[jmdickens]

I havent seen a thread for this yet, but what do the FF's think of Julian Assange and this website?

[Sly Fox]

His recent addition of corporate espionage to the governmental papers is proving to be good for my firm's business model. But he's a sleazeball IMHO.

[ATrain]

My opinion: Diplomacy has been watered down to a high school slam book. "So-and-so has a "nurse" with big boobs." What's so classified about that? The tabloids have been printing that stuff for decades.

In other news, I'm looking forward to Wikileaks release of documents from Bank of America. Maybe I can find some information to see if they've mishandled my mortgage

[thepostman]

He is a sleazeball, no doubt about it...but he is simply providing information. I realize going after the people who are providing him this information is tougher to do, but its not going to stop if they simply prosecute him.

[LUconn]

Yeah, he's a turd and all but I don't think he's under any obligation to not release classified things (other than being a decent human being regards to some of the info). The real story is the original leaker. Leakers and anonymous sources have always bothered me. The penalty should be extremely harsh.

[jbock13]

I'm not sure what to think about the whole thing. Sure, it has put many lives in danger, but just as much it has exposed the government when they misinform the media and thus the american people. My own personal belief is that we should come home from the middle east, these documents only confirm my belief. But reasonable people can disagree.

[jmdickens]

very surprised by the comments...you guys have more common sense than law students. Most of them say hang him for high treason while I laugh.

assange does have issues, but the revelation of what has actually been hidden from us is disturbing. National security should not be the guise to hide what our government does. It's rather sad

[LUconn]

I'm pretty sure you have to be a U.S. citizen to commit treason against the U.S. That's pretty much common sense. Bradley Manning however, is basically Benedict Arnold minus the high rank.

[jbock13]

I think what you see is a slight rise in libertarian ways of thinking (I don't mean the party, but the philosophy). I mean, it seems like we're just out hoping to somehow kill every terrorist in the world, it's a goal that can never be acheived. First of all, if we pulled out of the Middle East we wouldn't see nearly as many attacks as we do right now. At that point, we can access whether they just don't like us invading their land, or they hate us for what our country stands for. Right now, I believe the 1st option.

America may be a force for good in the world. But that doesn't mean we should be in everybody else's business. The Wikileaks cables show why the Middle East hates us. Because we try to control the entire world, especially the Middle East.

And LUconn, you are correct, you must be a citizen to be tried for treason. This guy should be punished, but Assange should not be. I'm not a fan of this guy, but the "rape" charges against him are a complete joke.

[LUconn]

First of all, if we pulled out of the Middle East we wouldn't see nearly as many attacks as we do right now. At that point, we can access whether they just don't like us invading their land, or they hate us for what our country stands for. Right now, I believe the 1st option.

America may be a force for good in the world. But that doesn't mean we should be in everybody else's business. The Wikileaks cables show why the Middle East hates us. Because we try to control the entire world, especially the Middle East.

I think it's slightly more complicated than that.

[jbock13]

First of all, if we pulled out of the Middle East we wouldn't see nearly as many attacks as we do right now. At that point, we can access whether they just don't like us invading their land, or they hate us for what our country stands for. Right now, I believe the 1st option.

America may be a force for good in the world. But that doesn't mean we should be in everybody else's business. The Wikileaks cables show why the Middle East hates us. Because we try to control the entire world, especially the Middle East.

I think it's slightly more complicated than that.

Not exactly. The extremists claim that the only reason they attack us is because we are "invading the Middle East". These documents show that we are, not militarily but in terms of trying to spread democracy.

[El Scorcho]

I think (as has already been said, I think) that Assange and Wikileaks are two separate issues at this point. They're obviously connected, but my opinions of the two differ.

Assange himself has been living fast and it's now catching up to him. I don't believe the conspiracy theories that this is a "honeypot" trap. I'm much more inclined to believe his accusers and I think that the nature of the accusations demand a trial. I don't think we'd see him extradited and pursued on these charges the way he has been if he weren't who he is, which says more about the state of society than it does anything else, IMO.

Wikileaks I'm okay with. They're a clearinghouse for information and I don't see how any American with a sense of history can be against them. I don't see them as any different than the NY Times in this case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_T ... ted_States

[From the class of 09]

First of all, if we pulled out of the Middle East we wouldn't see nearly as many attacks as we do right now. At that point, we can access whether they just don't like us invading their land, or they hate us for what our country stands for. Right now, I believe the 1st option.

America may be a force for good in the world. But that doesn't mean we should be in everybody else's business. The Wikileaks cables show why the Middle East hates us. Because we try to control the entire world, especially the Middle East.

I think it's slightly more complicated than that.

Not exactly. The extremists claim that the only reason they attack us is because we are "invading the Middle East". These documents show that we are, not militarily but in terms of trying to spread democracy.

So what did we do to cause 9/11?

[thepostman]

We didn't cause 9/11 directly, but what motivated those who did it is our presence all over the world. Particularly a presence in the middle east. This of course does not justify what was done on 9/11 but the United States hasn't been completely innocent either. There are things, fundamentally, that need to be changed in the way we do things around the world. I am afraid, though, that it is much too late for that.

[From the class of 09]

Isn't it odd though that the one place we didn't have a presence, at least from what I'm aware, is in Afganistan.

Also, why I understand culture differences and letting different cultures do there thing at some point we have to draw a line and say, I don't care if this is your culture it's still evil and wrong so we are going to oppose it. Some of those things that would consitute evil IMO would be, Saddam committing genocide against the Kurds in his own country or how the Taliban treats women. While maybe these situations aren't causes for war...I have a hard time feeling bad about leaving an occupying force in countries that allowed such actions.

While I know that the US has many interest (oil oil and more oil) in the Middle East beyond just helping the oppressed. You don't have to look very hard to find a justifiable reason to remove the powers that be in many of these countries.

[jbock13]

We didn't cause 9/11 directly, but what motivated those who did it is our presence all over the world. Particularly a presence in the middle east. This of course does not justify what was done on 9/11 but the United States hasn't been completely innocent either. There are things, fundamentally, that need to be changed in the way we do things around the world. I am afraid, though, that it is much too late for that.

Well said!

[ATrain]

Isn't it odd though that the one place we didn't have a presence, at least from what I'm aware, is in Afganistan.

Also, why I understand culture differences and letting different cultures do there thing at some point we have to draw a line and say, I don't care if this is your culture it's still evil and wrong so we are going to oppose it. Some of those things that would consitute evil IMO would be, Saddam committing genocide against the Kurds in his own country or how the Taliban treats women. While maybe these situations aren't causes for war...I have a hard time feeling bad about leaving an occupying force in countries that allowed such actions.

While I know that the US has many interest (oil oil and more oil) in the Middle East beyond just helping the oppressed. You don't have to look very hard to find a justifiable reason to remove the powers that be in many of these countries.

I agree with you on this one.