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How about this... Bradley Manning posted two types of information. War Footage and Diplomatic Cables. The War Footage was unpleasant to watch but didn't docu

How about this... Bradley Manning posted two types of information. War Footage and Diplomatic Cables. The War Footage was unpleasant to watch but didn't document anything that wasn't already well known (at least to anyone who paid attention to Iraqi Civilian Casualty Numbers). As such no change has been made by the government. The second group, diplomatic cables, actually caused harm. The whole point of diplomacy is to avoid war. Manning leaked info (such as state department officials' personal opinion of other world leaders) that made it harder to deal with them. Hence making diplomacy harder and war more likely. I think the larger point with the Stratfor hack and Manning's actions is it's dumb to release indiscriminately. Good reporting has always involved inside sources but those reporters targeted the actual corruption and only released that.

ge0rg 15y ago
Much better. > The War Footage was unpleasant to watch but didn't document anything that wasn't already well known (at least to anyone who paid attention [...]) It generated mass media attention and thus had an impact on previously uninformed people. > The second group, diplomatic cables, actually caused harm. It also made transparent how governments followed US pressure secretly, lying to the people, and they are said to have had an influence on the Arab spring.
- devs1010 15y ago
  Its all subjective. To some, such as myself, I don't give a shit if it cost our government to "lose face" and possibly have to back out of war, etc. I personally feel that are government is up to no good in a number of ways and that those in charge need to be taken down a few notches. The U.S. isn't some mindless borg, we all have different beliefs and feelings on what is right and wrong so saying something caused our government harm is really just saying it caused the people in charge harm, its up to the rest of the citizens to decide if it really caused them any harm.

ge0rg 15y ago

Much better. > The War Footage was unpleasant to watch but didn't document anything that wasn't already well known (at least to anyone who paid attention [...]) It generated mass media attention and thus had an impact on previously uninformed people. > The second group, diplomatic cables, actually caused harm. It also made transparent how governments followed US pressure secretly, lying to the people, and they are said to have had an influence on the Arab spring.

devs1010 15y ago
Its all subjective. To some, such as myself, I don't give a shit if it cost our government to "lose face" and possibly have to back out of war, etc. I personally feel that are government is up to no good in a number of ways and that those in charge need to be taken down a few notches. The U.S. isn't some mindless borg, we all have different beliefs and feelings on what is right and wrong so saying something caused our government harm is really just saying it caused the people in charge harm, its up to the rest of the citizens to decide if it really caused them any harm.