BEDiD 7: Wikileaks

So I said I would talk about Wikileaks and so I will. I would like for you to start with this



I am usually not the biggest fan of Dan Brown, but his video on this is actually very well thought out and, quite rightly, focuses on the serious consequences of the Wikileaks fiasco rather than the fact Prince Andrew hates the French. Dan raises a good point that Wikileaks, as a media organisation in a democracy, has the right to release these documents. However, the serious question behind the comments of British paranoia about the 'special relationship' and the fact that Kim Jong-il likes a drink, is whether people's lives have been put as risk.

Not only soldiers on the front line, but under-cover spies, activists and journalists could all have their jobs and lives put in jeopardy. At least that is what the argument insists.

We can, however, draw a comparison, because Wikileaks were kind enough to release US defence department data at the end of last summer. It has been reported in various publications and stated by several politicians that no deaths on the field are yet to have been linked directly to the exposure of sensitive data through the website on that occasion.

In fact, the USA has a long and colourful history of releases of sensitive information; from the release of sensitive documents on the Vietnam War released by the New York Times in 1971 to pictures of prison camps in Iraq in 2004, (The UK has also been rocked by similar pictorial releases in the past).

So does the US administration have the right to be angry, of course it does, they have massively lost face. Some of the scandals are down right embarrassing for all parties, albeit a wonderful reminder that even those in the top jobs are still only human and like to have a gossip about each other.

I do not think anything overtly world changing will come from the release of these documents. Governments and diplomats know that they are going to be talked about, sometimes ungraciously, behind their backs, and no-one can afford to make a fuss about things the bully in the school yard said when they weren't listening.

History speaks for itself, showing the chances of massive losses of life on the field as a result of these leaks are low.

So, what do you think about it?