WikiLeaks has done it again. Last month it released classified Iraq war logs and now it has published classified US embassy cables. US is embarrassed and fuming, understandably so. One does enjoy the high level gossip but one is forced wonder about the 'rightness' of it all. In this age of 'Right to Information', it is rather easy to feel a sense of entitlement. One might argue that the public has a right to know about everything that goes on in the business of government. But it is not that straightforward is it? Governments, not just dictatorships but valid democracies need certain information to be classified. And for reasons that include national security and interest. We enter tricky territory with WikiLeaks style operations.
Simon Jenkins from Guardian dwells on the - is it justified?
1 comment:
Agree with you. It's a tough call on having secrets even in a democracy.
But what interests me also is really what can come out of these leaks? The news feeds are ripe with speculation that the next round of leaks in a few weeks can bring down big american banks but even if all these cables contained information about backroom deals, what can we on the mainstreet do about it apart to say "we knew it!"
It's good no doubt that the impunity and disregard of democracy with which some of these players acted has been exposed but you gotta ask yourself, if we change the rules in this way now, what can we expect going forward.
Cooperation and the ability to work with people who disagree with our ideology is becoming rare in these times, with these kind of leaks, will it just become downright impossible?
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