Lovers of Le Carre will know, we maybe reading and thinking, exactly what they want us to know and think
In my opinion, the leaked cables have just got a lot more interesting.
Meanwhile, the Americans have been hopping up and down on everyones case, to the extent that Paypal, Visa and Mastercard have blocked financial support to Wikileaks.
I can understand that the Americans are mad, but I think their task now is rather like trying to cram a genie back into its bottle. Encrypted versions of the most sensitive cables have reportedly been distributed to 100000 people, which means if they try to gag Wikileaks the release of one password will unleash another 100000 copies.
I'm just wondering where all of this will end.
Will all of the cables be released? And if they are will that change politics forever? Or will the Americans come up with some innovative way of halting the release process?
Lovers of Le Carre will know, we maybe reading and thinking, exactly what they want us to know and think
Certainly there is that element. The $Billion question is, did the Americans have any control over what was taken and is now being released?
What about the release of cables purporting to show Arab nations urging the US to attack Iran? The president of Iran has already accused the Americans of 'making mischief' through Wikileaks, perhaps he's right.
I believe this is a genuine leak. I think the current witch-hunt against Wikileaks is the visible surface of a very scary fight for the Internet: freedom of information, enablement of the populace, the greatest aid to democracy in history against governmental oppression and corporate control.
The good news is that the fight can't be lost. The technology now exists, and will continue to evolve and be used in subversive ways. What's happening right now merely hints at how much further effort is needed before people across the UK (let alone the world at large) can be informed and empowered without persecution.
I'm pretty radical on such things, in a legal way. Sadly my MP hates me, judging by his responses to the letters I've sent to him on such matters. But I'm watching the Wikileaks situation with much the same attitude with which I watched people climb onto the Berlin wall and start hammering pieces off it in '89. It's momentous, it's important to the world at large, and it's something I can contribute to but have no control over.
Scary stuff.
I think that this redresses the balance. And, as with most things of this nature, it's gone on to create an unbalanced time.
I think governments have been hiding too much. And their reason is that "it's in the public interest". However, the public never have any say in what's in their interest.
There are some things that need to be kept secret in the national or public interest: locations of military bases, names of undercover agents, that kind of thing. But there's also a whole lot of stuff that's kept secret because it might embarass a politician. The answer is that politicians shouldn't do or say embarassing things - and wikileaks is a great way to make politicians think twice rather than use the official secrets act to supress comments.
That's because "the public" generally aren't clever enough or informed enough to know what's in their best interest.
That's why we elect a government that we assume will appoint clever, well-informed people to make those decisions for us.
If "the public" were allowed to make those sorts of choices, society as we know it would fall apart.
As one of those people who was elected, albeit to local government I can tell you that people are not elected on the basis of being clever. The mistake the public make is at this point - they elect people who are likeable rather than able.
Getting elected is not a meritocracy based on ability to do anything except get elected. The ones with the proven ability are the civil servants who advise the elected members. In my experience those civil servants will make recommendations based on caution. It's easy to make everything secret because you're bound to make the important things secret.
Scary Stuff indeed
OK Obama and his mates are far from perfect, but I am not sure I would like a world run guys, who want to overthrow the existing system, but have no detailed idea what to replace it with and whose main objective is to simply cause mischiefsubversive : Designed to overthrow government: intended or likely to undermine or overthrow a government or other institution
Who would elect a known criminal to a public post, other than the average voter. Terry Pratchett
Unfortunately, democracy is the only game in town. At least it is iin the UK, Europe and the USA. Stupid people get elected all of the time. And many of their stupid acts and statements are kept secret. If their stupidity were outed they might not get re-elected.
My point is that too much is kept secret. I've no idea how to solve the problem. But a problem there is.
Wikileaks is, unfortunately, giving away secrets which could compromise national security of many nations. But it's also giving away secrets which should never have been secret.
So much for our 'special relationship' with the Yanks.
If Cameron had some balls he'd switch off their early warning system to repay them for their treachery, but he hasn't, so he won't.
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