Am I alone in thinking wikileaks is a GOOD thing?

[Intense]

We can all stop worrying now.

Robert Gibbs has announced that Obama is "not pleased".

This mark of disapproval, combined with Koh's stern letter of REPRIMAND is sure to bring Wikileaks to heel.

White House slams 'criminals' behind WikiLeaks

FT.com / US & Canada - State Department warning to WikiLeaks

Obama was alway's really good at reading the Poll's and Governing from behind.

 

[boedicca]

And making everything about Him.

The most egregious thing Wikileaks did was to harsh Obama's calm, apparently.

 

[California Girl]

Every person who had anything to do with classified information of any kind being published is either a traitor to the USA or has committed a crime against her people. And they should all be dealt with as such. And I don't give a shit who they are. And any country that should protect them from our justice should be cut from diplomatic ties immediately. That means trade status and diplomats expelled from the country.

There is no excuse for this stupid behavior.

I agree.

But I am stunned that so few people on here understand the seriousness of this whole shitstorm. I can only assume that the media aren't telling people why it's serious. They are focusing only on the information released.

Fact: Other countries will not trust us with secrets.

Fact: It will make it much harder for us to build up 'relationships' with people who may be inclined to sell us information. Spies, for want of a better word.

 

[California Girl]

And making everything about Him.

The most egregious thing Wikileaks did was to harsh Obama's calm, apparently.

Good idea, let's make it a partisan point scoring exercise.... let's ignore the really serious issue and just swipe at Obama.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Regarding the revelation that the Saudi King wanted us to deal with Iran?

Holy crap!

Can you imagine how much trouble that is going to cause between Saudi and Iran? A whole heap of shit is gonna hit the fan because of that. And that will cause a ripple of shit around the world.

These people - everyone who leaked this shit - should be tried for treason and, assuming they're convicted.... given the Death Penalty. Maybe that will teach anyone else who's tempted that we are not gonna sit idly by while idiots destroy our nation from within.

And we hought the world was changing for the worse...the scope of this is immense. We ought to track down this creep Julian Assange...and string his ass up.

Hell in the old days the guy would have died from a massive dose of lead and disappear off the face of the Earth.

Julian Assange is just the spokesman and chairman for WikiLeaks. Without him, the information would still get out there. The website itself is international, as is the organization that updates the site. WikiLeaks, for all legal purposes is a data haven.

 

[Dr Grump]

I agree.

But I am stunned that so few people on here understand the seriousness of this whole shitstorm. I can only assume that the media aren't telling people why it's serious. They are focusing only on the information released.

Fact: Other countries will not trust us with secrets.

Fact: It will make it much harder for us to build up 'relationships' with people who may be inclined to sell us information. Spies, for want of a better word.

I think you are overstating the case by some considerable margin. You think you are universally trusted anyway? As MM pointed out, nobody has been named. This is a storm in a teacup as far as I can see. While the US is willing to pay, people will always impart info.

 

[The T]

Can you imagine how much trouble that is going to cause between Saudi and Iran? A whole heap of shit is gonna hit the fan because of that. And that will cause a ripple of shit around the world.

These people - everyone who leaked this shit - should be tried for treason and, assuming they're convicted.... given the Death Penalty. Maybe that will teach anyone else who's tempted that we are not gonna sit idly by while idiots destroy our nation from within.

And we hought the world was changing for the worse...the scope of this is immense. We ought to track down this creep Julian Assange...and string his ass up.

Hell in the old days the guy would have died from a massive dose of lead and disappear off the face of the Earth.

Julian Assange is just the spokesman and chairman for WikiLeaks. Without him, the information would still get out there. The website itself is international, as is the organization that updates the site. WikiLeaks, for all legal purposes is a data haven.

He's a fucking twerp.

 

[The T]

Every person who had anything to do with classified information of any kind being published is either a traitor to the USA or has committed a crime against her people. And they should all be dealt with as such. And I don't give a shit who they are. And any country that should protect them from our justice should be cut from diplomatic ties immediately. That means trade status and diplomats expelled from the country.

There is no excuse for this stupid behavior.

Agreed.

 

[California Girl]

And we hought the world was changing for the worse...the scope of this is immense. We ought to track down this creep Julian Assange...and string his ass up.

Hell in the old days the guy would have died from a massive dose of lead and disappear off the face of the Earth.

Julian Assange is just the spokesman and chairman for WikiLeaks. Without him, the information would still get out there. The website itself is international, as is the organization that updates the site. WikiLeaks, for all legal purposes is a data haven.

He's a fucking twerp.

Yes, he is. And I would certainly like for our Government to find a way to deal with him. But, the one who stole the information.... he's an American. He should face charges of treason. And.... assuming he is found guilty.... he should be executed.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I just peed my panties!

And your last point is spot on...already the Saudis et al are claiming Americans can't be trusted. This dweeb needs to eat shit.

So it's the fault of WikiLeaks that the U.S. government did things that has led them to be considered untrustworthy? No. They shouldn't have done those things in the first place and this wouldn't be a problem.

You really have no idea how the world's governments and diplomacy works at all, do you? I know this because you just said so in your post.

ALL governments do this. No government is shocked about the tittle tattle, you idiot. They are shocked that it leaked. It is not about the information - it is about the fucking leak. Our nation shares information - seriously, seriously secret information - with governments around the world. How the fuck are they supposed to trust us now? They won't. And because they won't trust us, they won't be inclined to share information.... and that could - and is likely to - cost American lives in terrorist attacks. How the hell do you think we manage to stop so many terrorist attacks around the world? Because governments tell each other what they find out... and sometimes, that includes methods and doing things that we wouldn't necessarily like.... but - the information is vital to our security.

Now, could you.... just for a few minutes.... consider the bigger picture and not just your own stupid view of the world.

It's rude to call people names.

 

[boedicca]

Julian Assange is just the spokesman and chairman for WikiLeaks. Without him, the information would still get out there. The website itself is international, as is the organization that updates the site. WikiLeaks, for all legal purposes is a data haven.

He's a fucking twerp.

Yes, he is. And I would certainly like for our Government to find a way to deal with him. But, the one who stole the information.... he's an American. He should face charges of treason. And.... assuming he is found guilty.... he should be executed.

And Assange is an admitted terrorist who should get the Black Ops treatment.

 

[The T]

Julian Assange is just the spokesman and chairman for WikiLeaks. Without him, the information would still get out there. The website itself is international, as is the organization that updates the site. WikiLeaks, for all legal purposes is a data haven.

He's a fucking twerp.

Yes, he is. And I would certainly like for our Government to find a way to deal with him. But, the one who stole the information.... he's an American. He should face charges of treason. And.... assuming he is found guilty.... he should be executed.

Agreed. And the execution needs to be broadcast publically. I'm getting damned tired of those that would sell us out. Examples need to be made of everyone involved.

 

[SFC Ollie]

I doubt all this information came from one young dumb PFC. I want a full in debt investigation. I want every one of these idiots. And I want every news organization to stop posting anything they got from this site. And if they continue then charge them too.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

So it's the fault of WikiLeaks that the U.S. government did things that has led them to be considered untrustworthy? No. They shouldn't have done those things in the first place and this wouldn't be a problem.

I don't understand why so many Conservatives who claim that the government is incompetent in every aspect still seem to trust the military implicitly.

I don't support releasing names. But everything else? If we're so worried about our standing in the world, we shouldn't have done those things in the first place. It's likely that most other world governments knew this already (does anyone doubt that our "allies" have spies in our government?).

Again, could you stop with the 'we shouldn't have been doing it'..... of course we should be doing it. Every fucking country does it. We are no different.

What the hell is the matter with people? Are you that stupid that you cannot look at the bigger picture and think about the global consequences of this? Of other nations deciding not to share information that could save American lives? Because they're concerned about our ability to keep our mouths shut? Is that a price you are prepared to pay? I'm not. I live abroad.

"Everybody else was doing it" isn't justification.

 

[Zoom-boing]

If you go to a Bank and one of the employees intentionally leaves the vault open because they are disgruntled, is it OK for you to steal the money?? That is exactly what happened with Wikileaks. Wikileaks crossed the line and should be prosecuted and shut down.

No, and the thief should be brought to justice.

But should the recipients of his spending of the bank cash also be brought to justice? MM has a point.

And what of the nimrod at the bank who left the safe open for theft to begin with?

Cripes, is this is the best the government can do to 'protect' U.S. secrets?

 

[The T]

I doubt all this information came from one young dumb PFC. I want a full in debt investigation. I want every one of these idiots. And I want every news organization to stop posting anything they got from this site. And if they continue then charge them too.

Agreed.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

I doubt all this information came from one young dumb PFC. I want a full in debt investigation. I want every one of these idiots. And I want every news organization to stop posting anything they got from this site. And if they continue then charge them too.

That's right! We need to shut down Freedom of the Press! Otherwise people might find out we're not perfect!

 

[boedicca]

Newspapers printing this information are in receipt of "Stolen Goods". Why should they be allowed to profit from such theft?

It's likely unconstitutional to prevent them from printing such info - but for private citizens to shun those that do is perfectly consistent with our individual right of freedom of association.

 

[California Girl]

If you go to a Bank and one of the employees intentionally leaves the vault open because they are disgruntled, is it OK for you to steal the money?? That is exactly what happened with Wikileaks. Wikileaks crossed the line and should be prosecuted and shut down.

No, and the thief should be brought to justice.

But should the recipients of his spending of the bank cash also be brought to justice? MM has a point.

And what of the nimrod at the bank who left the safe open for theft to begin with?

Cripes, is this is the best the government can do to 'protect' U.S. secrets?

It's actually more complicated than it appears. Before 9/11 - US depts were very secretive and protective about their information. They didn't share it with anyone - inside the US or further afield. Post 9/11 US departments were more ready to share information between themselves, and with other agencies outside the US. They did that to try and stop future attacks. That, in itself, has its drawbacks... because so many people had access.

In truth, it would not have been all that difficult for one person with the right security clearance to download all that information and pass it along. It could just have been one guy... it may have been more... We certainly need an investigation... And, I suspect one has already started. Sometimes, the Government does stuff without telling everybody.

 

[Cuyo]

I'm still amazed you give the leaker a pass. They do take an oath, you know.

What ever happened to personal responsibility?

Oh, crap. I have to agree with Ravi. I hope that scares her as much as it does me.

The guy who stole the documents should face charges of treason. So should anyone else who participated.

This has done unfathomable damage to our standing in the world. I understand that many Americans won't get what a big deal that is.... until some shit hits the fan because other nations can't trust us to keep information secret.

It will be fine. Obama is President, and the whole world loves him, so this means nothing. All hail Obama.

What a really dumb thing to say.