Why is our government acting so indifferent towards WikiLeaks?

[LLStarks]

I appreciate what WikiLeaks is doing, but you'd think that our government would be more in control of their activities or gaining ground in having Julian arrested and extradited.

I'm not asking for CIA targeted assassination or capture to a black site like Bush would've recommended, but we need to at least beef up our military security and begin to crack down harder. Also, asking for digital documents to be "returned" makes us look stupid.

[hlthe2b]

1. Are you being serious? Really?

[LLStarks]

2. Are you trying to discredit me or progressive nature with a simple question?

[hlthe2b]

5. I am asking you a question because I don't know what you

are trying to say. The US Gov is seething, but really don't have any way to (legally) act. I don't consider that being indifferent. Impotent, perhaps.

Don't project.

[northernlights]

3. well, your last sentence is correct

Asking for, or demanding, that the digital documents be returned DOES make us look stupid.

There's very little the government can do. "Their activities" are actually spread around a bit, not confined to any one country. Julian doesn't have a "home" address so he's not sitting around waiting to be arrested. There's a reason why he called the recently uploaded file "Insurance." It doesn't take a genius to figure out the reasoning behind the file name.

Pretty much anything the government tries to do is likely to provoke the opposite response as the desired one. The keys are probably already out "there" somewhere. If they have him arrested, probably even more embarrassing and disgusting information will see the light of day, and sooner rather than later.

Basically, as we used to say when I worked at Digital Equipment, he's got'em by the short hairs. :shrug:

It does make for an interesting show to watch play out...:popcorn:

[LLStarks]

7. Then what do we do? Wait for something truly harmful instead of just embarrassing to come out?

What we should be doing is encouraging countries like Sweden to not give a safe haven to WikiLeaks servers, increasing security, and prosecuting soldiers like Manning.

If a leak happens, it happens. We shouldn't be tolerating it though.

WikiLeaks will have us by the balls until we re-evaluate intelligence disclosure and clearance policies.

[hlthe2b]

9. How much longer would we have been in Vietnam, how many more

would have died, had there not been a leak of the Pentagon Papers? I'm not defending the WikiLeaks concept without question, but there is something to be said for some checks and balance on the veracity of our government.

[northernlights]

11. harmful to whom?

to the civilians we are bombing and killing? to our soldiers being put in harm's way over and over and over again?

Wikileaks...or somebody...will have us by the balls until we stop acting like a bunch of psychopathic warmongerers thinking we rule the world, own all the resources and have a right to bomb everyone and everything to hell and back.

[Kalun D]

12. Stop Buying Into

what the corp mainstream whore press says.

The US MIMC is the terrorist here. They've killed more civilians in just the last year than Al Qaida has in it's entire existence.

all Wiki-leaks is doing is pointing out the lies and propaganda. No wonder the scum bag war mongers are up in arms.

[stray cat]

4. maybe if wikileaks ever leaked anything that was not common knowledge?

[haele]

6. The "Wikileaks Problem" you posit is not caused by wikileaks -

but came from a breach of security within the military itself. Wikileaks did not go searching, did not commit espionage, or anything else. This was an internal to the military leak, and needs to be handled within the military.

Whatever your opinions on paying for and publishing leaks, National Security, or transparency in organizations, taking down Wikileaks will never stop actual whistleblowers, disgruntled employees looking like whistleblowers, or the military looking stupid as it tries to chart a course between the expectations of the MIC - err, "National Security Interests" and living up to their centuries old charter to serve the public.
Another organization will just fill any space left from removing Wikileaks. And that organization may not be as scrupulous as Wikileaks appears to be developing to be. Best stay with the predictable advesary you know than allow a new, unpredictable, and potentially more dangerous one.

Haele

[ixion]

8. Or we just need to quit being psychotic world-wide

I think that would be more productive than the fascist daydreams you mentioned.

[Cleita]

10. They know they are in the wrong and having an

investigation for arrest and extradition would only expose a lot more of our country's wrong doings in these invasions and occupations of countries who have done nothing to us. Remember the reason Bush gave us for these wars was because of 9-11, however, the attacks of 9-11 were perpetrated by Saudis, but our last President was photographed kissing and holding hands with their Prince instead. They want it to go away and be forgotten.

[Canuckistanian]

13. Gaining ground by having Assange arrested?

What ground would be gained? He's not a citizen of the USA. And he personally didn't leak the information, he just facilitated it.

If you want to beef up your own military security, fine. But the arrest of a foreign national would cause chaos and certainly wouldn't help dispel America's reputation as a bully on the world stage.

America and other nations need to be held to account for Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm glad Assange is out there, helping to expose those embarrassing and criminal truths that the military would rather keep secret.