Wikileaks: US embassy cables leak sparks global diplomacy crisis - Polidicks

Hold on a second, I just realized. What is the point in Wikileaks releasing this? Yeah, you can argue that the public should know about war crimes, but why does anyone need to know about private diplomatic cables? Why is this the right thing to do? Would you want your private IM sessions and Facepunch posts spilled across the internet? The diplomats never wanted anyone to hear what they had to say. It's like recording a private telephone call and showing it to the rest of the world. What does the public have to gain from this? All it can cause is damage to international relations across the globe, and not just between the U.S. and other nations, but between all nations.

[QUOTE=certified;26392919]I was expecting news about electrical cables in a US embassy breaking and leaking sparks :([/QUOTE] Where's a combined "Bad Reading and Late" rating when ya need it? [editline]29th November 2010[/editline] [QUOTE=Explosions;26393001]Hold on a second, I just realized. What is the point in Wikileaks releasing this? Yeah, you can argue that the public should know about war crimes, but why does anyone need to know about private diplomatic cables? Why is this the right thing to do? Would you want your private IM sessions and Facepunch posts spilled across the internet? The diplomats never wanted anyone to hear what they had to say. It's like recording a private telephone call and showing it to the rest of the world. What does the public have to gain from this? All it can cause is damage to international relations across the globe, and not just between the U.S. and other nations, but between all nations.[/QUOTE] I'm more intrigued about the bank info. That is something I'm looking forward to.

[QUOTE=Elizer;26393028]Where's a combined "Bad Reading and Late" rating when ya need it?[/QUOTE] Between the late rating and the reply button. Or edit.

[url=http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Inquietud/personalidad/modo/trabajo/Kirchner/elpepuint/20101129elpepuint_13/Tes&ei=zkT0TOGwL8KqlAeB4YTXDA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Inquietud/personalidad/modo/trabajo/Kirchner/elpepuint/20101129elpepuint_13/Tes%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DRpE%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26prmd%3Div]El Pias' article on the Argentina cable concerning the Argentina president (apparently with more details. Translated via Google)[/url]

[QUOTE=Elizer;26392393][URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/29/hillary-clinton-cristina-kirchner-stress"]Diplomats were tasked to find out how the Argentina president handles stress.[/URL] Seems we're reaching the end of Day 2 folks...[/QUOTE] I live in Argentina, and yeah our president is a crazy bitch.

[QUOTE=Reaver1991;26391364]Tea girl is going to be saved. :3[/QUOTE] I must be missing something, who is htis "Tea Girl" I keep hearing of?

[QUOTE=Explosions;26393001]Hold on a second, I just realized. What is the point in Wikileaks releasing this? Yeah, you can argue that the public should know about war crimes, but why does anyone need to know about private diplomatic cables? Why is this the right thing to do? Would you want your private IM sessions and Facepunch posts spilled across the internet? The diplomats never wanted anyone to hear what they had to say. It's like recording a private telephone call and showing it to the rest of the world. What does the public have to gain from this? All it can cause is damage to international relations across the globe, and not just between the U.S. and other nations, but between all nations.[/QUOTE] In a democratic government, transparency is a good thing. A citizen should know what kind of things the government they elected is doing.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;26393524]I must be missing something, who is htis "Tea Girl" I keep hearing of?[/QUOTE] If you ever watch "The Vice Guide To North Korea", you'd know. I lied about that. Go Youtube! I present: Tea Girl [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4NAuwBDCuM&feature=related[/media]

[QUOTE=Snuffy;26393556]In a democratic government, transparency is a good thing. A citizen should know what kind of things the government they elected is doing.[/QUOTE] In a perfect world, that would be the case, however with every stride in transparency, what has happened? The Government doesn't really change, but rather just grows larger to try and hide it's own mistakes. Take Watergate for example, was that a massive revolution that ushered in a new age of transparent government? Was the administration of Reagan or Bush more open then Kennedy or Eisenhower? These kinds of incidents only make the government more paranoid then before, causing them to enact even more policies, some possibly harmful, to protect itself from things such as this happening again.

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;26393578]In a perfect world, that would be the case, however with every stride in transparency, what has happened? The Government doesn't really change, but rather just grows larger to try and hide it's own mistakes. Take Watergate for example, was that a massive revolution that ushered in a new age of transparent government? Was the administration of Reagan or Bush more open then Kennedy or Eisenhower? These kinds of incidents only make the government more paranoid then before, causing them to enact even more policies, some possibly harmful, to protect itself from things such as this happening again.[/QUOTE] Plus, some of what has been said can seriously damage some of the diplomat's careers, if they are revealed. Don't you want your nation to have a strong diplomatic ability?

What bothers me about Wikileaks is that they're only releasing what they get, so we only get a fraction of these "international secrets". Because they were kept secrets, by nature their release will piss off citizens. I don't think major governments are really going to care, though. It seems obvious, and is now confirmed by Wikileaks, that no one in power really liked each other in the first place.

[QUOTE=Elizer;26393165][url=http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Inquietud/personalidad/modo/trabajo/Kirchner/elpepuint/20101129elpepuint_13/Tes&ei=zkT0TOGwL8KqlAeB4YTXDA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Inquietud/personalidad/modo/trabajo/Kirchner/elpepuint/20101129elpepuint_13/Tes%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DRpE%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26prmd%3Div]El Pias' article on the Argentina cable concerning the Argentina president (apparently with more details. Translated via Google)[/url][/QUOTE] [img]http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/853/presidentacristinaferna.jpg[/img] his face :ohdear:

[QUOTE=Wii60;26393747][img_thumb]http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/853/presidentacristinaferna.jpg[/img_thumb] his face :ohdear:[/QUOTE] He is dead, dont worry.

[QUOTE=Wii60;26393747][img_thumb]http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/853/presidentacristinaferna.jpg[/img_thumb] his face :ohdear:[/QUOTE] :downs: This concludes Day 2. I'll be reporting more tomorrow before 2 PM EST and after 6 PM EST (I got work :v:) Feel free to discuss about today's articles.

I wonder if the creator of wikileaks is scared to go outside.

I hope nothing [B]really[/B] bad comes out of the leaks, right now it just seems like a bit of name throwing and random stuff. I imagne some big stuff may come later on.

[QUOTE=TamTamJam;26393860]I wonder if the creator of wikileaks is scared to go outside.[/QUOTE] I wouldn't be surprised. He's pretty much given up a normal life, the government will probably keep track him for the rest of his life.

[QUOTE=Snuffy;26393556]In a democratic government, transparency is a good thing. A citizen should know what kind of things the government they elected is doing.[/QUOTE] Not particularly; above domestic politics the public's knowledge of international relations is so sparse and useless that any opinions they can provide are so generally hideously misinformed that they do a disservice to the country as a whole by trying to partake. a little opaqueness in the government is pretty much critical to international relations. The american people would riot if they knew how in bed we are with the Saudis, and then they'd freak out about what we're doing for oil. Make rash decisions about it, and try to stop what we do in the middle east. All the while, we'll kill our own economy doing so as we're so dependent on the oil that comes from that region aka ignorance is bliss not to mention important to maintain proper function

[QUOTE=Elizer;26391350] [url=http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/11/29/wikileaks-julian-assange-wants-to-spill-your-corporate-secrets/]Assange's next target: A major US Bank[/url] ([url=http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/11/29/an-interview-with-wikileaks-julian-assange/]Full interview transcript[/url])[/QUOTE] :neckbeard: Oh my god I can't wait. I love wikileaks now, at this very moment, the day after the initial release, world leaders are being honest (for the most part).

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;26391486]These aren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be, besides the German one most of these aren't really that damning. [editline]29th November 2010[/editline] Still, I'm wondering why Assange is targeting the US specifically, there has to be other informants from other countries that are supplying him with information, a little variety is a good thing.[/QUOTE] They are publishing what they get, they are not targeting any specific country. It just seems that the US has (or had I hope) very lax security measures that made it easy for someone to hand it to them.

I updated the OP so that it looks sorta neater and isn't as huge. Tell me if you like the new format or what needs to be changed.

I am surprised the OP does not include the news from day 1 that the US is actively bombing parts of Yemen and its Government is lying to let them do it.

[QUOTE=Jsm;26394667]I am surprised the OP does not include the news from day 1 that the US is actively bombing parts of Yemen and its Government is lying to let them do it.[/QUOTE] Post a link to the article and I'll update the OP when I get home.

was this the big "HISTORY ALTERING OFMFMFMG" WikiLeak? or is that still on the way?

[QUOTE=Javascript;26394957]was this the big "HISTORY ALTERING OFMFMFMG" WikiLeak? or is that still on the way?[/QUOTE] A lot of little shit that probably will have some small and some big impacts. Were already going OMFG while only a few documents have been released.

Fuck off Wikileaks. The only reason they got this stuff is because some psychotic moron is getting the documents and releasing them from the inside. These guys have no respect for privacy. Give me boxes, but you all know this isn't right of them. If you think otherwise you need to grow the fuck up. [editline]29th November 2010[/editline] [QUOTE=Explosions;26393001]Hold on a second, I just realized. What is the point in Wikileaks releasing this? Yeah, you can argue that the public should know about war crimes, but why does anyone need to know about private diplomatic cables? Why is this the right thing to do? Would you want your private IM sessions and Facepunch posts spilled across the internet? The diplomats never wanted anyone to hear what they had to say. It's like recording a private telephone call and showing it to the rest of the world. What does the public have to gain from this? All it can cause is damage to international relations across the globe, and not just between the U.S. and other nations, but between all nations.[/QUOTE] Basically, this.

Interesting read... [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/147273]Cable Document: US and China 'compare notes' on how to handle Iran[/url] And Jsm, I couldn't find an article about the wars in Yemen. I'll keep looking though. [editline]29th November 2010[/editline] [QUOTE=redBadger;26395694]Fuck off Wikileaks. The only reason they got this stuff is because some psychotic moron is getting the documents and releasing them from the inside. These guys have no respect for privacy. Give me boxes, but you all know this isn't right of them. If you think otherwise you need to grow the fuck up. [editline]29th November 2010[/editline] Basically, this.[/QUOTE] Well, if you ever get the chance, you can thank, punch, kill, ask [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/28/how-us-embassy-cables-leaked]this guy[/url]. Apparently he was the one responsible for getting the documents in the first place.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;26390841]The only notable time WL did any "interpreting" is when they edited the video of the chopper gunner, and even then it was an edit to save time and the full raw video was posted on the same fucking page. Take your head out of your ass, they don't have an agenda and they're not biased.[/QUOTE] I had a response typed out to this but honestly Zeke, arguing with you is like arguing with a brick wall in the last couple of months.

Oh Wikileaks you whacky fellows, what will you do next?

That's enough. Send this fucker to rot in jail. All he did was pointlessly throw a bunch of diplomatic stuff out in the open. Nothing world shaking, just this crap which puts lives and interests in jeopardy.