Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Criseyde What are the benefits of knowing the information in these cables? I have a hard time screaming "international crisis!!" just because some diplomat called Sarkozy a tiny tyrant with a Napoleon complex and a pegleg swagger. There has to be more to it than that. |
The mainstream media seems to be picking up on the cables that seem trivial in nature, which seems to be influencing the general public. I keep hearing people say stuff to the effect ‘what is the significance of wikileaks if it just releases trivial information’. There has been some better quality analysis of the cables on some blogs and websites (Glen whoever on Salon and democracy now). Apparently, there was some attack in Yemen that the U.S military instigated, but they lied and told the media that it was the Yemen military that had done so. The cables disprove this and demonstrate that it was the U.S military that started the conflict. I don’t know if the popular media is deliberately doing this to trivialize wikileaks…
I think many people would respond, ‘so what? We all know the U.S lies; knowing that will not change anything’. But wikileaks is not really responsible for the apathy of the general public. It is simply meant to release documents and make them accessible to the public. It is up the viewer to decide how he/she will respond.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Cantando I can't see much point in thousands of emails (if that is the case) being released to the general public as they can be interpreted in as many different ways. |
That is not the case. Wikileaks is not indiscriminately publishing the cables. They have… something like +12000 cables, and so far, they have only released 1100 or so. The are making decisions in conjunction with their partners (other news outlets, I think the OP mentioned them) over which cables are socially relevant, and if I understand correctly, I think they are editing the documents to protect innocent people.