Why I Support Wikileaks

yes.

I think you just summed up a great deal of the first amendment there. I believe that leaks are important. If it weren't for leaks, we wouldn't have found out about Watergate, amongst other things. The honor of our country is on the line, and we need the press to keep the government honest. Wikileaks is part of the press. Even if they haven't quite been recognized as such yet.

I see it as an undocumented set of checks and balances.

The government has a vested interest in maintaining secrets, in order to conduct some of its more sensitive business.

HOWEVER, the people have a right and a need to know, and the fourth estate (whether acknowledged as such or not) has a responsibility to uncover those very secrets.

A responsible government will not abuse its ability to keep secrets for partisan or scurrilous reasons, and a responsible press will not abuse its ability to uncover and expose these secrets without considering the public interest.

Of course, both institutions being made up of flawed humans, are not entirely responsible. Hence the check and balance. The whole system is built upon the premise that the various institutions cannot afford to trust one another to the extent of just taking their word for it (whatever "it" is at any given time). As it should be.

Yeah, but...

"The choice is between everyone being able to reuse the data, or only the authorized and criminals being able to."

I've bashed this around in my head and with friends for the last several weeks and simply can't come to terms with the above. This is not about "everyone". I had no issue when Wikileaks dropped Iraq and Afghanistan information about casualties, though this would not have been my choice. This was important for everyone to know.

However, the diplomatic cables are not about objective measurable facts and figures. They are a one-sided microscope into a multi-sided, multi-faceted process. They expose everything that diplomacy involves, including flattery, dissemination, double-talk, exaggeration, "white" lies, etc. The Wikileaks were not an expose on a diplomatic event or series of events crossing all borders... They were limited to the American efforts within the diplomacy sphere. There was no "everyone" to this leak. Just America and the sensitive information about which it must now seek damage control. This was not an expose of the process worthy of examination; just release of damaging information about 1 party to multilateral negotiations.

I support the concept but, like any powerful device, Wikileaks must be used in moderation around concepts that are measurable, neutral and indicative of an event from multiple sides.

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