Vote on WikiLeaks
A Crowdsourced Collection of Arguments and Facts
Concerning WikiLeaks
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| Strongest Arguments In Favor of Wikileaks | ||
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| This fiasco is about the increasing difficulty organizations are going to have protecting their secrets and limiting the access to information that they have. This should be a surprise for no one, but it seems to be. The challenges individuals have in separating the public from the private are the same ones that organizations are going to have. This is the world we live in now. The cat is out of the bag, and we are wasting our time trying to out ways to stuff it back in. | 1500 Votes   |
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| The proproganda against Julian Assange is an unfortunate distraction from the core issues at hand. We must separate the two and focus on the real value that Wikileaks brings to the table: freedom of information at the expense of indirect and purely speculative consequences. | 1404 Votes |
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| If you support Wikileaks, if you support transparency, accountability, or even just basic free speech, you should not be playing into the government’s semantic game that presents itself as a victim, and Wikileaks as an attacker. As someone who engages in journalism, as someone who engages in activism and dissent, I don’t want these things re-defined as an attack on the state. The act of publishing information is not warfare. Until we realize that, until we understand the difference between journalism and war, then the government will continue to claim it’s acting in self defense. Stop giving the government an excuse for repression. Stop calling Wikileaks “warfare”. | 1283 Votes |
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| "The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." - Thomas Jefferson | 1176 Votes |
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| Do you support Wikileaks? | 1152 Votes |
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| Strongest Arguments Against Wikileaks | ||
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| Governments have a legitimate need for a certain amount of secrecy. In particular, embassy officials need to be able to report candidly to their superiors. So what’s the most likely consequence of the Wikileaks document dump? That governments around the world realize the error of their ways and become more open about their dealings? Or that governments around the world will clamp down hard on classified information and restrict its distribution even more? | 1015 Votes |
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| What Wikileaks is doing is categorically different from what it claims. The indiscriminate nature of the release of information (just about everything they could get their hands on) seems more like an attack on the US government itself than an effort to inform American citizens about what their government is doing on their behalf. | 816 Votes |
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| Facilitating whistleblowing is morally good not absolutely, but only if the whistleblowing itself is morally good; and the latter is morally good not absolutely. So the two conditionals call for an explicit, ethical commitment. Wikileaks old About file acknowledged this much. Unfortunately, this strong and explicit ethical statement has disappeared. Luckily, so far Wikileaks has picked up causes judged by most morally good. Yet the real ethical debate must concern the moral value of the causes supported by Wikileaks. Is our concern in this matter unwarranted? I think not! | 792 Votes |
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| If anything, Wikileaks has had two unintended consequences. Far from trying to stop war, it has further enabled it; by discrediting and deligitimising the soft power of diplomacy, nations will now inevitably have to turn to the hard power of war. On the surface the leaked cables are boring and do not shed anything particularly new. The embarrassment to the United States is minimal, but the leaks do great damage to allies in the fight against terror or in the cause of human rights. The same Gulf States that understandably and correctly pleaded with the State Department are now the ones that must live with Iran; China, fed up with the instability of Pyongyang now must backtrack and live with her; the Yemeni government in a fight against terrorists must now face her people. Yes diplomacy is somewhat two-faced and hypocritical, but that is working in the imperfect and complex world we live in. | 777 Votes |
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| Diplomatic cables are secret precisely because they contain information that it would be dangerous, or stupid, to make public. They disclose names and quotations that, for reasons either obvious or quite impossible for us to know, might get people killed. They also contain reports of actions that might lead to serious repercussions. They might even pinpoint locations of secret installations that might come under attack. They recount discussions of important plans and personalities—information that, if known to the wrong people, might lead to various military excursions, including war. Does that sound acceptable to you? | 758 Votes |
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| Recent Arguments In Favor of Wikileaks | ||
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| The truth shall set you free. Now if what Wikileaks isn't publishing truthful articles they repackage as "leaks" then isn't it for the people's (also for the governemnt's) sake that articles declared as leaks in here will be totally pointless. And also, if the people and the government are all on the side of truth, then one does not need to fear. After all, it seems they are not leaking sex scandals or pornographic videos of your young children, they are only exposing the truth of the untruthfulness of people killing people behind their backs whether gradually or immediately. | 1 Votes |
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| Honesty is the best policy. Period. | 1 Votes |
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| Spicy | -1 Votes |
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| Mama Mia! That's a some speeeeeecy!!!!!!!!! | 0 Votes |
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| I see a lot of people saying Government needs to maintain a certain element of secrecy, and that is correct. The thing is, these people seem to miss the fact that Wikileaks has not been a security issue for ANYONE! However, it HAS embarassed a few elected officials. This is the worst thing it has done. | 1 Votes |
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| I like Wikileaks.And it is helpeing a lot to the people to know what is happening in the world..Thanks a lot to WIKILEAKS AND THE MANAGEMENT. | 0 Votes |
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| In response to the guy talking about the royal family and wikileaks: this is just one of the many things that Wikileaks has made us aware about. Please do your homework before talking trash on a public space | -1 Votes |
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| WOOOOOOO GO WIKILEAKS! We absolutely deserve to know everything that the government is hiding from us :) | 0 Votes |
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| The public has the right to know this information that the government is hiding from us because whatever it is, it would effect us too. | 3 Votes |
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| If there'd been a Wikileaks in 1960, our military would not have murdered millions in Vietnam. Instead, we threw away billions of dollars and tens of thousands of our troops on a war based on a false premise, "The Domino Theory." But Communism can't take over a prosperous, educated people, so war could have been avoided with economic aid. Bob MacNamara later admitted his rationale for war in Vietnam was false (45 years too late). MacNamara should have been jailed for treason. That's what should happen to citizens who get US troops killed needlessly. The same sick bastards trumped up "rape" charges against Assange with a woman who BRAGGED on Twitter of meeting him the day after the alleged rape! But she only filed a complaint 6 days later, on learning he'd screwed another woman. If that's the kind of sleaze it takes to fight for truth and justice, include me out. | 0 Votes |
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| Those who claim that Wikileaks threatens innocent lives should rather consider that there wouldn't be any leaks if there was nothing to leak. The fault lies entirely with the people whose wrongdoings were leaked. The truth needs to come out, the power must lie with the people, not governments! | 5 Votes |
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| If there was solid evidence for Wikileaks causing great danger to people's lives, as has been the main argument against the leaks, the US government would have found it by now and made sure everyone knew. The reason for the silence about these matters is that there are none. | 5 Votes |
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| Jews control our country and others. Our "leaders" work for the Jews' interests only, not our countries and people. Listen to Benjamin Freedman's 1961 speech if you don't believe Jews control our politics. Jews have also monopolized our media, everything we get to see and hear or don't see and hear is controlled by them, it is no coincidence that our media is also anti-white and filled with filth. Another are they have monopolized is our banking, and they aren't running them for our benefit either. | -6 Votes |
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| State secrets are often information politicians are ashamed might get public. That is not enough reason for secrecy. Honest politicians need not fear the truth, only ones that speak one thing and do another. That would be a hypocrite. Its no way to run a government. | 2 Votes |
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| These secrets are all hidden wrongdoings, against the people, they rule over the people, using terror and death as punishment against those who merely disagree. This has been the way for millenia, it must come to an end, and soon. No government can be trusted, they would all forsake us, they work for themselves, people are expendable, in fact they are vermin to the governments, to be tolerated if they conform, and physically attacked, detained, tortured and killed, if they do not. This is what I have learned from Wikileaks, and surely it's better to know the truth, than to allow their deceit to carry forwards, and oppress our children, in never ending bondage. | 0 Votes |
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| BECOUSE HE IS SHOWING US SOMETHING THAT WE FORGET, LONG TIME AGO: THE TRUE. AND THE TRUE IS THE FIRST STEP TO FIX THIS WORLD. AND HE REMEBER SOMETHING TO US...THE GOVERNAMENTS ARE OUR EMPLOYES, WE DON´T WORK FOR THEM ...WE PAY THEM, AND THEY LIE TO US ALL THE TIME. WE GONE FIX THAT , THANKS TO JULIAN. | 4 Votes |
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| WikiLeaks stands for Human Rights. The power of the message shines through, no matter how much distraction is generated from those who violate human rights and would like to cover it up! | 8 Votes |
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| When we have embraced democracy how can we forget the founding principles of it. For the people, by the people and of the people. We make the Government, not the other way round. Thus there should not be any secrets at all. This lack of information may lead to the election of representatives not worthy of our attention. People need to know as we the voters are the one who are supposed to make the crucial decision of where our vote goes. And this is not an attack against the US Government. When a country claims to be and acts like a moral leader of the world, then they should not have anything to hide. After all, when you kill civilians you need to be answerable to your people. They gave you the power and the way in which you used it should be available for review. Slowly and steadily people are realising that it is not democracy after all. Its a system based on greed and selfishness. | 4 Votes |
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| Just saying... but wikileaks shouldn't expose what might put a strain on international relations, which are built on lies and appearances anyways. We must accept that this always was, and always will be a fact. It's in human nature to not be able to unify in spite of differences when there isn't a common enemy. Every country wants the best for themselves and their people. You can't even say this is wrong, because it's not. Sure, there's a limit to exploitation, but as Locke said, a government is made to benefit and protect the people. If you believe that these diplomatic lies and appearances, which may or may not be ethically wrong, should be exposed, and therefore ruin these relations, then you believe that all nations should be independent. I should think that no two nations don't have a few nasty secrets from each other. HOWEVER. Corruption must be stopped, privacy must be respected | 0 Votes |
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| I believe that both sides of the argument need to pause for a moment and analyze what they believe in. Are you really right? You may think vehemently that, yes, of course you are. But you have to consider the other side as well... and perhaps there is propaganda on both sides. Wikileaks should be a website that deals with bringing justice to those who have done wrong. It should be used to deal with corruption and lies. So what if the truth isn't pretty; even if it seems to harm us, we as a country must pick up the pieces, move forward, and improve. HOWEVER. There is a difference between bringing justice and exposing secrets. Secrets that serve no purpose whatsoever in exposing corruption are meant to stay secrets. Sensitive info is included. Do we, the people, need to know all of the governments military plans and affairs? The truth is that we cannot govern ourselves. | 2 Votes |
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| freedom of the press. | 7 Votes |
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| i guess the powers that be are waiting for the wikileaks storm to blow itself out...time will come sooner than later when the novelty wears off and people will lose interest in wikileaks ...and then, its back to square one | 7 Votes |
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| In the long run, WikiLeaks makes war more difficult. The only way the war industry can thrive is by pouring fuel on the fires of conflict. A case in point is the tremendous explosion of terrorism. A decade ago terrorism was nearly insignificant, today it plays a huge role. Terrorism would have stayed marginal, despite 9/11, if conflict and hatred hadn't been encouraged and exacerbated through strange, bumbling war efforts, devoid of any actual strategy against terrorism. The erratic efforts were doomed from the start, thanks to strategies of such glaring stupidity that this bumbling just can't be unintentional. People that stupid can't reach such high executive positions. And so, the past decade's unprecedented explosion of terrorism shows that the pouring of fuel on the fires of terrorism has been amazingly successful. WikiLeaks makes this kind of treason more difficult. | 7 Votes |
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| The truth needs to come out to the people so that we just dont believe the corrupt media. Sites like wikileaks helps the world to stay true. Maybe also governments! | 8 Votes |
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| the charges against assange, and his arrest following it, are purely political. it raises another issue: the credibility of the judiciary | 9 Votes |
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| Because the governments in supposed democratic countries are supposed to represent their people. And if they do not represent their people and do not tell the truth about their whereabouts its far more unethical not to expose this than to expose it. Wikileaks has already showed the world that we need this unpolitical organization as an control function. | 4 Votes |
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| i would say that the media has been the greatest scam of the modern age. generations of readers have been fooled and exploited by the media [or rather by those who control the media] hats off to wikileaks for daring to expose what really lies behind the headlines | 10 Votes |
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| I didn't vote for a president who would wage wars he didn't declare to all the people during the election. The documents represent the authority of the politicians exercised AGAINST the will of the people who elected them. This resolution for this conflict should be placed in the hands of us, the Americans, not the government who fights against us, its own citizens, by the means of tax dollars we provide. This nation needs stronger democracy on foreign diplomatic relations, instead of telling us, Americans, to concern ourselves with and elect based on domestic issues only. | 9 Votes |
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| wouldn't it be wonderful if wikileaks could leak information on the secret swiss accouts...particularly those held by the leaders of many poor nations...money received in payment for betraying their country or money made in other dishonest ways. if you ask me, if such leaders had no place to hide their ill-gotten money, there wouldn't be this much corruption in the world | 12 Votes |
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| US Governments should've used SSL for data transmission - lol. The leaks are the government's failure in deploying simple technical measures of security. Any regular website on the web can make it's transmission data untappable. If the leaked data costs the U.S. government anything - this is the price it pays for loosely enforced security measures. oRis1024 Arrrghhh!! edit this out Vova ;) | 5 Votes |
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| "We have reached a point in our history where lies are protected speech and the truth is criminal."---------John Perry Barlow Wikileaks is the only remaining method of "checks and balances" that the public has to monitor their Democracy, now that the media and the government are colluding to mislead the public, (sometimes knowingly!) | 8 Votes |
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| i would say thbeen fooled and exploited by the media. hats off to wikileaks for daring to attempt to at the media is the greatest scam of the modern age. generations have expose what really lies behind the headlines | 3 Votes |
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| so assange has been granted bail...i hope he is not walking into a trap...remember christ...they crucified christ ...because he stood for the truth.. | 6 Votes |
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| If The countries involved feel embarresed by the information released on Wikileaks they should not have produced or done it in the first place. Yes it may be damaging for many countries but the truth is so important to humanity as a whole that i am strongly in favour of this information being released. In the long run it will make the world a better place when goverments realise the cant get away with hiding the truth from the world | 3 Votes |
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| It brings the secrets blinding the people from the truth. The concept is clearly one that corporations and every empowered organizations should fear. I am always searching for the truth by every means legally possible and this just happen to publicly follow this rule! | 6 Votes |
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| Usa is 100% selfish. | 6 Votes |
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| There's lots of information and little filter-power. Just use what is best to achieve your goal. Cooperate with journalists, known as best of the best. Goals achieved? Return that what's left to the USA. This way you stay in control of the time in which the world is out of control. It will never be the same and that is good. When you keep on going bringing rather old leaks in the open the world will stay insecure, that's very dangerous. Wikileaks is OK, they only should not think they can change the world just as a group no matter how honest their ideas are. The world itself and the people on it have to change. Wikileaks should end this leaking themselves. And focus to a new task, there will be enough after this we can catch them with more ease. Here the end will be happy and prosperous. Important: less but enough damage, to the worst countries, and USA will still be a superpower. | 3 Votes |
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| When it is too close to the truth they will 'play the man'. Assange did not 'leak'..he received the documents from 'someone else'. If it had been to another media outlet (newspaper/tv etc) would the media owners be getting the same treatment? Why not look into the important facts such as the use of torture, civilian deaths and mutilations and corruption at the top and use facts to stop the inhumane treatment of our fellow world citizens. (See International Rehabilitation for Torture Victims) Wherever truth comes, whenever truth comes we can combine and use it for the betterment of mankind. | 7 Votes |
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| There is nothing much to add to some of the clear and persuasive arguments already put forth - simply one more concerned person who feels - devoutly - that fresh air and sunshine will be all the detergent needed to clean up this festering mess that we call big business and big government. | 5 Votes |
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| Wikileaks Should Be Protected By The Web-Servers and also Wikileaks is the only source to bring The True Face Of Gov. To Billions Of People around the Globe....So I Urge That Wikileaks Should have 100% Support From the Web - Servers.. | 5 Votes |
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| Recent Arguments Against Wikileaks | ||
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| Those claiming to be both Journalist and Activist can, by definition, be only the latter. The protections afforded the Press by the US Constitution can not, by any logical construct, be extended to Activists. | 1 Votes |
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| Public have the right to know about their own country, but they have the right to be in danger? As a result of Wikileaks, many countries are being harm. Not just U.S, but also european countries, asians countries, and american countries. Because of Wikileaks economical groups are being affected, alliances are being broken, and the trust between countries is none. | 1 Votes |
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| you are all beardos, seriously. this armchair revolution won't accomplish shit. | -5 Votes |
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| Wikileaks Royal Family has been uncovered. To be concise, the royal family was making inappropriate comments. This sort of information is sensationalist. Who really cares about wikileaks royal family post! Give us stuff that matters! | 0 Votes |
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| A large share of the time, the information is false, but when it IS true, it reveals too much on things that do not need to be shared. It's labeled "Top Secret" for a reason. This can create many issues amongst countries, and it may end in another World War. With the violent recession the world is placed in, this is the LAST thing we need. Also, Wikileaks claims it's something that it isn't. Really, it's the opposite. Julian Assange gets money to release private information to the world. But have you noticed that the attacks are based MOSTLY toward the US? Do you hear anything about Russia? Or Japan? Or Iraq? Or Iran? Not really. | 3 Votes |
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| If everyone in the world has leaks like wikileaks, then the world would not really have their own secrets to keep, and most of the private and confidential contents would be robbed off their privacy and the whole world will know what did they do and/or what are they up to. | 1 Votes |
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| Wikileaks threatens us with the truth. We have protect our society since "Governments have a legitimate need for a certain amount of secrecy" . The corruption and lies in our governments, banks and institutions must remain secret, so that they can still be in control of us and therefore we can continue to have security in our lives. Kill them, for they tell us the truth and we can't handle it. | -2 Votes |
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| What kind of bastard puts American and Austrailian soldiers in harm's way for the sake of saying he can do that? Kill the bastard. If he ever shows his face in public, he deserves nothing more than a head shot. May his family rue the day he was born. He's nothing more than a pro-terrorist, anti-democracy, God-hating demagogue. | -23 Votes |
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| Wikileaks is making money on selling secret national facts about countries and diplomacy. There was recently a suicide bomb in Sweden, where the bomber was angry about the Swedish presence in Afghanistan. Perhaps Wikileaks caused this bombing by their publishing of the war diaries. | -17 Votes |
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| How do you expect any govt official or ambassador to react to any information that he may receive which needs to flow through him to his govt? Well, he’s supposed to add his free and frank opinion on the subject, keeping in mind the interests of his own country, and then forward it to his bosses. In all these cables that’s what these diplomats seem to have done. If they say that Sarkozy is surrounded by yes men, well then, that’s their reading of the situation. Similarly, if US commanders felt that British troops were ‘not upto the task of securing Helmand in Afghanistan’, that too is their reading of the way things were at that point of time at that place. What’s so wrong with that? And you can be rest assured that every country in this world has similar damning cables and internal memorandums which they cannot afford to be out in public domain. | -4 Votes |
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| There's to much information and to little filter-power. So it will take too long before this ends. The longer it takes the more insecure the world gets. What will then cause the end. It probably will be a worst case scenario. To begin with; this huge amount of information should not be in control with one tiny group, how good their attentions may be. And what will happen to those cables that were not published... because..? | -5 Votes |
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| It's an act of war against our country. There is no purpose to this OTHER THAN to cause chaos and confusion and even more mistrust of our government. He should be charged with espionage. They are STOLEN documents! | -41 Votes |
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| Because this will start people thinking they can have freedom and will lead them to not pay their credit card debts and create a world wide movement against corruption and nationalism. The world will become once again a community where laws are equal to all not the back dealings of some American politicians who protect a group of greedy people. | 11 Votes |
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| Because powerful nations should be protected and the rights of individuals squashed to protect it. Isn't it obvious? | -23 Votes |
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| I agree on the general idea behind Wikileaks. There is definitely information that needs to be widely distributed, that is held secret by governments. However, I think the way Wikileaks attempts to distribute the information is not the best outlet. I think the best manner would be the general public encouraging, and voting, for the government to release more information. I don't think the information should come from any company, especially a single company. I feel this almost monopolizes the information they accrue, which could lead to dishonesty on there part. The current format could also lead to companies, or individuals, making a profit off of gathering secret information. The idea behind our democracy isn't to gather information from one sole entity, that claims to know more than the general populace. | -24 Votes |
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| W/Leaks is potentially the most damaging entity to arise in the public domain. If millions turn out in support of Assange then the US could basically execute him. Would this make him a martyr? Yes. But the US would have shown their supreme power and take over networks everywhere. Implement RFID, and have us all login to a computer with our own ID. We live under the illusion of freedom but we haven't seen anything yet. Either we are all in this together or it will destroy our last remaining threads of freedom, and once that occurs. There is no going back. | -37 Votes |
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| Wikileaks is currently the only whistleblower platform on the internet which can provide strong source protection and has gained such a prominence. According to Julian Assange it has already received an overwhelming abundance of leaks, which it hasn't published yet, because it lacks the ressources in manpower and money to sort them out. Wikileaks itself is not transparent and the decision what to publish in which order and what to hold back lies solely with only a few people within the organisation. It has therefore too much power to influence public opinion by selectively publishing only that, which it deems important. Wikileaks needs competition in the form of multiple independent whistleblower platforms, which provide equally strong source protection, so that whistleblowers can send their material to the whistleblower platform of their choice. | 24 Votes |
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| I read a lot of the pros and cons and I would like to give everyone a little bit of a history lesson. What both sides are missing is this we are talking about private property belonging to the United States Government. Now for your history lesson. In 1942 the United States Congress passed the War Powers Act. This Act gave a sitting President and the Congress to declare war on another nation if it became necessary. The War Powers Act has never been repealed which means it still in in effect. What WikLeaks has done violates the War Powers Act which makes them guilty of espionage. It makes no difference if you agree or disagree with what WikiLeaks has done. We are talking the rule of law in a War Time environment. As Always have a good one. Greenpowergas | -64 Votes |
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| Diplomats serve as an unprejudiced and dispassionate conduit for mutual understanding between the strategic decision makers of nations. Their detachment from the need to maintain face, and withdrawal from the petty one-upmanships of religious and ideological tribalism is necessary for practical inquiry and deep compromise. To bring this communication to the attention of a public with far lower tolerance for difficult concessions and far less patience for another people's opposing agendas is to invite frustration within nations, and impasse between them. I am not an enemy of the freedom of information, but let us be weary of falling victim to an ideological purism that would continually seek the dismantling of the good for having not achieved the impossible best. | -15 Votes |
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| Julian Assante and the Leas are a threat to national security. | -175 Votes |
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| US Diplomatic Cables leak is a threat to national security. | -83 Votes |
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| Julian Assante's assassination will mean irreparable damage to US public image. | 122 Votes |
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| WikiLeaks isn't helping the US's relations with other countries. | 1 Votes |
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| WikiLeaks is endangering US's relations with other countries. | 1 Votes |
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| WikiLeaks is simply trying to damage the US's relations with other states. | -139 Votes |
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| Are the leaks real? How can 400,000-page documents be leaked from somewhere like Pentagon? | -38 Votes |
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| WikiLeaks Iraq leaks are mostly enormous creating the illusion of importance but in reality contain nothing sensitive. | -55 Votes |
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| Actual leaks are mostly just large but don't actually contain a whole lot of substance. | -15 Votes |
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| The hype is more about the gygabytes of data rather than actual sensitive information of which there isn't much. | -23 Votes |
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| WikiLeaks provokes Iran and other Arab countries. (News that Saudi king asking US to attack Iran) | -44 Votes |
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| WikiLeaks doesn't leak any important secret of dirty insiders of US government. | -19 Votes |
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| WikiLeaks are trying to look persecuted by announcing leaks and giving the US time to try and stop them. | -52 Votes |
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| Julian Assange is wanted by the Interpol on the account of the sex charges. | -62 Votes |
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| Julian Assange has been arrested on sex charges. | -53 Votes |
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| Julian Assange is a sex criminal. | -112 Votes |
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| Julian Assange and WikiLeaks simply have an agenda against the US and aren't interested in truth. | -23 Votes |
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| In general, is leaking these things more harmful than letting it go unnoticed? | -33 Votes |
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| WikiLeaks continuously ramps up the value of their leaks, making it sound like a tabloid newspaper; they aren't after truth just sensations. | -117 Votes |
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| Is releasing these materials going to improve the lives of everyone in the world or simply endanger them? | 73 Votes |
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| Is the truth worth a global decline? | 13 Votes |
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