Wikileaks? Are you for or against what they are doing?

[Kev]

I heard Assange and Wikileaks were going to start going after the Catholic Church....if that's the case then it won't be long Julian


Say what you will about the Catholic Church, but they still carry weight and they can and will still have people killed and I would think Assange is really playing with fire on this one. The CIA may get him locked up, but the Church will have him 6 feet under and not bat an eye.

This may be bad of me, but I do hope Michael Moore gets caught in some crossfire....they would have to be armor piercing rounds though to penetrate that mass of blubber that encases him.

Moore would be an ambitious kill for sure. They would need to take advice from the Chinese Whaling industry for that hit.

I just really hate Assange. Furthermore his actions won't improve transparancy but will only serve to make nations and corporations more secretive. He is just doing damage.

The recklessness of it is criminal too. It's like if the police when called to carry out a search warrent just listed every finding on the internet, every item, every bill, letter, record, files on the pc, phone calls, web sites visited etc whether it was relevent or not and whether any evidence was found.

Privacy and confidentiallity HAS to be protected. They are FUNDAMENTAL human rights, at both a personal and organisational, even national level.

I don't object to whistle blowing when it in the public interest, and the documents and details uncovered and published are strictly to do with the corruption at hand, but just hacking into a private server and stealing every cable and putting them all on the net is not moral. It is theft, a betrayal of trust, espionage, criminal and I would say terrorism.

He should get at least 25 years imo.

Simply put Assange is a 21st Century Robespierre...he sees an evil in the government, but he has an evil inside of him that would just love to wield the power of the government. His movement will eat him alive....soon people will find out the truth about him and that he's not in this for the betterment of society, but he's in it because he wants to be a Cult of Personality, he's a narcissistic anarchist, and people (miles included) will eventually become disenchanted with this liberal darling....it happens very often, hell look at what has become of American politics and in only 2 years. Once people thought the Republican party dead, and now who's getting kicked out of office this January?



I forsee very few positive outcomes for Assange....I do think assasination is a distinct possibility, he's pissing off too many people to get out of this unscathed. I for one am looking forward to his downfall with great anticipation...if I saw him, I might even join in.

Yeah he's definitely a narcissist, people who have worked with him have said as much. I was reading about one such supporter only yesterday in the Telegraph who has quit Wikileaks because of his unethical behaviour and unnacountability.

The thing with Miles is, he has these ideals in his head, and he's committed to those ideals, and anybody who in any way seeks to further those ideals is ok by him, no matter how nefarious their methods or how violent or unnacceptable their behaviour.

When it comes to Israel, he hates them and hates everything they do. The good is ignored, the bad is everything and what is absent is imagined. The same with America, the same with Amir Khan.

So Assange is the good guy and always will be, no matter what skeletons he has in his closet or how unscrupulous his methods.

Palestine and opposers of Isreal will equally always be the good guys, victims of an out of control terror state, in every and all situations. Even when evidence brought to light via his hero Assange shows that those in the Arab world actually worry more about Iran than Israel his commitment to his ideals causes him to dismiss Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain, Syria and Saudi Arabia as tinpot dictatorships whose opinions can be ignored and that Israel is remains the only true menace in the region,

Likewise Khan's opponent's will be treated unfairly by referees, blighted by bad luck, or if Khan destroys them, then soft opposition, handpicked to make him look good.

That's why these threads are always such good entertainment for me, to see how far he will go to sustain his views even if it means giving up on more important ideals like the right to privacy and confidentiallity in the case of Assange, the condemnation of violence in the case of Palestinian attacks on Israel or the ideals of fair play and proper sporting conduct within boxing. All of these can ideals be tossed aside to ensure that blame is levelled at the appropriate party in Miles' eyes.

[Gandalf]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

[Kev]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

To be clear, I have not suggested he should be assassinated. I agree with you that would be a gross abuse of power, and would likely make a martyr of him anyway.

But he's no hero. His last 250,000 cables don't reveal any corruption, just 250,000 breaches of trust and theft of personal and confiential documents.

He is a menace to world peace with his irresponsible meddling.

[El Kabong]

I've not SUGGESTED he should be assasinated, I'm saying it's a possibility that he will be....I don't know if you realize this miles, but most politicians (and governments are made up of politicians) do not like their dirty laundry aired out in public. Assange is playing a dangerous game and he's too confident in himself and his sources to know that someone will pull his card if he continues.

Assasination is 1 thing that COULD happen, as could an "accident", a long stretch in jail, an "accident" in jail, a fight in jail, etc.


You libs put your faith in this cat thinking he'll lead you to a new world of politics based on truth and transparency (like another someone that promised those exact things) and you just get the wool pulled over your eyes. WHEN ANYONE IN POLITICS TELLS YOU THEY ARE THERE TO SPREAD TRUTH THEY ARE LYING AND BUYING INTO IT IS STUPID ON AN ASTRONOMICAL LEVEL...Assange has his reasons for doing what he does #1 Power #2 Money....but those things are relative: power to 1 person isn't the power a government has, wealth to one person isn't the wealth of a nation. Assange is over playing his hand and he'll be lucky....DAMN LUCKY to see the other side of this situation...even if he was putting out information the CIA (or another super secret part of the government) told him to put out.


Robespierre....fucking Robespierre miles....I'm telling you

[Gandalf]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

To be clear, I have not suggested he should be assassinated. I agree with you that would be a gross abuse of power, and would likely make a martyr of him anyway.

But he's no hero. His last 250,000 cables don't reveal any corruption, just 250,000 breaches of trust and theft of personal and confiential documents.

He is a menace to world peace with his irresponsible meddling.

Nonsense, the people who bang the drums for phoney wars are the threats to world peace. The release of data showing corruption and abuses of power in those illegal and immoral wars is a healthy thing. We need more Wikileaks and maybe we won't even be going to war in the first place.

And I certainly do not regard Assange as a hero. I don't know the man, but I do think is articulate and presents his views well. I appreciate the role that he has played in recent years and I would like him to continue doing what he is doing. He is simply doing what the gutted out media has failed to do and in particular I blame the US media. These places have been gutted and good investigative journalism just doesn't seem to exist anymore whence the apathy of the general public concerning what are really significant global events.

[El Kabong]

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

...is there a party anywhere that is based on "looking out for ordinary people"? If there is I can bet you it isn't successful because #1 ordinary people don't carry enough weight to get make deals and get things done politically and #2 ordinary people don't stay ordinary when they have power over other people (be they richer or poorer)....it's just a fact of life and you not noticing that is shocking, surely you're smart enought o see that.

[Kev]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

To be clear, I have not suggested he should be assassinated. I agree with you that would be a gross abuse of power, and would likely make a martyr of him anyway.

But he's no hero. His last 250,000 cables don't reveal any corruption, just 250,000 breaches of trust and theft of personal and confiential documents.

He is a menace to world peace with his irresponsible meddling.

Nonsense, the people who bang the drums for phoney wars are the threats to world peace. The release of data showing corruption and abuses of power in those illegal and immoral wars is a healthy thing. We need more Wikileaks and maybe we won't even be going to war in the first place.

And I certainly do not regard Assange as a hero. I don't know the man, but I do think is articulate and presents his views well. I appreciate the role that he has played in recent years and I would like him to continue doing what he is doing. He is simply doing what the gutted out media has failed to do and in particular I blame the US media. These places have been gutted and good investigative journalism just doesn't seem to exist anymore whence the apathy of the general public concerning what are really significant global events.

Assange does NO investigation though! All he does is go into a house, catalogue all the contents and then put it up on the internet for all to see, irrespective of what the public interest is or whether any crime has been committed.

It's completely unethical.

Actually, I don't disapprove of all the Wikileaks revelations. I thought the video showing the US helicopter crew gunning down a crowd of innocent civilians was in the public interest. It's not that I disaprove of certain crimes or potential coverups being exposed.

But Assange is not doing that. He's just putting everything up on the internet wheter relevant or criminal or not.

How does it serve the public interest in any way (or improve diplomatic relations between countries) for him to reveal that one diplomat thinks one nation's president is a joke?

One particular cable that really annoyed me was the disclosure of certain 'critical sites', designated by America as being crucial to their national security. Many of these sites were not in the US, and were civilian infrastructures.

How is revealing that in any way helpful to peace? How does it serve the public interest? How can you not see the recklessness of such actions in an age of global terrorism. Would you, for example now want to be a worker at the snake anti venom laboratory in Australia, now it's been identified as a critical US infrastructure? Would you not be pretty pissed off at Assange for identifying your place of work as an ideal location for a terror attack?

There is no moral basis for releasing such information, and Assange is just endangering the lives of ordinary people around the world with such reckless disclosures.

He absolutely needs to be stopped imo.

[Gandalf]

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

...is there a party anywhere that is based on "looking out for ordinary people"? If there is I can bet you it isn't successful because #1 ordinary people don't carry enough weight to get make deals and get things done politically and #2 ordinary people don't stay ordinary when they have power over other people (be they richer or poorer)....it's just a fact of life and you not noticing that is shocking, surely you're smart enought o see that.

I think there have historically been parties that have looked out for the interests of ordinary people. For instance, The Labour Party that came to power after WW2 introduced the welfare state meaning protection for ordinary citizens from "the cradle to the grave". University education for many years was free, healthcare was and is free at the point of use, utilities were nationalised etc etc. These were all done in the greater interests of society at large. Of course, much of this has been eradicated as Thatcher attempted to bring US style Friedman economics to the UK, but we do still have the health service.

Governments should exist to protect the interests of their citizens, not to protect themselves and their corporate buddies. In most countries we have found a balance between these two ideals, but in America you have two parties who have fallen way too far to one side. There is no party representing the 'people' whence socialism for the elite. The poor huddled masses have nothing and it amazes me that we haven't seen widespread social unrest.

[Gandalf]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

To be clear, I have not suggested he should be assassinated. I agree with you that would be a gross abuse of power, and would likely make a martyr of him anyway.

But he's no hero. His last 250,000 cables don't reveal any corruption, just 250,000 breaches of trust and theft of personal and confiential documents.

He is a menace to world peace with his irresponsible meddling.

Nonsense, the people who bang the drums for phoney wars are the threats to world peace. The release of data showing corruption and abuses of power in those illegal and immoral wars is a healthy thing. We need more Wikileaks and maybe we won't even be going to war in the first place.

And I certainly do not regard Assange as a hero. I don't know the man, but I do think is articulate and presents his views well. I appreciate the role that he has played in recent years and I would like him to continue doing what he is doing. He is simply doing what the gutted out media has failed to do and in particular I blame the US media. These places have been gutted and good investigative journalism just doesn't seem to exist anymore whence the apathy of the general public concerning what are really significant global events.

Assange does NO investigation though! All he does is go into a house, catalogue all the contents and then put it up on the internet for all to see, irrespective of what the public interest is or whether any crime has been committed.

It's completely unethical.

Actually, I don't disapprove of all the Wikileaks revelations. I thought the video showing the US helicopter crew gunning down a crowd of innocent civilians was in the public interest. It's not that I disaprove of certain crimes or potential coverups being exposed.

But Assange is not doing that. He's just putting everything up on the internet wheter relevant or criminal or not.

How does it serve the public interest in any way (or improve diplomatic relations between countries) for him to reveal that one diplomat thinks one nation's president is a joke?

One particular cable that really annoyed me was the disclosure of certain 'critical sites', designated by America as being crucial to their national security. Many of these sites were not in the US, and were civilian infrastructures.

How is revealing that in any way helpful to peace? How does it serve the public interest? How can you not see the recklessness of such actions in an age of global terrorism. Would you, for example now want to be a worker at the snake anti venom laboratory in Australia, now it's been identified as a critical US infrastructure? Would you not be pretty pissed off at Assange for identifying your place of work as an ideal location for a terror attack?

There is no moral basis for releasing such information, and Assange is just endangering the lives of ordinary people around the world with such reckless disclosures.

He absolutely needs to be stopped imo.

Investigative journalism means to find out the facts about an event. To reveal something that was hitherto unknown. To move beyond merely parroting what the Pentagon is telling you. Sure, Assange is not doing traditional investigative journalism, but his organisation is gaining access to the facts. Wikileaks has sources who provide the information and the information is then vetted and revealed to the public. The recent releases were vetted along with generally respected newspaper publications. There is nothing unethical about this behaviour.

There is absolutely no reason for him to be stopped. Without Wikileaks we will simply have power continuing to act unchecked and have further threats to global peace commited by the leading proponents of state sponsored terrorism.

[El Kabong]

I think there have historically been parties that have looked out for the interests of ordinary people. For instance, The Labour Party that came to power after WW2 introduced the welfare state meaning protection for ordinary citizens from "the cradle to the grave". University education for many years was free, healthcare was and is free at the point of use, utilities were nationalised etc etc. These were all done in the greater interests of society at large. Of course, much of this has been eradicated as Thatcher attempted to bring US style Friedman economics to the UK, but we do still have the health service.

Governments should exist to protect the interests of their citizens, not to protect themselves and their corporate buddies. In most countries we have found a balance between these two ideals, but in America you have two parties who have fallen way too far to one side. There is no party representing the 'people' whence socialism for the elite. The poor huddled masses have nothing and it amazes me that we haven't seen widespread social unrest.

The Labour Party is shit....they put too much on their plate and this generation can't pay for it and your college age kids were so entitled they riot at the thought of paying for their education....who are you guys trying to be Italian train workers? French people in general?

Rules for miles to learn
#1 You NEVER get something for nothing
#2 Entitlement programs (welfare, healthcare, etc) never stop growing therefore you can never have enough taxes so the end game is you break your nation and you break your people and when all is said and done everybody has a bunch of nothing.....Socialist Nirvana acheived

[Kev]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

To be clear, I have not suggested he should be assassinated. I agree with you that would be a gross abuse of power, and would likely make a martyr of him anyway.

But he's no hero. His last 250,000 cables don't reveal any corruption, just 250,000 breaches of trust and theft of personal and confiential documents.

He is a menace to world peace with his irresponsible meddling.

Nonsense, the people who bang the drums for phoney wars are the threats to world peace. The release of data showing corruption and abuses of power in those illegal and immoral wars is a healthy thing. We need more Wikileaks and maybe we won't even be going to war in the first place.

And I certainly do not regard Assange as a hero. I don't know the man, but I do think is articulate and presents his views well. I appreciate the role that he has played in recent years and I would like him to continue doing what he is doing. He is simply doing what the gutted out media has failed to do and in particular I blame the US media. These places have been gutted and good investigative journalism just doesn't seem to exist anymore whence the apathy of the general public concerning what are really significant global events.

Assange does NO investigation though! All he does is go into a house, catalogue all the contents and then put it up on the internet for all to see, irrespective of what the public interest is or whether any crime has been committed.

It's completely unethical.

Actually, I don't disapprove of all the Wikileaks revelations. I thought the video showing the US helicopter crew gunning down a crowd of innocent civilians was in the public interest. It's not that I disaprove of certain crimes or potential coverups being exposed.

But Assange is not doing that. He's just putting everything up on the internet wheter relevant or criminal or not.

How does it serve the public interest in any way (or improve diplomatic relations between countries) for him to reveal that one diplomat thinks one nation's president is a joke?

One particular cable that really annoyed me was the disclosure of certain 'critical sites', designated by America as being crucial to their national security. Many of these sites were not in the US, and were civilian infrastructures.

How is revealing that in any way helpful to peace? How does it serve the public interest? How can you not see the recklessness of such actions in an age of global terrorism. Would you, for example now want to be a worker at the snake anti venom laboratory in Australia, now it's been identified as a critical US infrastructure? Would you not be pretty pissed off at Assange for identifying your place of work as an ideal location for a terror attack?

There is no moral basis for releasing such information, and Assange is just endangering the lives of ordinary people around the world with such reckless disclosures.

He absolutely needs to be stopped imo.

Investigative journalism means to find out the facts about an event. To reveal something that was hitherto unknown. To move beyond merely parroting what the Pentagon is telling you. Sure, Assange is not doing traditional investigative journalism, but his organisation is gaining access to the facts. Wikileaks has sources who provide the information and the information is then vetted and revealed to the public. The recent releases were vetted along with generally respected newspaper publications. There is nothing unethical about this behaviour.

There is absolutely no reason for him to be stopped. Without Wikileaks we will simply have power continuing to act unchecked and have further threats to global peace commited by the leading proponents of state sponsored terrorism.

So of the 250,000 cables that have been released which ones reveal corruption that was in the public interest for us to know? How has America been exposed by these leaks? You keep talking about this corrupt government but what corruption specifically has been revealed thanks these 250,000 cables?

[El Kabong]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

To be clear, I have not suggested he should be assassinated. I agree with you that would be a gross abuse of power, and would likely make a martyr of him anyway.

But he's no hero. His last 250,000 cables don't reveal any corruption, just 250,000 breaches of trust and theft of personal and confiential documents.

He is a menace to world peace with his irresponsible meddling.

Nonsense, the people who bang the drums for phoney wars are the threats to world peace. The release of data showing corruption and abuses of power in those illegal and immoral wars is a healthy thing. We need more Wikileaks and maybe we won't even be going to war in the first place.

And I certainly do not regard Assange as a hero. I don't know the man, but I do think is articulate and presents his views well. I appreciate the role that he has played in recent years and I would like him to continue doing what he is doing. He is simply doing what the gutted out media has failed to do and in particular I blame the US media. These places have been gutted and good investigative journalism just doesn't seem to exist anymore whence the apathy of the general public concerning what are really significant global events.

Assange does NO investigation though! All he does is go into a house, catalogue all the contents and then put it up on the internet for all to see, irrespective of what the public interest is or whether any crime has been committed.

It's completely unethical.

Actually, I don't disapprove of all the Wikileaks revelations. I thought the video showing the US helicopter crew gunning down a crowd of innocent civilians was in the public interest. It's not that I disaprove of certain crimes or potential coverups being exposed.

But Assange is not doing that. He's just putting everything up on the internet wheter relevant or criminal or not.

How does it serve the public interest in any way (or improve diplomatic relations between countries) for him to reveal that one diplomat thinks one nation's president is a joke?

One particular cable that really annoyed me was the disclosure of certain 'critical sites', designated by America as being crucial to their national security. Many of these sites were not in the US, and were civilian infrastructures.

How is revealing that in any way helpful to peace? How does it serve the public interest? How can you not see the recklessness of such actions in an age of global terrorism. Would you, for example now want to be a worker at the snake anti venom laboratory in Australia, now it's been identified as a critical US infrastructure? Would you not be pretty pissed off at Assange for identifying your place of work as an ideal location for a terror attack?

There is no moral basis for releasing such information, and Assange is just endangering the lives of ordinary people around the world with such reckless disclosures.

He absolutely needs to be stopped imo.

Investigative journalism means to find out the facts about an event. To reveal something that was hitherto unknown. To move beyond merely parroting what the Pentagon is telling you. Sure, Assange is not doing traditional investigative journalism, but his organisation is gaining access to the facts. Wikileaks has sources who provide the information and the information is then vetted and revealed to the public. The recent releases were vetted along with generally respected newspaper publications. There is nothing unethical about this behaviour.

There is absolutely no reason for him to be stopped. Without Wikileaks we will simply have power continuing to act unchecked and have further threats to global peace commited by the leading proponents of state sponsored terrorism.

Here's a few reasons why he should be stopped
1. These leaks are a threat to National security

2. These leaks were state secrets obtained illegally and are therefore to be considered espionage

3. These leaks were released to cause malicious effects and therefore doing so would be considered a form of terrorism and anyone who helped him gain access to such information that is a US citizen should be held for treason

...shall I continue?

[Gandalf]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

To be clear, I have not suggested he should be assassinated. I agree with you that would be a gross abuse of power, and would likely make a martyr of him anyway.

But he's no hero. His last 250,000 cables don't reveal any corruption, just 250,000 breaches of trust and theft of personal and confiential documents.

He is a menace to world peace with his irresponsible meddling.

Nonsense, the people who bang the drums for phoney wars are the threats to world peace. The release of data showing corruption and abuses of power in those illegal and immoral wars is a healthy thing. We need more Wikileaks and maybe we won't even be going to war in the first place.

And I certainly do not regard Assange as a hero. I don't know the man, but I do think is articulate and presents his views well. I appreciate the role that he has played in recent years and I would like him to continue doing what he is doing. He is simply doing what the gutted out media has failed to do and in particular I blame the US media. These places have been gutted and good investigative journalism just doesn't seem to exist anymore whence the apathy of the general public concerning what are really significant global events.

Assange does NO investigation though! All he does is go into a house, catalogue all the contents and then put it up on the internet for all to see, irrespective of what the public interest is or whether any crime has been committed.

It's completely unethical.

Actually, I don't disapprove of all the Wikileaks revelations. I thought the video showing the US helicopter crew gunning down a crowd of innocent civilians was in the public interest. It's not that I disaprove of certain crimes or potential coverups being exposed.

But Assange is not doing that. He's just putting everything up on the internet wheter relevant or criminal or not.

How does it serve the public interest in any way (or improve diplomatic relations between countries) for him to reveal that one diplomat thinks one nation's president is a joke?

One particular cable that really annoyed me was the disclosure of certain 'critical sites', designated by America as being crucial to their national security. Many of these sites were not in the US, and were civilian infrastructures.

How is revealing that in any way helpful to peace? How does it serve the public interest? How can you not see the recklessness of such actions in an age of global terrorism. Would you, for example now want to be a worker at the snake anti venom laboratory in Australia, now it's been identified as a critical US infrastructure? Would you not be pretty pissed off at Assange for identifying your place of work as an ideal location for a terror attack?

There is no moral basis for releasing such information, and Assange is just endangering the lives of ordinary people around the world with such reckless disclosures.

He absolutely needs to be stopped imo.

Investigative journalism means to find out the facts about an event. To reveal something that was hitherto unknown. To move beyond merely parroting what the Pentagon is telling you. Sure, Assange is not doing traditional investigative journalism, but his organisation is gaining access to the facts. Wikileaks has sources who provide the information and the information is then vetted and revealed to the public. The recent releases were vetted along with generally respected newspaper publications. There is nothing unethical about this behaviour.

There is absolutely no reason for him to be stopped. Without Wikileaks we will simply have power continuing to act unchecked and have further threats to global peace commited by the leading proponents of state sponsored terrorism.

So of the 250,000 cables that have been released which ones reveal corruption that was in the public interest for us to know? How has America been exposed by these leaks? You keep talking about this corrupt government but what corruption specifically has been revealed thanks these 250,000 cables?

Well, that's the thing. As someone who already followed the wars in some detail I don't think the leaks have actually been as damaging as some seem to think. The truth is already out there so to speak. They have simply added further unsavoury shades to what we already knew were wars built on lies and deception. But they do reveal particular war crimes, but not only those commited by America. So America hasn't really been exposed by these leaks as it has already largely been exposed. However, I would argue that the response of the US in possibly trying to legislate new laws to arrest Assange and of some leading political figures calling for his assasination. Well, this far beyond anything the leaks have revealed, have shown America in a far more unsavoury light. This is quite shocking actually. They will kill millions around the world and even publically call for the assasination of a public figure who has revealed how war crimes have been commited. These people are outrageous when you look at it in this light.

These latest documents don't actually say all that much to an informed observer of the wars. But they do tell us a lot about diplomacy and the cattiness and pointless things that they like to comment upon. For instance, I couldn't care less what diplomats think about the character of David Cameron. It is revealing, but largely uninteresting to me. The previous releases were more significant IMO and I am surprised it has taken the latest ones to spring up the calls for assasination and trial. I would have expected the loonies to have emerged then rather than now.

[Gandalf]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

To be clear, I have not suggested he should be assassinated. I agree with you that would be a gross abuse of power, and would likely make a martyr of him anyway.

But he's no hero. His last 250,000 cables don't reveal any corruption, just 250,000 breaches of trust and theft of personal and confiential documents.

He is a menace to world peace with his irresponsible meddling.

Nonsense, the people who bang the drums for phoney wars are the threats to world peace. The release of data showing corruption and abuses of power in those illegal and immoral wars is a healthy thing. We need more Wikileaks and maybe we won't even be going to war in the first place.

And I certainly do not regard Assange as a hero. I don't know the man, but I do think is articulate and presents his views well. I appreciate the role that he has played in recent years and I would like him to continue doing what he is doing. He is simply doing what the gutted out media has failed to do and in particular I blame the US media. These places have been gutted and good investigative journalism just doesn't seem to exist anymore whence the apathy of the general public concerning what are really significant global events.

Assange does NO investigation though! All he does is go into a house, catalogue all the contents and then put it up on the internet for all to see, irrespective of what the public interest is or whether any crime has been committed.

It's completely unethical.

Actually, I don't disapprove of all the Wikileaks revelations. I thought the video showing the US helicopter crew gunning down a crowd of innocent civilians was in the public interest. It's not that I disaprove of certain crimes or potential coverups being exposed.

But Assange is not doing that. He's just putting everything up on the internet wheter relevant or criminal or not.

How does it serve the public interest in any way (or improve diplomatic relations between countries) for him to reveal that one diplomat thinks one nation's president is a joke?

One particular cable that really annoyed me was the disclosure of certain 'critical sites', designated by America as being crucial to their national security. Many of these sites were not in the US, and were civilian infrastructures.

How is revealing that in any way helpful to peace? How does it serve the public interest? How can you not see the recklessness of such actions in an age of global terrorism. Would you, for example now want to be a worker at the snake anti venom laboratory in Australia, now it's been identified as a critical US infrastructure? Would you not be pretty pissed off at Assange for identifying your place of work as an ideal location for a terror attack?

There is no moral basis for releasing such information, and Assange is just endangering the lives of ordinary people around the world with such reckless disclosures.

He absolutely needs to be stopped imo.

Investigative journalism means to find out the facts about an event. To reveal something that was hitherto unknown. To move beyond merely parroting what the Pentagon is telling you. Sure, Assange is not doing traditional investigative journalism, but his organisation is gaining access to the facts. Wikileaks has sources who provide the information and the information is then vetted and revealed to the public. The recent releases were vetted along with generally respected newspaper publications. There is nothing unethical about this behaviour.

There is absolutely no reason for him to be stopped. Without Wikileaks we will simply have power continuing to act unchecked and have further threats to global peace commited by the leading proponents of state sponsored terrorism.

Here's a few reasons why he should be stopped
1. These leaks are a threat to National security

2. These leaks were state secrets obtained illegally and are therefore to be considered espionage

3. These leaks were released to cause malicious effects and therefore doing so would be considered a form of terrorism and anyone who helped him gain access to such information that is a US citizen should be held for treason

...shall I continue?

1. Which ones?

2. Assange is simply the messenger here. You don't shoot the messenger, he didn't steal anything.

3. Going to war on the pretext of lies was extremely malicious and has has been descibed by some as illegal and against international law. Perhaps we should try Bush for war crimes.

[Kev]

Some of you people are out of your minds. You are seriously suggesting that Michael Moore and Julian Assange should be assasinated? Assasinated for what? For providing us with evidence that the US elite is as corrupt and immoral as I have been arguing for years. You don't like the truth, it's too much for you to handle? So it is perfectly acceptable to start a war based on deceit, but not okay to reveal a few home truths about the dishonest nature of that war? Bush gets a pass, but we want Assange to be put out by a sniper? One man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and Assange is likely responsible for the death of noone.

So in calling for the assasination of Assange then you are obviously advocating the assasination of anyone at the New York Times and The Guardian who were also involved in the vetting process of these documents. How about then assasinating anyone who then goes on to read these said documents. Get a grip. We need checks on unlimited power. Our governments do not listen. We need alternative means of reigning them and the corporate elite in and Wikileaks has been doing that. We should be proud of the work Assange has been doing and should be highly critical of our governments. And rightly so.

And Lyle US party politics is irrelevant to this debate. The only reason that the Republicans have come back is because Obama is a fraud. He has always been a corporate shill whence no public option for health care, huge bail outs for the financial sector, expansion of the war and a watered down financial reform bill. People are dissapointed and their jobs haven't come back, but the only alternative are the Republicans. It will get much worse if they get into power. There is no voting alternative for the American people. You either vote for this party of big business or that one. There is no party looking out for ordinary people.

To be clear, I have not suggested he should be assassinated. I agree with you that would be a gross abuse of power, and would likely make a martyr of him anyway.

But he's no hero. His last 250,000 cables don't reveal any corruption, just 250,000 breaches of trust and theft of personal and confiential documents.

He is a menace to world peace with his irresponsible meddling.

Nonsense, the people who bang the drums for phoney wars are the threats to world peace. The release of data showing corruption and abuses of power in those illegal and immoral wars is a healthy thing. We need more Wikileaks and maybe we won't even be going to war in the first place.

And I certainly do not regard Assange as a hero. I don't know the man, but I do think is articulate and presents his views well. I appreciate the role that he has played in recent years and I would like him to continue doing what he is doing. He is simply doing what the gutted out media has failed to do and in particular I blame the US media. These places have been gutted and good investigative journalism just doesn't seem to exist anymore whence the apathy of the general public concerning what are really significant global events.

Assange does NO investigation though! All he does is go into a house, catalogue all the contents and then put it up on the internet for all to see, irrespective of what the public interest is or whether any crime has been committed.

It's completely unethical.

Actually, I don't disapprove of all the Wikileaks revelations. I thought the video showing the US helicopter crew gunning down a crowd of innocent civilians was in the public interest. It's not that I disaprove of certain crimes or potential coverups being exposed.

But Assange is not doing that. He's just putting everything up on the internet wheter relevant or criminal or not.

How does it serve the public interest in any way (or improve diplomatic relations between countries) for him to reveal that one diplomat thinks one nation's president is a joke?

One particular cable that really annoyed me was the disclosure of certain 'critical sites', designated by America as being crucial to their national security. Many of these sites were not in the US, and were civilian infrastructures.

How is revealing that in any way helpful to peace? How does it serve the public interest? How can you not see the recklessness of such actions in an age of global terrorism. Would you, for example now want to be a worker at the snake anti venom laboratory in Australia, now it's been identified as a critical US infrastructure? Would you not be pretty pissed off at Assange for identifying your place of work as an ideal location for a terror attack?

There is no moral basis for releasing such information, and Assange is just endangering the lives of ordinary people around the world with such reckless disclosures.

He absolutely needs to be stopped imo.

Investigative journalism means to find out the facts about an event. To reveal something that was hitherto unknown. To move beyond merely parroting what the Pentagon is telling you. Sure, Assange is not doing traditional investigative journalism, but his organisation is gaining access to the facts. Wikileaks has sources who provide the information and the information is then vetted and revealed to the public. The recent releases were vetted along with generally respected newspaper publications. There is nothing unethical about this behaviour.

There is absolutely no reason for him to be stopped. Without Wikileaks we will simply have power continuing to act unchecked and have further threats to global peace commited by the leading proponents of state sponsored terrorism.

So of the 250,000 cables that have been released which ones reveal corruption that was in the public interest for us to know? How has America been exposed by these leaks? You keep talking about this corrupt government but what corruption specifically has been revealed thanks these 250,000 cables?

Well, that's the thing. As someone who already followed the wars in some detail I don't think the leaks have actually been as damaging as some seem to think. The truth is already out there so to speak. They have simply added further unsavoury shades to what we already knew were wars built on lies and deception. But they do reveal particular war crimes, but not only those commited by America. So America hasn't really been exposed by these leaks as it has already largely been exposed. However, I would argue that the response of the US in possibly trying to legislate new laws to arrest Assange and of some leading political figures calling for his assasination. Well, this far beyond anything the leaks have revealed, have shown America in a far more unsavoury light. This is quite shocking actually. They will kill millions around the world and even publically call for the assasination of a public figure who has revealed how war crimes have been commited. These people are outrageous when you look at it in this light.

These latest documents don't actually say all that much to an informed observer of the wars. But they do tell us a lot about diplomacy and the cattiness and pointless things that they like to comment upon. For instance, I couldn't care less what diplomats think about the character of David Cameron. It is revealing, but largely uninteresting to me. The previous releases were more significant IMO and I am surprised it has taken the latest ones to spring up the calls for assasination and trial. I would have expected the loonies to have emerged then rather than now.

This is amazing! So even you admit these leaks don't reveal any corruption or sordid goings on in the backrooms of American government yet you STILL condone the theft and publication of them!

That's shocking and you should be ashamed of yourself

So you think it's acceptable to just steal classified information from the world's biggest superpower that isn't even incriminating and show it to the world in order to achieve what exactly?

How would you like it someobody ransacked your home, published your private diaries, all of your medical, criminal and career records along with any recent correspondences you had had online via email and just made it all available for the public to see?

That you could even attempt to justify this when you even ADMIT that America has been shown to have done nothing wrong is remarkable.

So what your actually saying that you do not care whether corruption has been revealed or not, in your opinion the American government has no right to confidentiallity of privacy regarding sensitive materials and it is the right of persons, or are not even American citizens to obtain illegally such private materials and upload them for titillation?

In hindsight do you think Assange was wrong to breach the trust of the American government in releaseing such trivial material? Do you think this damages his cause at all?

I mean I'm not against whistle blowing when serious corruption or lies have been practiced in secret but by your own admission Assange doesn't even have a whistle to blow. He has just stolen classified documents and revealed them to the world.