Wikileaks: Something is up

Post by yters » Sat, Mar 27, 2010, 3:22 PM UTC

rdtsc wrote: post #68

yters wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should all kinds of truth always be released? I think a bit more sophistication is necessary here. For instance, should the launch codes for our nuclear weapons be made public?

I was thinking more of 'we just bombed 50 civilians in Afghanistan and we are very sorry.' kind of information. Or 'we have captured someone in Albania today, flew him to Latvia to get tortured, but it turns out it was the wrong guy. We have let him go and we are very sorry. Our government will pay him some restitution for the harm caused.'. Then our citizens will start to ask questions. 'How come our government is d…

Sometimes that too can be classified. I do agree that should be disclosed at some point. But a third party indiscriminately leaking such material without understand the consequences is not a good way to do it. It could very well lead to many US service members getting killed, increasing Taliban support amongst the locals, perhaps even getting innocent Afghanis or Iraqis killed, etc. A better way is to get the necessary clearance, understand what's going on, and work your way through the legal chain. There is not a time crunch right now, and without a time crunch, it's best to stay inside the system.

The moral issue is very important, but sometimes getting focussed on a single moral issue can violate even higher moral mandates.

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up