Worthy and Unworthy Leaks

Photo source: http://wikileaks.ch

I have been in a mild state of panic for the entire day for two reasons. One, my thesis proposal was up for review... I got a 3 to 1 vote for a pass, although unfortunately it must be an unanimous vote. So I have a not pass until I make some minor revisions. However, my state of panic is more to do with the second aspect of my actual thesis - Wikileaks. I have been following the scandal closely since Wikileaks released the war diaries over the summer, and I developed a theory based on the propaganda model that new media is making governments more accountable as they are no longer the basic source for media outlets. I handed in my proposal two weeks ago, days before the third and most "scandalous" leak.

I was working for my internship during the time of the first leak, and I remember spending the day writing the breaking news of the biggest military leak in history. That was, until the second biggest leak hit with the Iraq War Diaries.  Wikileaks learned from its first major leak, so for the second round they made it user-friendly to search through the military reports. Through my preliminary searches, it was clear the extend of blatant war crimes were committed. Literally thousands of files with categorized under "murder" and "classified." There are cases which contain of hundreds of civilian casualties. From 2004 to 2009 at least, we let our government cover up many horrible actions of war.

Now, what really annoys me is in comparison, the third leak is considered more of a disaster, because it targets the elites. This last leak isn't about crimes against humanity, but rather the dirty side of diplomacy, which to me just seems like high school on a larger scale. From what I've read, it is more situational facts and personal opinions of world leaders. And this is what gets people up in arms? This is finally what makes the US shut down world-wide Wikileaks servers? Thousands of people dying due to a poorly organized war is ok, but god forbid we release snide remarks that US diplomats say?

I'm am equally understanding and disappointed in my government. Anyone who has ever studied US foreign policy knows that the machine is not simple. It is all too easy to blame the "US" for this policy, for that statement, almost like you were blaming a single person. In reality the US is high bureaucratic, highly messy, and there is not a single entity that can control the entire system. When the war on terror started back in 2001, the US had to respond. There were emotions, a need for the US to seek revenge and prove itself to the international community. Anybody was susceptible to make the mistakes Bush made. While Bush has a hand in starting the war machine, not even he could control the entire war once it was set in motion. Even now, Obama can only do so much; there is no off button that can be pushed by a single finger, its too simplistic. So yes, US government, I understand the mistakes that were made. Yet I think this type of transparency came almost too late, as maybe seeing the inside of the machine could have helped to break up the group think that was strong during the Bush administration.

I believe that the Afghan and Iraq Diaries are of much more substance than the diplomatic cable link, in that it shows how damaging the US has become in this war. There is an opportunity for change, and an opportunity to hold the US accountable for all the crimes that were not brought to justice. However, the victims of these crimes are seen as unworthy, both for US and public response. When the victim is the US airing its dirty laundry (mind you every other country probably has similar items in their own closets) then that is apparently a bigger violation.