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Originally posted by purplemer
let us welcome this new era of transparnacy it is long overdew.... Least we continue to repeat the same mistakes...
again and again....x
Originally posted by wisintel
Wow....
THE United States is bracing for the release - as early as tomorrow- of up to three million classified State Department messages sent between US embassies around the world. The website WikiLeaks is preparing to leak the huge pile of diplomatic cables, with the release having the potential to ''destabilize global security'' and ''jeopardize lives''. The new detail was found in an email sent by a senior US bureaucrat to two important US government committees yesterday. Advertisement: Story continues below It will be the third and largest release of material allegedly given to WikiLeaks by the US soldier Bradley Manning, a Middle East-based army intelligence analyst who has since been charged by US authorities. The latest release was announced earlier this week, but it was unclear what the material would be about. An email from an assistant defense secretary, Elizabeth King, warns the US Senate and House committees on armed services of the potential dangers. The email was discovered by a Bloomberg reporter who published it yesterday. Ms King's email reveals that WikiLeaks is in possession of a massive trove of classified State Department messages sent between US embassies. ''State Department cables by their nature contain everyday analysis and candid assessments that any government engages in as part of effective foreign relations,'' Ms King tells the committees. ''The publication of this classified information by WikiLeaks is an irresponsible attempt to wreak havoc and destabilize global security. It potentially jeopardizes lives.'' The WikiLeaks release, which is again being conducted in concert with a small number of high-profile newspapers, is believed to be scheduled for as soon as tomorrow.
www.smh.com.au...
Originally posted by TheRemedial
reply to post by wisintel
I am not so sure I can agree with the wiki leaks objective here. All gov't's have strategies and use deception or un-othrodox methods to keep the ship afloat. I would more or less categorize the wiki leaks bunch in with the terrorists. They are doing more to stir up the potential for violent reactions than they are helping to fix the situation calm cool and peacefully.
Add: It is better served to turn such documents to foreign gov't so they can talk about such matters behind closed doors rather than get us all involved where "idiots" and "hot heads" and every other type of person has a crack at it.edit on 24-11-2010 by TheRemedial because: Freedom to do so.
The database is so huge that by only selecting deaths for our map we could be missing an even bigger picture, says Jacob Shapiro, Assistant Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. He points out three major issues with the SIGACTS:
- This is not "every death" or anything close to it. This is every death recorded by Multi-National Forces Iraq. There is underreporting in these data for a number of reasons including: there was no Coalition or Iraqi unit around to record the death; the Coalition and Iraqi units in the area were engaged in such high levels of combat that did not have time to track down every casualty on all sides; or the outcome of the incident was ambiguous.
- One needs to understand how the data were created. This is critical for understanding the likely biases and weaknesses in the data. In particular, the reporting standards for Significant Actions (SIGACT) changed dramatically over time and the reporting procedure varied across units. There were also big changes in how reports from Iraqi units entered the data. In general, the data are likely to be more complete later in the war when reporting standards were more uniform and the integration of information from Iraqi units was better.
- Only reviewing incidents that resulted in casualties may result in a heavily skewed view of the war. Whether a violent incident causes casualties, especially civilian ones, has a large random component and so we should be careful in the inferences we can draw from this reduced dataset. So, although the data paints a grim picture, the facts are likely to be much, much worse, because of underreporting.
Originally posted by wisintel
Wow....
THE United States is bracing for the release - as early as tomorrow- of up to three million classified State Department messages sent between US embassies around the world. The website WikiLeaks is preparing to leak the huge pile of diplomatic cables, with the release having the potential to ''destabilize global security'' and ''jeopardize lives''. The new detail was found in an email sent by a senior US bureaucrat to two important US government committees yesterday. Advertisement: Story continues below It will be the third and largest release of material allegedly given to WikiLeaks by the US soldier Bradley Manning, a Middle East-based army intelligence analyst who has since been charged by US authorities. The latest release was announced earlier this week, but it was unclear what the material would be about. An email from an assistant defense secretary, Elizabeth King, warns the US Senate and House committees on armed services of the potential dangers. The email was discovered by a Bloomberg reporter who published it yesterday. Ms King's email reveals that WikiLeaks is in possession of a massive trove of classified State Department messages sent between US embassies. ''State Department cables by their nature contain everyday analysis and candid assessments that any government engages in as part of effective foreign relations,'' Ms King tells the committees. ''The publication of this classified information by WikiLeaks is an irresponsible attempt to wreak havoc and destabilize global security. It potentially jeopardizes lives.'' The WikiLeaks release, which is again being conducted in concert with a small number of high-profile newspapers, is believed to be scheduled for as soon as tomorrow.
www.smh.com.au...
Originally posted by MGriff
For all of you so concerned with the welfare of the American troops, where were you when our terrible foreign policies put them at risk? Only now, when the government uses the argument that it will put our soldiers lives at risk does anyone care. For the past how many years, America's policies have endangered and abused America's heroes, and only now, when the government tells you there is a risk to them, completely ignoring their own actions, do you pay attention to the soldiers in danger. This is ludicrous. As a vet, with a wife who is still in, I support the release of any documents which shed light on the motives and moves of the United States government.edit on 24-11-2010 by MGriff because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by MGriff
For all of you so concerned with the welfare of the American troops, where were you when our terrible foreign policies put them at risk? Only now, when the government uses the argument that it will put our soldiers lives at risk does anyone care. For the past how many years, America's policies have endangered and abused America's heroes, and only now, when the government tells you there is a risk to them, completely ignoring their own actions, do you pay attention to the soldiers in danger. This is ludicrous. As a vet, with a wife who is still in, I support the release of any documents which shed light on the motives and moves of the United States government.edit on 24-11-2010 by MGriff because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by MGriff
So please spare me with the idea that information puts lives at risk. The U.S. government has been putting the lives of its citizens at risk, as well as other countries' citizens at risk, for decades. Now when some of that might see the light of day, they use this weak defense.
Originally posted by Tholidor
reply to post by TheRemedial
All gov't's have strategies and use deception or un-othrodox methods to keep the ship afloat.
I am not entirely sure which i find more offensive: The fact that you are very probably correct in that statement or that you would retreat behind the incredibly weak "All the other kids are doing it.." argument.
If the only avenue to achieving transparency in government is to air their dirty linen in public, then so be it. All we really know at this point is that whenever Wikileaks threatens another release, governments all over the world go into "cockroach mode" scurrying hither and yon in search of somewhere to hide.... and thats a good thing!edit on 24-11-2010 by Tholidor because: Syntax (look it up)
Originally posted by ExPostFacto
Awesome news. People need to be held accountable. What is so wrong with a government that does not lie to its citizens? Why are all the plans of a nation hidden and passed off to us as political spin?