It’s taken the world by storm and got lots of governments trembling and a lot of politicians hiding away, but honestly i think it is a very bad idea or at least a very badly executed plan.
Why a very bad idea?
1- Because anyone could come up with some transcript or document or theory and submit it and cause a shitstorm based on nonsense.
2- Whatever comes out of a minister’s mouth does not mean is going to happen nor necessarily reflects any truth. Some talks might have been side talks or talks when getting drunk with some friends.
If i am having dinner with a prominent politician and he’s joking on how Israel could have did this or that to infiltrate Lebanon and i leak it to Wikileaks, it doesn’t really mean he is an Israeli collaborator helping the Jewish state defeat Hezbollah even though it will be portrayed that way.
I am not trying to discuss politics here, nor want to drag this post into a political one as we don’t do that here, but what i am trying to point out is how this Assange guy is not invading privacy only, but allowing fraud people who come up with the crappiest of reports based on James Bond Theories to be taken seriously and threaten a country’s safety.
I really hope he stays in prison and for a long time.
You say you don’t want to discuss politics but your post is a political one.
Mark,
Wikileaks is about political documents at the moments but its concept has nothing to do with politics but more about invasion of privacy and incitment to fraud. What i am aiming at discussing here is if something like wikileaks should be allowed or not and fyi, its founder is not being prosecuted on political basis, (he’s in for rape at the moment), but even in the future, it will be about invasion of privacy and spread of non-verified and sensitive data.
Everything you just said is wrong. For so many different reasons. You seem to have no idea what you are saying.
The fact that you can even sit here and pretend that politicians say crap and may not mean it against their own countrymen- at times – is shocking. I mean seriously.. what world do you live in?
Politics is a dirty game. Considering you are Lebanese – one would think you know that- but apparently not.
Freedom of speech and access to information- the right for us to have transparent governments is what makes this site great. Whether the information is true or not- we can’t say though the fear it has created that lead to infringement of rights is enough evidence there’s a truth to information leaked- no one should be jailed for their freedom of expression.
Mariam,
I am sorry but you are talking nonsense. Who talked about politicians saying things against their own countrymen? I specifically said that if i myself was discussing with a friend who is a prominent politician on how stupid were the Israelis conducting their war and they should have done this and that bla bla … its pure chitchat and talks based maybe on my network games experience and thanks to Wikileaks, i might become my politician friend’s security advisor and a Mossad agent and him an Israeli agent. That’s my whole point, i am not defending any politician specifically any Lebanese one nor want to get into this mess.
The right to have transparent governments is based on having a strong justice body and a conscious people aware of who he is voting for and what he is fighting for. You will not cause a tyrant to be removed cause of Wikileaks, you will give papers in the US and other democratic countries more stuff to write about that’s it.
It is a crime by itself to allow intentionally false news and information to be published in the name of the freedom of expression. There is no control over what is published nor on the content of those documents and the harm being done is not benefiting anyone at all, since it is very easy to come up with a document and publish it to counter the other one.
I repeat that this is more of a social issue at hands than a political one. Who is really benefiting from WikiLeaks?
Well – I do have to say that it is true that people can come up with reports, but I think that something like this was needed to shake up politicians. Maybe now they will clean up for a little while, no?
Yasmine,
no one will bother clean up. On the contrary, they will now make sure nothing gets out and issue laws to jail people like Assange.
I’m sorry but Julian Assange is not in prison, he was released like the second day…
Carl,
Incorrect. He is currently on bail and under house arrest in England pending an extradition hearing.
i agree with you najeeb… also some people started to post fake news and relate it to wikileaks…
Najib that is correct but he is still NOT in prison. Big difference lol.
Carl,
i said he is being prosecuted and wished he’d stay in prison for a long time. Who is arguing whether or not he is in prison?
Let’s leave politics to the schizophrenics.
Najib I agree that we should not pay too much attention to the “snapshots” of these leaks.
a. We do not know the whole context of a remark
b. It’s the understanding of a civil servant
c. It does little in terms of freedom of information or speech as it is only snippets of a snapshot in time.
For all who think that politicians do not swear or wish malaise to others in closed rooms should try to listen to parts of the Watergate tapes or Nixon’s rumblings.
There’s nothing sensational here; unless people love conspiracy theories or live in one (does that remind you of a people??).
Now have a Happy New Year especially to Michelle who apparently is “sinning” away. Nicosia seems relatively warmer then Jupiter.
Ciao
I am for something like wikileaks, even-though it might not generate accurate information(I bet their accuracy level could rival that of “trusted names in News or Propaganda”). I think it is healthy that people question any source of information and take it with a pinch of salt.
I really do not need wikileaks to tell me that Lebanese politicians care about us because for Lebanese politicians action speaks louder than wikileaks: we are left with a derelict country where everybody vouch for his/her own people…People in Lebanon support politician for petty personal gains and quick favors, it is very very sad situation.
Najib, that’s not how Wikileaks works. It’s not like they accept every document, or something based on what you’ve heard.
Check their submissions page, it’s all there.
I advice you Najib to read more about wikileaks before you speak about them
and he’s not in prison, he’s assigned at residence
Adnan,
Read more how exactly? and i did not say he is in prison.
Start by wikipedia and if you read french here is a link to an independent french journalism
http://www.rue89.com/tag/wikileaks
if not i’m sure you’ll find out
I’m not defending Julian Assange I just don’t like
The U.S foreign politics and the E.U also
Even if i live in the E.U and I’m a citizen of the E.U
Now back to the subject you did say you hope he stays in prison and he was arrested for having Unprotected sex in Sweeden (the swedish law…..)
Dear Najib the world is changing the web and the journalism are destroying the capitalism world and here you have a choice to be with or against
Najib, Wiki-leaks are US Federal/International communication documents that have been “illegally” obtained by a member of the pentagon that had access to them. no one ever should have published them, but Assange in his Anarchistic drive against the U.S government has done so, and in doing so he has divulged and proven what many of the world’s political thinkers know, the U.S government as a whole is a global high school bully. the docs have put in public the arrogance and high horse attitude that the U.S treats its other host countries with. Host being a key word.
now in terms of what it means to the Lebanese local community, it separates the dogs in our government from the part-humans… nothing on Wiki Leaks is made up, and our defense minister’s castrated attempt at saying it was made up is not only an insult to the country, but an insult to every person’s intelligence.
and in terms of privacy, nothing anyone in the world says to a U.S diplomat is private especially if it’s being recorded by a dedicated record taker present at those meeting, and then typed up and relayed to central command to be analyzed by analysts like Jack Ryan from the Tom Clancy Novels. so it’s not a privacy issue, it’s an issue of responsibility, and Assange feels that he is more responsible toward the irresponsible truth rather than see these things and keep people be treated like fish… I for one am glad of these documents coming to light…they just prove a point I’ve had for a while…and give us a clear insight to what happens behind politics’ closed doors.
One more thing, the guy was jailed for an unrelated issue, which I think is the cheapest way ever to get to him. they couldn’t touch him over the publishing of classified docs related to the Iraq war logs, so hooptidoo, two women present themselves 2 years after he slept with them complaining that he had sex with them without a condom… oh please… this is a very nice blog, but it has to stay way form relating to journalistic and political issues…there’s a way to be a journalist, base your posts on facts not mumbo jumbo…ask me I am one…although I’m not holding my journalistic pen as i type this
Btw, Assange himself would never call anything wikileaks is doing anarchistic, he calls opening government in the interview with al-jazeera…
@Adnan, True, but in a greater scope it is somewhat Anarchistic, as the documents don’t serve one clear purpose other than to mess things up for the US foreign relations… btw Hitler had a common sensical view about what he did to…for him at least…