusively yet).
Of course, that was the strategy taken by the Nixon White House in response to the Pentagon Papers -- to attack the messenger. It looks like the Obama White House is taking a rather different response. While worrying about how the leaks could "jeopardize" people or operations on the ground, the White House is actually trying to turn the few revelations into an advantage, by claiming that the information revealed support the strategy the military has taken under his watch. Whether that's true or not, this actually does seem like the type of response that could diffuse the criticism much faster than simply screaming "traitor!"
Of course, some of the revelations, such as the news that the US was paying Afghani press people to run positive stories about the US don't look good at all, no matter how you spin them.
On the whole, it seems like the debate about whether this is "whistleblowing" or "traitorous" behavior misses the point. The fact is, information like this is going to get out -- probably at an increasing rate. The real question is how does the government and the military learn to function in a society where information is a lot more open and free.
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Filed Under: journalism, treason, whistleblowing, wikileaks
Companies: wikileaks
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This was not a leak of tactical positions, technical realities or other kind of stuff that could cause real damage.
Decision making people should know by now that they need the little guy's to be on-board all the way, because it is them who have to do all the work.
The way to accomplish that is being transparent and honest with the people.
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That's not the question raised.
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Re: That's not the question raised.
Sorry to flame you like this, but your incendiary statements are way out of line.
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Re: That's not the question raised.
Afghanistan actually was harbouring a hostile force and they found a lot of proof for that.
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Re: Re: That's not the question raised.
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Re: Re: That's not the question raised.
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Re: Re: Re: That's not the question raised.
The problem of Mexican drug lords is a major one, but it's a different problem.
You should keep in mind that when comparing two problems, if one is much worse than another...that doesn't mean we should ignore the lesser to fix the larger. That's just irresponsible. We should fix both. We're a collective, not a single person.
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Mike, gotta disagree with you..
Really? Strikes me as kinda smart. I wonder if the stories they ran were true with embellishments or pure fabrication, but it's not a bad idea. It's propaganda, for sure, but the NATO effort in Afghanistan needs propaganda.
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Re: Mike, gotta disagree with you..
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Re: Re: Mike, gotta disagree with you..
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Re: Mike, gotta disagree with you..
Imagine yourself in that position. Your supposed "saviors" LIED to you. Who can you trust?
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Re: Mike, gotta disagree with you..
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Damn good thing that.
I assume that you never heard the truism that the "shortest kept secrets are military ones" and that they're even shorter in areas of active conflict. Reality not some nationalist illusion.
I'm not about to excuse poor decision making by government and outright lying by the same on the fact that my country is fighting a war. Nor should I nor should I be expected to shield said government should I find the evidence.
Believe me, AC, it's not like the enemy doesn't already know. They do. Long before this leak, the insurgents, Taliban and others knew.
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The biggest traitors are in the government itself.
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The biggest traitors are in the government itself.
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It was the video depicted here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatta_Mari
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Can't seem to find it on youtube though.
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If you can turn a blind eye on what the military and the 'contractors' are doing over there, then i feel very sorry for you. Every person knows right from wrong.. Just because the government does something, it does not mean it is always right. As people and citizens of this great country, we are required by the constitution and our forefathers to question everything. We deserve real answers and should not settle for less.
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Treason - period
- a crime that undermines the offender's government
- disloyalty by virtue of subversive behavior
- treachery: an act of deliberate betrayal
This is cut and dry treason. Somebody leaked these classified documents. Regardless of what the documents say or indicate, they were classified. By their classified nature, I believe that anybody who then provided these documents to anybody without clearance to view these docs is guilty of treason.
The content of these classified documents doesn't even come into the argument of whether the act of providing these classified documents is an act of treason.
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Re: Treason - period
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Re: Treason - period
- a crime that undermines the offender's government
- disloyalty by virtue of subversive behavior
- treachery: an act of deliberate betrayal
By that definition, Congress is treasonous.
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Wikileaks Afghan War Document Leak Again Raises Questions: Treason Or Whistleblowing?
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is htis manning realted to preston maning?
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When Good Men Do Nothing
He didn't give away troop positions, he didn't give them military technology, he wasn't trying to aid an opposing force. He was simply bringing truth to the situation, which obviously nobody really wanted to hear especially our gov't. I know this is a tricky situation because we are at war, but I can't see this treasonous. If the gov't head been doing its job properly and in a transparent manner he wouldn't have needed to do this. Sometimes the truth hurts but it's time for the American people to start taking responsibility for what our gov't does in our name.
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Citzens say Government is not transparent. How many of us can claim they really know how Wikileaks function?
People say they want Obama to account for every dollar. Till today, Wikileaks has not published any broad accounts of the money donated to it.
The anti war movement says the military is callous towards human lives. Today, BBC published an article which shows that Wikileaks put the names of Aghan informers on their site. If caught, these guys will be killed and their families ostracized.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10800136
Wikileaks is an idea whose time has come. But to me it seems that this ideal has been hijacked by few men who are not that different to some of our elected representatives.
We can vote out Obama. But like many old media houses, the Wikileaks founder will stay because he controls all the power in that organization.
Before I am accused of cynicism, I think our society is much better than it was 20 years ago. And will be much better 10 years down the track. But we have to keep both our Government and Wikilekas accountable for their actions.
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It is good to talk about these issues, but there has to be clear and concise options for fixing these issues. We cannot just say, "oh, we need to fix this and that", yet never arrive a any good options. This is why the United States is quickly failing and it is a sad that this is happening to such a great country.
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There is a difference between a private site that takes voluntary donations and doesn't demand laws that affect everyone and doesn't demand money (taxes) from everyone that it uses to go to war with and a government that does. A tax demanding government requires more transparency than a private entity/business that does not demand money from us.
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This is a violation of the law: So, Treason
While some of the released information might not hurt U.S. troops or the U.S. in general, there might be some information that will harm the U.S. and/or our troops by giving away locations, troop movements, or any number of things the U.S. does not need the enemy knowing. I believe that the solider that released this information should be hung for this and that Julian Assange should be arrested and held until all information is turned back to the U.S. He should be tried and convicted for crimes against the U.S.
If you are in a position to handle classified information, keep it to yourself. If you see something illegal, then you contact the proper authorities. If they fail to act, then you check for the other option available to you. There is always someone you can go to that will properly deal with any problems a person might observe. The fact is that this solider was probably trying to act all cool and failed miserably.
Wikileaks only interest is to bash governments and promote the organizations flat-out anti-war policy. If Russia were to directly invade the United States, Wikileaks would be bashing Russia for the invasion(well, maybe) and the United States for protecting itself. People disagree, people hate, war is inevitable and Julian Assange needs to deal with it. As long as humans live on this planet, wars will occur.
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Re: This is a violation of the law: So, Treason
Yeah, I think the name for the usual "proper channel" is "cover-up".
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The wikileaks
I have held virtually every security clearance we offer; "Q"
(never heard of it? Nuclear), "top secret", "secret". No, I never held a White House clearance, but .....
The primary purpose of secrecy laws are to protect the guilty. I could give concrete examples, but in our paranoid society, who would listen?
Manning, et al, are heroes to me.
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Re: The wikileaks
I could too, but if I did I might be charged with treason.
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Hit List
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Re: Hit List
I've read that he has indeed received information that he is on a government assassination hit list and that as a result he never sleeps in the same place two nights in a row.
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Anonymous coward you are an idiot
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Re: Anonymous coward you are an idiot
OK, anonymous Cody, what is your evidence for that conclusion? If you have none, then that is evidence that you are the ignorant one for it is ignorant to form conclusions without evidence. You see, not all soldiers are neo-fascists that only joined the military for the benefits and because they like killing. Some actually care about democracy, truth and freedom.
TRAITOR!
Maybe democracy, truth and freedom are traitorous goals in your country, but not in the USA (yet).
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Wikileaks should be heros
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