Recently, the powerful online website WikiLeaks successfully released thousands of diplomatic messages that were sent by the United States State Department about U.S. missions around the world.
Many people have begun to scrutinize the website’s founder, Julian Assange, for his actions and the website itself.
Personally, I feel as though the website’s actions were out of line and have caused certain damages in the political world.
While I will admit that the consequences of this recent leak of State Department documents has not been as deadly as many thought it would be, it has still damaged the United States’ reputation in the world community.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva did not hesitate to take this U.S. embarrassment as an opportunity to make a statement. In a recent radio interview, da Silva said, “It was thought that Americans were better than others, and in the end they commit the same stupidities as everyone else.”
Other leaders made their feelings on the subject clear as well.
Perhaps the most upsetting came from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez praised the website for its courage and said that the U.S. “is a failed state that throws overboard all ethical principles and respect for even its own allies.”
Chavez is a fierce critic of the U.S. and his country’s military doctrine has the U. S. listed as a potential enemy.
The entire WikiLeaks “document dump” has only given him more ammunition in his crusade against the U.S. and he will continue his attacks.
This is why I feel that there needs to be serious consequences for the administrators of WikiLeaks and the website’s future should be in jeopardy. By releasing thousands of confidential documents, the integrity of the U.S. has been damaged.
High-level State Department officials have acknowledged the damages as well.
A spokesperson for the State Department recently said that these documents have had an effect and that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been spending much of her time phoning nations around the world to apologize.
This leak of documents should be viewed as a major step back for America in terms of diplomacy. While the State Department should be focusing its brainpower and resources to addressing issues like nuclear Iran, they are instead busy calling world leaders to apologize.
The WikiLeaks organization is not damging only to the U.S. either.
In the heat of a major war against the drug cartels, the Mexican government has an uphill battle. One of the documents released on WikiLeaks said the Mexican authorities had great unease about their battle against the cartels and that the government was losing ground.
Not only does this weaken the credibility of the Mexican government, it emboldens the murderous drug cartels. It empowers them even more by reaffirming the fact that they are winning and their strategies of undermining the government are working.
Not only does this damage the integrity of our country and other countries; it is downright embarrassing.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is part of a pro/con series on WikiLeaks. Click here to read the other article, called Assange uncovers hypocrisy, failures.
Hope Obama can handle WL Change?
We NEED transparency for our global society that we created an cannot control.To many crises.
We’d never gone to Iraq if we read the cables first?
Redesign democracy now. It’s E-government, not E-commerce tat changes our world (stupid!).
How can a few wise leaders alone solve complex global issues pending ?
Come on free press, write about the roadmap to E-power-democracy-morevote!
If democracy fails, the only solution is More democracy.
The United States does not deserve an undamaged integrity if it has no integrity. If U.S. officials do not want to be wasting their time apologizing, then why should they be wasting there time saying and doing things they need to apologize for?
Also, the drug war has been a failure since it began. Of course cartels are winning, and they’re aware of that. If they thought they were fighting a losing battle, they wouldn’t be fighting. In fact, most educated Americans are aware of that. WikiLeaks has done nothing to change this.
I have no reason to believe (and I may be wrong) that WikiLeaks threatens the safety of America, or any country for that matter. The global hunt for Julian Assange is a classic example of oppression. Since world leaders knew they couldn’t hold him for WikiLeaks without looking like they’re oppressive, they’ve made up seemingly false claims of rape charges.
I encourage you all to look at the world we live in, where men and women cannot speak freely about governments without having to fear for their well being. We need change. Educate yourselves, as political and social reform CAN happen and need to happen if we want our world to be truly free and want the betterment of the human race.
Free Julian, you fascist pricks.
FTW
Sam,
If you are willing to shut down WikiLeaks, are you willing to call for a shutdown of the New York Times, Le Monde, El Pais, The Gaurdian and Der Spiegel, all of which published parts of the material? If you are going to be consistent, you must call for the termination of these publications as well. You may disagree with the decision WikiLeaks made, but no facts have come out that the group helped steal any of the information, only that it served as a publisher, thus is protected by the first amendment and U.S. case precedent. Be careful for the call to prosecution. Allowing the government to prosecute someone who publishes something it disagrees with is a very slippery slope.