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Post by timmo on Dec 21, 2010 11:50:19 GMT 12
I wish Wikileaks would actually release interesting files, such as the JFK assasination files, or the files that prove the US Government created the whole UFO myth, or the files between Wellington and Washington about the sale of the Skyhawks. Wikileaks can only release what they are provided with and it takes time to go through all the documents to remove names etc (They did ask for US government support in doing this. They declined). Some Skyhawk cables have been released you'll be pleased to know- Nothing too exciting there but interesting reading none the less. Personally I think Julian Assange should be strung up for treason, and Wikileaks shut down. But it would be nice if they released something that actually matters instead of all the red tape bumph he's coming out with. haha Sure thing Dave....he will just have to get to the back of the queue behind all the people that have been indicted in serious war crimes, sex crimes, misappropriation of public funds, conspiracy etc etc. Quite a few of the top brass are at the front of that queue at the moment...something to do with even more evidence of a phoney war or two.....but hey, if you want to continue to try and 'shoot the messenger' while totally ignoring the scale and scope of crimes outlined in the documents that Wikileaks, along with other news organisations, are making us aware of, go ahead. Some may say 'the documents are only telling us what we already know'....but I would change that slightly to read 'the documents are confirming things that have been said in the past, but brushed off as 'Anti US' or 'tin foil hat' stuff'. I don't view it as anti US. I liken it to letting a friend now that there are some things they could be doing better....how the US reacts to these documents will be telling.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 21, 2010 12:20:06 GMT 12
Some things in Defence and Government are kept secret for a reason. Sure there are some dodgy things going on in all Governments, even ours, but most of these leaks are not revealing anything scandalous like that, just revealing stuff for the hell of it, because Wikileaks think of themselves as computer geek smart arses who have outwitted world governments and are thumbing their noses at them. That to me is dangerous, misguided and wrong.
Let's not forget that the cables are sent by people in offices in embassies and may well just be tapping something out simply to fill in their day, and their opinions in the leaked reports may not actually be the opinion of the Government they work for.
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Post by adzze on Dec 21, 2010 22:33:37 GMT 12
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Post by oggie2620 on Dec 22, 2010 6:49:14 GMT 12
The pros and cons of the internet eh! Con Wikileaks pro Leaks on Wings over NZ ;D LOL
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Post by timmo on Dec 22, 2010 17:56:18 GMT 12
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Post by obiwan27 on Dec 22, 2010 20:57:28 GMT 12
It does give a glimpse behind the closed doors of government relationships - a lot of our stuff is hardly ground breaking, and the opinions expressed by US ambassadors are simply that, their take on what is going on in NZ and why the NZ government has decided what is has in the (recent) past.
The only thing Wikileaks has released that is along the lines of it's original 'whistleblower' ideology was the video footage of the Apache helicopter attcak on that news crew in I think it was Iraq.
I'm still underwhelmed by Assange, his claim to fame is in leaking information on the scale of 'The Pentagon Papers' - in this regard both he and Wikileaks have failed miserably.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 22, 2010 21:14:08 GMT 12
What was "The Pentagon Papers" all about that people refer to? Was that connected with the whole Nixon Deep Throat scandal?
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pablo
Warrant Officer
Posts: 30
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Post by pablo on Dec 23, 2010 19:01:18 GMT 12
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Post by obiwan27 on Dec 23, 2010 21:04:24 GMT 12
What was "The Pentagon Papers" all about that people refer to? Was that connected with the whole Nixon Deep Throat scandal? It was a leak of official Pentagon papers, a study/history of US involvement in Vietnam that revealed that during a period of twenty years from 1947-1967 different US Administrations had lied about why the US was in Vietnam, but particularly the Johnson administration. It helped to fuel anti-war sentiment in the US at the time. More info here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pentagon_PapersThe guy who originally leaked the papers, Daniel Ellsberg, is one of Julian Assange's supporters.
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