We live in extraordinary times when it comes down to proganda and information becoming somewhat interchangeable words. The really extraodinary part of this is that widespread distrust of the current US government is not diminishing but increasing if the overall trends are correct.
What we need is governments that we can trust.
The massive leak from wikileaks to the “More than 250,000 dispatches reveal US foreign strategies” in the Guardian, NY Timers and other papers.
My skeptical side says that none of the material is that surprising and that we should assume that at least some of the content is intentional misinformation given that the source “Sipdis” which is
“part of a programme under which selected dispatches, considered moderately secret but suitable for sharing with other agencies”
I’m all in favour of more open government but not entirely convinced that the case for dumping all of this information in public is the best outcome for freedom of information and democracy.
There are always going to be unintended consequences from this type of news coverage.
On the other hand. It does show up some very hamfisted and wrongheaded thinking by government officials. For example if Ahmed Zia Massoud really did take $US52m out of Afghanistan – then we should know about it.
I’d say though there is another news story – already in the open- but entirely sure anything much is being done about this
“AFRICA is losing in excess of US$300 billion annually through corruption, an amo-unt higher than donor and aid inflows, the African Development Bank (AfDB) says.”
from yesterdays’ Post in Zambia. I got that link off Transparency International website
I think there is always a case for clear and open transparent government but what about when the other team does not play by the rules? I’d guess that for any accounts of dealings with Robert Mugabe and Commodore Frank Bainimarama in Fiji it would better for many citizens in Zimbabwe or Fiji to go “off the record”.
For NZ I’d challenge anyone to make sense of the current leadership in Fiji. Typically we are led to believe that the Commodore is completely out of line but not surprisingly on the Fiji government website present situation is described as the coup to end all coups.
What is the truth? We can be sure that in private the NZ and Australian governements will be having private negotiations to improve dialogue.
In a wikileaks world we should just make all of those discussions public. I don’t think so.
The video below is a perspective from Daniel Ellsberg on the earlier leaks but parallels can be drawn over the longer term view.
I’m all in favour of more transparency in government especially in foreign policy but I do think care should be taken by editors. As the Guadian says..
“There are some cables the Guardian will not be releasing or reporting owing to the nature of sourcing or subject matter. Our domestic libel laws impose a special burden on British publishers.All the publications involved have given early warning to the US government of our intention to publish. Government officials, who are aware of the general subjects we intend to cover, have not disputed the authenticity of the overall material.”
There are arguably enough breaches of common sense plus outright corruption in the public domain that maybe it is time to stop with the blanket all or nothing approach.
The US government is wrong to assume that all of its discussions and documents should be private but what is in the greater good is up for debate.
Great Post Jason. what you are saying make lots of sense.
I am more positive and I believe we are living a revolution without similar.
The world “establishment” has never been in a weaker position than it is now.
and wiki leaks is showing one of the way on how to crack that establishment down.
Eric Cantona with his bank run is showing another strong side.. individuals actions on a collective scale, lead to crash the bank.
We live in a world of uncertainty where there is too much of a difference between the rich and the majority others including me who are not.
People in general are not that happy and wiki leaks come from that unhappiness/discomfort.
I believe that disruptive shocks like the wiki leaks of today, it wakes up a few people.. and they are of enormous help to create awareness and unmask political demagogy.
I realize that not many people have clear ideas of what is happening because of the huge propaganda. Look at Italy.. where all the mass media are owned by the prime minister. there are not news in italy if not good news about berlusconi and unemployment is 40% in some areas…
I believe that wiki leaks work as deterrent in a general quest to be transparent and ethical. It is certainly a request for a change coming from us all.
It is a message that says, we are in charge.. better you behave.
These Leaks represent our ransom for the revolution that is happening and nobody can stop it.
The revolution that is happening now will write a new definition of democracy as the one that we find in the dictionary now is clearly obsolete.
Thank you Jason.
Like you, I’m in two minds about the information dump.
I’m a journalist and naturally inclined towards thinking people should be fully informed about important events. And yes, openness is a good thing.
On the other hand, this disclosure is likely to drive this kind of information further underground in future and make diplomats and spooks even more paranoid about what they say or report.
Ultimately wikileaks’ action could be counter-productive leading to even more secrecy.
Thanks Bill & Giapo,
There are arguments both ways. Hopefully the news orgs who have the content will apply some needed editorial discretion.
Also seem to be attempts to discredit wikileaks founder and his motives. We should expect this.
A point worth underlining is that the records came from an intergovernment info sharing network with 3m users so there could be tightened controls there as well.
EVERY THING WHICH HAVE SAID ABOUT FIJI AND PUTTING US IN SAME LINE AS ZIMBABAWE IS A LOAD OF RUBBISH U BASTARD, WE HAVE THE MOST TOURISTS FROM YOU COUNTRY COMMING TO FIJI TO HAVE A TERRIFIC HOLIDAY AND SEE FOR THEM SELVES YOU F*CKEN DONKEY.
Thanks for your feedback Robinson. Sorry you feel that way. I linked to the Fiji Government website which (Again here that link is) which puts out the official story.
We all know that the real Fiji story is not public and that there are many off the record discussions between officials which is as it should be and my exact point. Many of my friends in NZ think we should not go to Fiji at all under the present circumstances. Of course that hurts everyone and not just the government which is why these topics are up for debate.
If I was living in Fiji I doubt that I would be able to write very much at all and certainly a wikileak style disclosure wouldn’t be a good idea. See Global Voices – Fiji a number of stories on Fiji.