Someone Should Tell The State Dept That The State Dept Is Hosting World Press Freedom Day
from the left-hand-meet-right-hand dept
Apparently all of the folks with an ounce of PR sense in the State Department were busy responding to Wikileaks issues. That's about the only explanation I can come up with for why the State Department still decided to push forward with its announcement that it will be hosting UNESCO's 'World Press Freedom Day' next May, right as it's been attacking Wikileaks left and right for showing how a free press really works. Of course, the other possibility is that whoever put out the press release actually hoped it meant freedom from the press for a day...Of course, it gets even more ridiculous as you read the details of the press release:
The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals' right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age.Yes, "some governments"... like the US as it attempts to stifle Wikileaks. At the very least, this suggests a State Department that appears to be entirely tone deaf to the concerns over its response to Wikileaks.
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Filed Under: free speech, irony, press freedom, state department
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Right...sure...of course...
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Re:
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Unreal...
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free press?
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So does anyone else see...
US puts pressure on companies that do business with wikileaks because they do not like what wikileaks is doing.
Visa, Mastercard and Paypal among others, (those are the three that I view as significantly important to cablegate) terminate services as far as Wikileaks is concerned.
USG does everything in its power to discredit Wikileaks.
and then...
This farce of a holiday celebrating "free" press.
My head can follow the trail, but that doesn't mean it hurts any less.
1984 anyone?
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Limits
Also, for those who are insulting government employees, in my experiences, those pointing out the lack of intelligence of people or you've never met, interacted with, or know anything about or that make sweeping gross generalizations, usually are pretty inept and unintelligent themselves and in the bottom 50% of their own workforce (i'm not insulting anyone else, but in my experiences, i've noticed a pattern).
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Re: Limits
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Re: Limits
I bet this was on the calendar, and some guy in a cubicle who writes press releases was just doing what he was told to do in a meeting 30 days ago. So often in government the left hand does not know what the right is doing....
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Re: Limits
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Re: Limits
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/12/07/report-wikileaks-cab.html
So perhaps in the evil world of Realpolitik, in which there is apparently no moral compass US private contractors won't smash to smithereens, it made sense for DynCorp to drug up some Pashtun police recruits and turn them loose on a bunch of little boys. But according to the leaked document, Atmar, the Afghani interior minister, was terrified this story would catch a reporter's ear.
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Re: Limits
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While that is great for you, because we know how many people do not have "actual" jobs, "terrorists" or people who would like to bomb America's critical dependencies are well ahead of this game. This information is compiles in a certain document, yes, but its no state secret where the US gets most of its insulin. That information is widely available.
The reason that you fear these places as becoming "targets" is because the US is well hated around the world as a result of self motivated foreign policies that have left many innocent civilians dead, starving, poor, in a constant state of war, you name it. I am sure neutral Switzerland has a list of "critical dependencies" too. Do you think these "terrorists" think daily about bombing Switzerland's dependencies?
By the way, Mom just came down to the basement to tell me that some of our Congress people and senators are now calling for Assange to be put on a list of "terrorists". Hmm What do you think Chuck? Is he a terrorist in your sense of the word?
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I'd venture that asking you anything is pointless.
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Re: Limits
How so?
Pointing out hypocrisy or shining light on shady contracts and dealings and such is all and well, but releasing classified intelligence documents that were illegally and treasonously obtained is irresponsible and dangerous.
There are so many assumptions in that statement that you might want to go back and consider if any of them are actually true.
I hope that Assange rots in prison either for his current charges or any other charges because his behavior is putting lives at risk,
Who has been put at risk?
There's so much FUD around Wikileaks, it's really incredible.
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Re: Limits
and the difference between the two is.....
in the eye of the beholder.
Actually wikileaks has made significant efforts to prevent dangerous consequences - and asked the US government to identify material that had the potential to cause actual harm.
The goverment refused to do this and so any danger is their fault.
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Re: Limits
One of the main uses for classifying information in the first place is to hide bad conduct. I guess you never heard of the Pentagon Papers case, huh?
So in your view, all anybody has to do to hide evidence of misconduct is to just classify it. And that's just what people have been doing.
What an idiot (or worse).
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Critical infrastructure protection
Actually, I'm fairly confident that Wikileaks' publication of the 2008 Critical Foreign Dependencies Initiative (CFDI) list (CI/KR organized by region) is not "risking lives".
At worst, it indicates a program badly adrift—in need of immediate Congressional oversight. Alternatively, at best, it's merely a very incomplete list of some facilities that you can look up in the open literature.
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“Germany accuses US over 'missing' Afghan funds, WikiLeaks cables show: Berlin claims that €50m contribution disappeared into US treasury coffers with 15% 'administrative fee' taken by army”:
This one may also be difficult “to explain away” during a Congressional debate.
Who's pocketing the money? Shouldn't the U.S. Congress be at least as concerned as the German Parliament?
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Here, in The Guardian, is a leaked cable describing an intervention with US officials in Afghanistan by Canadian ambassador William Crosbie, who seems competent and level-headed. He is depicted as urging the Americans to lower the boom on that schmuck Karzai over obvious election-fixing, pointing out that this is politically important to Canada: “We must be prepared for confrontation with Karzai on this issue, he said, or risk losing credibility among our own population if we go along with a rigged election.” Well, yep, we all did go along with the rigged election, didn’t we, and how’s that credibility looking? ¶
So here are two sides of it: Crosbie has offered to resign, on the grounds that this cable and others expected to leak will damage his ability to work with the Afghan government. And, since it seems like we have an intelligent dude there who’s saying the right things to the right people, that would be harmful. Bad, bad WikiLeaks.
On the other hand, as a Canadian I really want to know why the fucking hell are we sending our young people to get killed there? Our senior official on the ground is telling everyone that the team whose side we’re on are corrupt and stole the last election and are “making his blood boil”? The fact that our government has kept this intelligence secret while extending the Canadian mission is making mine boil. Thank you, WikiLeaks.
There you have it. Not simple.
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When you have nothing substantial to say in your comment, it helps to start off with a baseless insult.
The answer to your question is: no.
The documents were stolen.
Leaked. But, either way, that's how whistleblowing *works*.
Their content consists of the private communications between members of the diplomatic corps of many countries besides our own.
Thanks. I think most people knew that.
This is not a "Pentagon papers" or "Iran-Contra" affair. This is not a "free press" revealing the illegal or unconstitutional actions of our government.
Eye of the beholder. So far we've learned a lot of things about the gov't lying to us, so it seems rather enlightening. At least for those who want to learn.
No government, no matter how liberal, would tolerate Wikileaks actions, as, indeed, we are seeing vis-a-vis the comments from other nations
Except, to date, every government has done exactly that. No one has charged him with any crime relating to Wikileaks, so your entire statement appears to be false.
The latest "revelations" could prove fatal to personnel and sensitive installations around the world.
By listing publicly known sites that everyone was already aware of? Who's being naive now, Roger?
The articles in this "blog" seem naive, in and of themselves, and IMHO elicit narrow-minded and uninformed reaction.
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion.
I know you'll be disappointed to learn that I can't see devoting any more of my time to such nonsense.
See ya.
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If the government or corporations were behaving properly, well then there would be nothing to hide. Information leaked by whistleblowers that reveals illegal or bad behavior of government actors and corporations should be put in the public domain, and the people who have the balls to publish it should not be imprisoned for doing so. They are performing an essential public service.
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I would conclude that they're all in this together. They share a common interest in deceiving the public.
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No, they weren't, and to say they were is a lie (congratulations). The originals were left in place.
This is not a "Pentagon papers" or "Iran-Contra" affair.
You know that the Pentagon Papers were classified too, don't you?
The articles in this "blog" seem naive, in and of themselves, and IMHO elicit narrow-minded and uninformed reaction.
The "narrow mind" seems to be yours.
I know you'll be disappointed to learn that I can't see devoting any more of my time to such nonsense.
If only that were true.
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Starts on May Day!
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Irony has died; is satire far behind?
The shark has jumped America.
If only the state and business could cooperate so effectively when faced with actual terrorist threats as opposed to the metaphorical variety who dare to expose to the light of day what is done in the name of America by its own political class.
Assange was painted as a terrorist and calls for assassination were offered up as a valid remedy. The hysterical response from the powerful facing exposure to sunlight reveals more than probably the documents themselves.
The political class has an opportunity to pretend that the ideals America was founded on are still true and that our respect for a free press and our love of liberty outweigh the vanity of the state itself.
Sadly that's asking far too much from the vain and greedy charlatans that the modern political class has become.
Wikileaks must be made an example of so the poodle press doesn't get the wrong idea.
Will the state resist the temptation to demand extradition from Sweden or will the independent nation of Sweden and natural ally of the United States be able to politely decline the invitation?
Never mind. Assange is a dead man.
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Re: Irony has died; is satire far behind?
Much better to die for something than to live for nothing.
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Should Be Called "World Hypocrite Day" Instead
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