Monday, July 26, 2010

Big Peace's WikiLeaks Hypocrisy?

I saw an article by Jim Hanson regarding the leaking of classified documentation from the war in Afghanistan by WikiLeaks - an organization based in Sweden that publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive documents from governments and other organizations.  In the article, Hanson attacks the organization, claiming they are just trying to push their political agenda.
WikiLeaks showed they have an agenda and this is just more of the same. They are again claiming that they have evidence of the military indiscriminately slaughtering civilians. Hold on though, did I miss a memo? Wasn’t Gen. McChrystal taking all kinds of flak for our pussified Rules of Engagement that stop our troops from shooting pretty much anybody? Bottom line is there was no legitimate reason for the Wiki Wankers to leak these documents and no journalistic reason for the NY Times and the others to pretend that this qualifies as news. They are sensationalists trying to damage the US military and they have forfeited any right to claim that they serve the public good. The mission of our military during wartime deserves more respect than this and dumping a bunch of the sausage-making information on the internet is simply wrong.
Do you see the hypocrisy?

Let me explain - the right-wing has exploited classified information for some time now, actively pursuing leaks of their own while condemning all those who release information that may be politically damaging to their agenda. 

Just consider Breitbart's unethical request for leaks surrounding the JournoList listserv, offering up $100,000 for any information - what is the "legitimate reason" for Breitbart to make such a request? 

How about Breitbart contemporary Glenn Beck, who is constantly seeking whistleblowers on his numerous programs?

How about Karl Rove's involvement in the Plame affair, in which he contributed to the outing the identity of a CIA operative?

These are just a few examples, but it seems to this author that it's okay to leak information if it supports your political agenda, but not when it could be potentially damaging...

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