Okay, I have to throw my two cents in here. I know I'll probably get some negative feedback, and so be it. I'm sick of seeing people try to hide behind the "
First Amendment" to justify this sort of thing. Here is the quote, word for word.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
This gives us the right to voice our opinions, and gives the press the right to air any story that is gained through legal means and resources. However, it does NOT give people the right to publicize information that has not been released as such, as it CAN pose a considerable threat to our military personnel, our government officials, and even our citizens. You want to talk about rights? What about the privacy rights of those known to the people involved? You can sit here and quote logistics to me all day. It doesn't matter that no deaths or incidents have been proven as a result of such leaks. That doesn't mean that they haven't occurred, so stop hiding behind semantics.
The fact is, airing things in such a careless fashion only serves to turn a world against us that is already not very happy with us to begin with. It puts us in danger of losing the few allies we have left. Then what do you think happens? Oh, and for the record, before anyone else decides to start trying to quote freedom of speech and freedom of the press again, let me remind you all of the Espionage Act of 1917. This was primarily meant for anyone who would seek to cause "insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty in the military or naval forces of the United States." Basically this means anti-military propaganda, which is exactly what such sites as Wikileaks can be considered.
Quote the First Amendment to your heart's content. The fact is, there are also several clauses attached to it that people seem to forget about meant to protect our military by preventing leaks and making them punishable as crimes. Otherwise any asshole could just tell our enemies every move we make in times of war by posting it in the paper. Would you like to see your friends and family put in harm's way because of someone manipulating the constitution for their own ends? I wouldn't. And I'm sure most people wouldn't. This is not to say that I trust the government and put faith in them. Politicians are politicians, and they work toward their own agendas, not for our benefit. But the fact is they're the ones the world sees when dealing with us, and we're not helping our case by airing our dirty laundry for everyone. If you want the world to stop being anti-American, then stop putting things out there to give them reason to be.
That's not to say, however, there is no validity in the arguments of those who would defend the actions of Wikileaks. As for why things are marked "Secret" or "Confidential", it's not for you or me to know. There is always a reason. I don't condone the crimes against humanity that are committed by either side, don't get me wrong, but there are some things that should be handled behind closed doors. Most wars are truly won by the diplomats. Many of these guys are assholes, and I'm not disputing that. Many of them are crooks who line their own pockets with money bathed in the blood of our soldiers. But the fact is these guys are the ones who put things into perspective for the opposing forces when all is said and done and find the resolution.
Don't think for a moment that I'm undermining the efforts of our military, because I'm not. It's their blood that gets us into a position when fighting a war for the diplomats to make their case, and without their sacrifice, we would never achieve our goals. But what I'm saying is we don't need every anti-American living within our own borders doing all they can to continue to try and turn the rest of the world against us by doing all they can to incriminate the guys in the public eye who are working behind the scenes to try and find a resolution to our conflicts. The fact is, EVERY country has this very same sort of scandal in some form or another. So why do so many focus solely on the US, including its own people? Everyone is guilty of something, but that doesn't make it a good idea to go waving it around in front of the whole world as if holding up a banner that reads "Hey, look at what assholes we are" and in effect making the majority of the world believe that we are ALL of such morally questionable character. You people are not doing the American people any favors with this. Can't you see that?
So my final thoughts are this. Take the time to truly understand the First Amendment before you start quoting it to justify the actions of those who seek to undermine the work our soldiers are committed to simply to get some recognition. There is a point where people stops exercising their rights and start blatantly abusing them to serve their own agendas, and that is exactly what sites like Wikileaks do. Just a bunch of jackasses looking for recognition at the expense of anyone, including their own country. All I can say is enjoy that freedom while it lasts, assholes, because if you continue to act in the manner you do, you weaken our ties, and eventually the world will close in around us. Then you'll be wishing you had those rights, because they'll be nothing but a distant memory. Here's a thought. If you want to improve the situation here in America, then how you stop trying to give the world reasons to hate us, and start trying to give them reasons not to?
P.S. I linked the first mention of the Amendment to the Wikipedia article with the full description for those who would like to take a read and better understand the rights and limitations of it. I will thank people in advance for their feedback, positive or negative, as we are all entitled to our opinions and fully have the right to feel strongly about them as well as voice them. This is simply my opinion, and is not meant to be personally offensive to anyone, nor is it directed at a specific individual.
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