OT: Julian Assange has been arrested

**dafe** · 12-08-2010, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by djhipnotikk

i find it unfair that everyone pins him as the cause of all this. he didn't steal this info himself, he was given it by an active US soldier. all he did was create a medium for free speech.

This is pretty much it.

Why are other news agencies not targeted? They've spread the cables just as much as wikileaks has.

Also, the list of "infrastructure" which was leaked, is actually already well known. Take the Southern Cross cable used here in Australia. I've been reading about it in the news for years now. It's common knowledge. The leak outlines US interests... It does not read as a terrorist "how to start WW3" as some suggest.

The US will take far more lives, and be held far less responsible without a medium for facts to be published, without a medium for checks and balances, than wikileaks EVER will.

In the words of the US Supreme Court "only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government".

Oh, I figured it might be worthwhile keeping a scoreboard to try and make sure we have a good handle on things

Deaths caused by the US : Untold thousands which we'll never know about
Deaths caused by Wikileaks: 0 source

The simple fact is, Wikileaks is not popular with governments, for obvious reasons. There will be a huge media campaign to convince the general public that Wikileaks is evil, and is putting innocent lives at risk. Fear has always been the go-to campaign for western democracy, and that sure won't change with wikileaks.

As an Australian living in a world that is heavily influenced by American politics, I actually kind of want to know what they've been saying behind closed doors.

**Ross** · 12-08-2010, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by nem0nic

Instead of putting on some Barry White, I think you need to turn off Fox News and put on your thinking cap.

NONE of the facilities listed in the leak you reference were secret. They could just as easily be found using that other famous terrorist tool - Google. If you had done any research at all instead of just taking a single news source at face value, you would have known that. It doesn't take a master terrorist to figure out that if you cut a trans-continental communications cable that it's going to disrupt communications. Or if you blow up a power plant that it will cease producing power. If I do something as sinister as open Google Maps and search "nuclear plants", I can see that there are 2 nuclear power plants close to Chicago.

Terrorists don't need a list to find targets. They just need an IQ over 90 and an internet connection.

Who are you to try and manipulate my opinion by the way?

**nem0nic** · 12-08-2010, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by OmniRoss

These are places like Heathrow, Gatwick, where loads of people will be... That's what Terrorism's about...

And you didn't need a list from Wikileaks to figure that out, did you? How dangerous was that infrastructure leak again?

**nem0nic** · 12-08-2010, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by OmniRoss

Who are you to try and manipulate my opinion by the way?

You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, no matter if it's researched or not. But you put yours on a public forum. Other people will agree or disagree with you on that same public forum. Welcome to the internets.

**Ross** · 12-08-2010, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by nem0nic

You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, no matter if it's researched or not. But you put yours on a public forum. Other people will agree or disagree with you on that same public forum. Welcome to the internets.

I wasn't asking for an essay. Just stating my views. Secrets should be kept that way for a reason, causing this necessary uproar and essays I'm not bothered reading like the ones above. Playground attitude.

**loop** · 12-08-2010, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by nem0nic

Instead of putting on some Barry White, I think you need to turn off Fox News and put on your thinking cap.

LOL, people don't seem to get it ...

Originally Posted by nem0nic

You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, no matter if it's researched or not. But you put yours on a public forum. Other people will agree or disagree with you on that same public forum. Welcome to the internets.

and in fact it is a responsibility to put something on a public forum ... and people don't seem to get that too. Everything stays for future reference.

Let's hug it guys! We are all on the same side, don't forget this!

**nem0nic** · 12-08-2010, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by OmniRoss

I wasn't asking for an essay. Just stating my views. Secrets should be kept that way for a reason, causing this necessary uproar and essays I'm not bothered reading like the ones above. Playground attitude.

How enlightened you are! Let me help you.

[TL/DR]
The "secrets" you're talking about aren't really secret at all.
[/TL/DR]