information - release for public judgement, or are some things supposed to be secret?

[Whiterfire]

In sensationalist headlines is a story about snowden, where GCHQ agents destroyed hard drives given to them by snowden. Now, if the information in them could start a war if not kept secret it raises some important questions.

1. Should it be released? Does the fact that gov is doing something that could start a war mean they shouldn't't do those actions in the first place, or would they know best?

2. If gov is doing something war starting worthy does the offended country(s) have a right to know? Is preventing large scale death ethical vs international honesty and trust?

3. Basically should they do something other countries won't like if they can keep it a secret?

What would you do with information that could start a war if released? Are we better off not knowing just for peace's sake?

I'd try to find a balance, release it slowly bit by bit until when the big scandal is revealed, it's not going to start anything because everybody would have been able to guess. But here that's not an option. It's the ethics of peace or honesty in a case where rights were already violated and nothing can be done to make it appear any less so.

If I'm not making sense, would you want a friend to tell you your girlfriend is/was cheating on you if it was sure to end in a massive fight that would certainly cause you to break up. Peace vs truth?

[Zenreon]

An ideal society would not have, nor need, any secrets. The question is whether we want to keep that in mind while going forward, or just continue on with this compartmentalization.

[Sobotnik]

Peace is better. If something if capable of starting a war, and somebody knowingly brings about the war, they are indirectly responsible for the deaths of all participants involved.

[Cabbage]

For the moment, I'd say that anything that has the capacity to start a full-scale war should definitely be kept secret.
But for the long run, I'd say secrets that can cause wars should not be made in the first place.
If your government is doing things so bad that they can be waged war upon for doing so, then that government should go. The people should not surrender their peace just for some idiotic thing the government did.

[Pantz Master]

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;41917778]An ideal society[/QUOTE]

There lies the problem.

[ThePuska]

Democracy is just a facade if the government can't be held responsible because the public is deliberately kept uninformed of its actions - especially if those actions are significant enough for countries to potentially go to war over.