WikiLeaks about to hit the fan

@ossobuco,

I trust that you won't be affected by any material coming out from WikiLeaks.

But you sure did avoid my question. Don't want to go anywhere near that topic, eh, Osso?

You didn't exclude felons. Smile

1 Reply

@JPB,

JPB wrote:

I don't know what I think about it, rjb. I didn't pay enough attention to the recent press to form an opinion. Sounds like it could get ugly, indeed. But, then, I'm not convinced that's a bad thing. Dunno -- waiting to see what unfolds.

Might it be a bad thing if the names of informants are released and those informants and their families are then murdered?

Are you of the opinion that all dealings between governments should be conducted in the open?

5 Replies

@Finn dAbuzz,

I could sympathize with a carefully picked over leak of information, but it's just wrong to realease information that may be harmful to innocent persons and disrupts even productive private communications.

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@JTT,

Eh, I'm tired of you singing your US = The Devil song like a jack in the box on just about any thread, Mr. Bluster - at the same time I may agree with your general point of view on a lot of occasions.

I've posted my heartfelt opinions here over the years. I don't reiterate them in a continuing dirge, because I don't feel like doing that. I am at a2k for several reasons, one of which is to enjoy myself, but otherwise to learn, sometimes adjusting my views, and occasionally to share information.

Trying to remember if I've known 'known felons'.
No one comes to mind.

1 Reply

@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

Are you of the opinion that all dealings between governments should be conducted in the open?

No.

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@edgarblythe,

Nods.

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@JPB,

JPB wrote:

I'm sure this bit shocks you, JTT. The more things change...

Quote:
According to the London-based daily al-Hayat, the WikiLeaks release includes documents that show Turkey has helped al-Qaida in Iraq — and that the United States has supported the PKK, a Kurdish rebel organization that has been waging a separatist war against Turkey since 1984, the Washington Post reported.

Does it shock you JPB?

I don't think it requires a genius for geo-political strategy to see how and why Turkey, an ally of America, might "help" al-Qaida in Iraq if it "hurt" the PKK, or why America, an ally of Turkey, might "help" the PKK if it "hurt" al-Qaida in Iraq.

Since when do the interests of geo-political allies perfectly align?

And when the allies are as disparate as are the US and Turkey?

1 Reply

any interactions between private citizens (informants, human rights agencies, etc) poses some problems for me, but anything that a politician, head of a spy agency or top military person says is fair game if the documents get leaked

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@ossobuco,

Quote:

Eh, I'm tired of you singing your US = The Devil

Funny how it comes up so often, eh, Osso? The US's big dirty hands cover a lot of territory, do they not?.

Quote:

Trying to remember if I've known 'known felons'.
No one comes to mind.

Not personally probably but Reagan, Bush, Bush, Clinton, Carter, Obama, Nixon, ... .

1 Reply

@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

Might it be a bad thing if the names of informants are released and those informants and their families are then murdered?

Might it be a bad thing if those informants caused the deaths of innocents?

You keep on as if those who have dealings with the US are pure as the driven snow. What the US has other folks engage in can certainly be on the evil end of the spectrum.

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

Quote:

I could sympathize with a carefully picked over leak of information,

You mean like how the CIA/FBI/US government does it, Edgar? Your great great grandchildren get to find out that the government did illegal medical tests on you and your wife.

1 Reply

@JTT,

You don't get it, you are a blutto blaster, the accuser from some pure domain.

It comes up so often here on a2k as you post your script on whatever threads you click on, most of the time. I have to tell you that you are boring. Virtually useless - we could be having interesting discussions. But, you are a one man cream pie..

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

I get it perfectly, Osso, but I'm afraid that you are the one who is missing it.

There's nothing, save for this phony little excuse, to stop you from discussing the immense brutality of the USA that has caused the deaths of some 6 million people just since WWII.

It's just much easier to go along and get along, is it not?

"from some pure domain", what utter crap!

1 Reply

@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

Might it be a bad thing if the names of informants are released and those informants and their families are then murdered?

Are you of the opinion that all dealings between governments should be conducted in the open?

Yes, as others have said, names of private individuals being released would be a bad thing. Voyeurs don't need to know the persons and there are those who would very much like to bring harm to anyone involved in espionage at any level.

"All" dealings between any two parties needn't be conducted in the open, but that's an easy answer. Of course there are some things that must be handled delicately (why am I reminded of the wicked witch of the west?), but there are many dealings that we're about to hear about, perhaps, that I'm thinking might not be so awful to have out in the open.

I grew up in the black and white world of the Cold War, Finn, and I'm guessing you did too. I'm realizing more and more just how gray our past and present have been. JTT paints us as the evil black sword of the past 100 years, or so. My brush isn't black, but it's not white either.

Knowledge is a good thing. Knowledge with an understanding of history and perspective is even better.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Actually, it is useful to understand people.

Utter crap, well, you name wherefrom you post, seems like a world of hate.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

um... no. That was sarcasm.

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@JTT,

To be honest, JTT, I thought of you when I heard about the kid in Oregon who was unsuccessful in his attempt to blow up a bomb at a public square in Portland, OR. I imagined you 1) are convinced he was tricked into the act, and 2) were somehow disappointed that he was deterred.

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@JPB,

I for one is happy he was caught. I can't imagine how awful that would have been.

1 Reply

@Ceili,

Of course. Me too, and I apologize for derailing my own thread. I got caught up in the osso-JTT tit-for-tat for a moment.

2 Replies

@JPB,

No worries.

0 Replies

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