Thread: Wikileaks: Goooone

Originally Posted by VladTepes

wikileaks is one thing but I hope they nail the guy that actually stole the information to the wall.

He's a 23YO former soldier currently in Jail (it's in America - otherwise it would be a Gaol ) facing charges that could see him in prison for 52 years.

Yep - and there are fan sites for him all over the internet - calling for his release and claiming hes a political prisoner / scapegoat etc.

Guilty. Jail. No sympathy from me at all.

Originally Posted by VladTepes

Yep - and there are fan sites for him all over the internet - calling for his release and claiming hes a political prisoner / scapegoat etc.

Guilty. Jail. No sympathy from me at all.

Vlad, I respect your point of view but I cannot understand why you only would like to see him going to jail and not also his self appointed partners , the 5 big international newspapers (which are making money galore with the news)
He is recognized by the journalists associations as a journalist and many of these journalist are publishing the cables and their employers are making money with these "alleged stolen goods", the cables.
He did not stolen the information, it was provide to him in the same way that every day information is provide by informers to the media.

I was thinking that you was fair and not only condemn the small guy and therefore would ask to all the media outlets to go to jail as well

Cheers

Nah don't believe it Diana... he's just a patsy they've had a secret ghost "division" create a paper trail for to make it look like he's the leak

I haven't looked into it but if you believe the 'law' you learn about on the american fictional legal dramas then internet bloggers don't have the same freedom of speech and protection as print or broadcast journalists receive. But as said that's only what they portrayed on a legal drama a few weeks ago.

Been wading through some of what the diplomats say about various people in the country they are in.

Interesting stuff, but not rocket science. Kevin 007 was on tv this morning saying that when he meets someone he is given an outline about that person - the good, the bad, and the ugly (although K used a more diplomatic phrase).

For example:
Mohammad Sakher El Materi and his wife Nesrine of Tunisia.
He was living, in the midst of great wealth and excess, illustrating one reason resentment of President Ben Ali’s in-laws is increasing.
The family’s favorite vacation destination spot is the Maldives Islands.
El Materi said he has begun an exercise and diet regime. He has, he said, recently lost weight (it was visibly true).
Nesrine, at age 23, appeared friendly and interested, but nave and clueless. She reflected the very sheltered, privileged and wealthy life she has led. As for the dinner itself, it was similar to what one might experience in a Gulf country, and out of the ordinary for Tunisia.
The opulence with which El Materi and Nesrine live and their behavior make clear why they and other members of Ben Ali’s family are disliked and even hated by some Tunisians. The excesses of the Ben Ali family are growing.

Well, I think that most people would not be surprised at any of that.
Embarrassing to the Tunisia ambassador that it has been put in the public domain? Most probably.

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Originally Posted by VladTepes

Yep - and there are fan sites for him all over the internet - calling for his release and claiming hes a political prisoner / scapegoat etc.
Guilty. Jail. No sympathy from me at all.

Vlad

I'm not going to agree with you one this, the leaks while significant in volume were not stolen by Assange and are less damaging than the Watergate tapes or the Pentagon papers. The result of those disclosures led to more open and transperent governments World-wide. Transperency that has been pushed aside since 11th September 2001.

What seems to be included in much of the cables so-far released is little more than gossip, that most of us knew or suspected of the individuals named. Worse still is that we now have a supposedly competent lawyer and our Prime Minister making statements about illegal activities yet the issues of cablegate are yet to go anywhere near a court of law. We have others in the US calling for the assasination of Assange and Wikileaks a Terrorist organisation, yet The Age, The Guardian, The New York Times are considered profesional media organisations. If we don't hold our politicians, diplomats and militaries to a higher standard of conduct than that the gossip that has been revealed and we find them contributing to the current hysteria, then we are hardly better than the real terrorist organisations we find ourselves battling against.

Well that's my take on it all.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Why is Wikileaks reportedly the only problem, when a bunch of newspapers are publishing the same leaked documents seemingly with immunity?

I guess Rupert Murdock or whomever owns the papers is too powerful and going after them has political consequences.

Diana,

My guess would be that Wikileaks is much more immune to US Government pressure than other major outlets reporting on the same material. If Wikileaks gets shut down, the other outlets are sure to follow suit.

Most media outlets are owned by large corporations which have a diverse range of business interests. Inevitably, some of these interests depend, directly or indirectly, on funding from US government. This makes owners of traditional media outlets very susceptible to pressure from government.

It is my understanding that this was one of very successfull tactics the Bush administration used to exert pressure on US media to favourably report the Iraq war and pretenses used to go to war.

Wikileaks on the other hand, has no such interests the government can threaten.

Just my humbe opinion.