Julian Assange at TED
Among the amazing TED talks on video posted online, this interview with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is particularly timely given the recent mega-leak of hundreds of thousands documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan.
Many debate the novelty of the information revealed — some, like President Obama, argue it says nothing new, others content it undermines the government’s portrayal of the state of the war. The documents apparently give more details about unreported civilian deaths, the extent of the Taliban’s growing control of the country, and the role of Pakistani intelligence in backing the re-insurgents. There is some new information indicating the US military was paying Afghan media for friendly stories and interfering in its press, a practice that was a controversy when it was discovered in Iraq.
More important, some say, are the political ramifications of this leak, which may take a toll on the already dwindling support for the war.
This exchange took place before, but is worth watching because Assange explains how it works, what challenges they face and goes through specific instances of high impact links. While some see Wikileaks as a heroic endeavor and others deem it dangerous and contemptible of legitimate government secrecy, it was surely destined to emerge.
In an information age where international communication networks exist outside of state power, and where traditional media are not really challenging power, something like Wikileaks is not only needed badly, but was inevitable.
Julian Assange accepted stolen goods and distributed them. That is illegal. He claims to be a journalist, but he is an activist. He has a stated agenda (end the war in Afghanistan).
Julian Assange reminds me of Zorg from the Fifth Element.
Jealous much, lololol xD
Julian Assange is a hero, and so are his sources like Bradley Manning. There are NO legitimate government secrets. Governments keep secrets to protect themselves and oppress their people. The example that Assange gives as a legitimate secret is that of a conversation between a doctor and a patient. That's one example of a legitimate secret. Note that people have the right to keep secrets from governments, not the other way around.
Assange also talks about the concept of people looking down on soldiers because of videos like http://www.collateralmurder.com/. It's funny because he makes no apologies like the standard "we still support the troops" line. He says that Iraqis have to live with those images every day, and perhaps things will change if other people have to as wall. Personally, my view is that anybody who signs up for the US military today is nothing more than a complacent hired killer, someone who should be reviled, not praised.
I think there are some legitimate government secrets, pertaining to security especially – but the problem is that almost anything can be justified as a secret if put under that banner. What happens then is that legitimate secrets lose their legitimacy in the face of the exposure of secrets heralded as ensuring security when in fact they are promoting oppression and hiding heinous atrocities. Thus such institutions as WikiLeaks and people like Assange become an imperative asset to our knowledge and our role as citizens under various sorts of governments – be they extremely overtly oppressive or implicitly oppressive or whatever.
Mind you – no government, which seeks to spread its influence and maintain its power at home, will ever be 100% transparent, especially about those things which relate to actions in "foreign places" and spread of influence. That's touchy for them and as states as so-called "rational actors" it makes sense that they'd refrain from doing so. Is it right? Not necessarily from our perspective as citizens, but from the perspective of the modern, bureaucratic state which operates on its own morality, of course it's right. So yeah, again, keeping governments in check becomes our responsibility because a government, even if it claims to be built of a system of checks and balances which always has its limitations, will never do so legitimately.
"I think there are some legitimate government secrets, pertaining to security especially"
Like what? What "national security" secret is a big, powerful government like the the US entitled to?
Not just the US, any government. If you have information regarding certain military programs or operations whose release would threaten the lives of soldiers or, more importantly, of your citizens and threaten your sovereignty in anyway, then yeah I think it's legit secret. Not all secrets are from the citizens – many are also from other governments who also seek to find the weaknesses of more powerful or better equipped states in an attempt to further their own might and influence. It's unsurprising, really. The point of government, whether we agree with it or not, is to practice and protect sovereignty over a given area of land. The point of the modern government is protect a population within given borders. Realities aside, it follows that a government – any government – would have legitimate secrets it would want to keep from getting into the hands of adversaries. The problem, as I mentioned, is when this shroud of legitimacy is expanded to issues which really aren't at all related to national security etc.
Don't read that statement I made out of context.
You still haven't answered my question. There's absolutely no secret that the US government could possibly hold that would threaten the lives of Americans if exposed. Government operatives who are taking part in occupying foreign lands may need to keep secrets for their safety. They can eliminate the need for maintaining secrets by leaving.
Governments that are repelling an invading force may have a legitimate need for secrets, but there are no such recognized governments in existence today. Hamas may fit into that category if they were recognized internationally.
Governments eliminate the need for secrets by obtaining the consent of the people they serve. Obtain that consent and their will be no need for secrets.
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