@jester I don't think having obama in office has any linkage to revealing this data now

I'm pretty sure most of the cables relates to stuff that occured in the bush era.

I think I need to start reading some more on wikileaks

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Originally posted by devnull @jester I don't think having obama in office has any linkage to revealing this data now I'm pretty sure most of the cables relates to stuff that occured in the bush era. I think I need to start reading some more on wikileaks

I think all are from the Bush era, but they came out now when Obama is power. It would have been interesting if it happened when Bush was in power. I can just imagine Dick Cheney getting his shotgun ready and calling up his palls at Blackwater to go duck hunting (i.e Assange hunting)

I don't think they will kill Assange, that will only do Wikileaks even more publicity and more credibility. Americans will play their favourite and most successful political trick - undermining the enemy, portraying them as evil. They got the media on their side, it will not be hard. Plenty of ways to get it done. They will take the leaks and show how bad it is for the world and for the people, it's not that hard to achieve.

The global cloak of secrecy will remain in place, whats worse is that Wikileaks are making it worse. The lid will be tightened even more. They should have concentrated in releasing crucial WHISTLEBLOWER data, not massive 250,000-volume embassy transcripts. Isn't thats what Wikileaks was created to be originally? They did a great job with Iraq, by proving that Americans intentionally downgraded the number of civilian casualties. Bravo. Personally we don't need to know about retinal scan requests, thats embarrassing and humiliating. Its not the VOLUME of data that matters, but QUALITY. Sometimes I feel like Wikileaks are on a vendetta mission, publicity stunt. Thats not a very good long-term strategy.

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Last edited by Magnetonium on Dec-03-2010 at 05:57

amazing how everyone is targeting the US for "dirty shit" when the real dirty player right now is china. If people got a grip and opened their eyes they would see who the real problem is right now. Chinese imperialism will be unprecedented if we dont wake up soon. Id even say that the chinese are crafty enough to even be behind wikileaks to act as a distraction from the shit that they are up to!

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Originally posted by jester Everything in this country is illegal.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery…" Winston Churchill

‎"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law" - Winston Churchill

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Originally posted by Jayx1 amazing how everyone is targeting the US for "dirty shit" when the real dirty player right now is china. If people got a grip and opened their eyes they would see who the real problem is right now. Chinese imperialism will be unprecedented if we dont wake up soon. Id even say that the chinese are crafty enough to even be behind wikileaks to act as a distraction from the shit that they are up to!

But the Chinese don't go around trying to police the world and claiming to be the beacon of democracy, promoting good governance and transparency, hence why the hypocrisy of the US is all the more galling. Their long history of supporting and propping up dictatorships is a prime example. Ultimately, the principle that underlies their actions is of universal freedoms and rights, but with the huge proviso of only when it is in America's interest. Now, not only is this duplicity immoral, but the really ironic thing is that it may help in the short-term; however, in the long-run you tend to piss other countries/people off with your double standards, and give them a reason to hate you, which in fact makes Americans less safe.

Also, they are not just trying to hoodwink the rest of the world, but their own citizens. Whilst I accept that these releases should not happen in real-time, there is still room for improvement in the current system. Information releases should occur on a more regular basis (say, thrice a year) than currently occurs through freedom of information requests (many years later). This would prevent significant time lags between the government acting, and the servants of the people being held accountable for their behaviour. If only Wikileaks had been around to inform US citizens of the backroom lies that were being concocted to invade Iraq.